Folly which crippled Greece will be repeated in socialist France May 7, 2012 HOLLANDE’S victory was the most predictable election contest I can remember. No poll in recent months ever suggested that Sarkozy was in front. I have been keeping an eye on a US betting website – Sarkozy never traded above a 40 per cent chance of winning, and that was before Christmas. He was doomed. Of [...]
Tips to take away from the Ruspetro flotation January 23, 2012 THE successful flotation of Ruspetro, the Russian oil and gas explorer, is being looked on by many in the City as an opportunity to finally get a moribund IPO market off the ground. It’s the first main market listing of the year and it follows a period during which only the most courageous or crazy [...]
Consumers are paying debts and saving more February 16, 2012 HOUSEHOLDS boosted savings and cut borrowing in the final quarter of 2011 despite the pressures of Christmas, research from ING Direct showed today. Cash savings rose by an average of £73 in the fourth quarter, following three consecutive quarters of decline. The extra saving took the median balance in accounts to £1,574. Most of this [...]
Barratt sees swing back into profits February 22, 2012 BARRATT Developments swung back into profit in the first half of the year thanks to its increased focus on higher margin regions, building houses rather than flats and developing low-cost land bought after the 2008 property crash. Shares, which are up almost 50 per cent since Christmas, rose almost eight per cent yesterday after the [...]
Strong food shop performance has boosted jobs, retailers say January 25, 2012 RETAIL employment rose in the final quarter of 2011 as food shops prospered, reversing declines seen in the previous six months, figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed yesterday. The final three months of the year saw a 0.5 per cent rise in retail employment compared with the same quarter of 2010 – equivalent [...]
Theo Fennell loses its sparkle January 12, 2012 Celebrity jeweller Theo Fennell said yesterday it was expecting to report a loss for the year to the end of March 2012, after reporting weak trading over Christmas. Sales in the five weeks over the festive period were 11 per cent below 2010.
Smiths News on track for strong growth in 2012 January 10, 2012 MAGAZINE, book and newspaper distributor Smiths News said yesterday it was on track for strong profit growth in 2012, despite sales of print books disappointing over Christmas. Revenue at the group have increased 1.9 per cent year-on-year since September, with sales boosted by the recent acquisition of Dawson Books, Dawson Media Direct and Dawson Marketing [...]
Alliance Boots helped by strong German takings January 16, 2012 CHEMIST chain Alliance Boots yesterday announced 14.1 per cent growth in revenue for the third quarter compared to last year, driven largely by its sales at German wholesaler ANZAG, which it bought in 2010. Most of the 21.3 per cent revenue growth in its wholesale division was attributed to ANZAG, with sales up just 1.6 [...]
Supergroup shocks with profit warning February 8, 2012 SUPERGROUP, the owner of fashion label Superdry, surprised the City yesterday after it warned that a slowdown in sales meant full-year profits would be at the bottom end of expectations. The retailer said that after a solid Christmas trading period, with like-for-like sales up 9.3 per cent in December, “there has been a slowdown in [...]
Ebooks lead to growth at Bloomsbury January 16, 2012 THE CHRISTMAS boost in e-reader sales led to a strong quarter for Bloomsbury, the London-based publisher, which reported significant growth in its digital department. For the September to December period inclusive, Bloomsbury saw a 38 per cent increase in ebook sales compared to the same quarter the previous year. Over a million electronic reading devices [...]