Kingfisher in warning over tough times September 16, 2010 KINGFISHER yesterday said that it had beaten its first half profit forecast – but the home improvement giant warned that consumer confidence would not be fully restored until at least 2012. The B&Q owner made a pre-tax profit of £354m in the 26 weeks to 31 July, which it achieved through cost cutting rather than [...]
Kingfisher in warning over tough times September 16, 2010 KINGFISHER yesterday said that it had beaten its first half profit forecast – but the home improvement giant warned that consumer confidence would not be fully restored until at least 2012. The B&Q owner made a pre-tax profit of £354m in the 26 weeks to 31 July, which it achieved through cost cutting rather than [...]
BHP moves on from Potash takeover bid November 15, 2010 MINING giant BHP Billiton’s shares rose yesterday following its decision to abandon its hostile takeover of Potash Corp and begin a $4.2bn (£2.6bn) share buyback, as analysts pored over the world’s largest mining group’s next move. BHP’s London-listed shares closed 1.8 per cent up at £24.06, outperforming a 0.4 per cent gain in the FTSE [...]
THE CUTENESS OF CARDIGANS October 28, 2010 I RECENTLY bought a very cute cashmere cardigan from Zara for £60 in a rather elegant mushroom grey. Having got it home, just this one item is the lynchpin to another dozen outfits in my wardrobe – so much so that I’m going to be rationing the number of times I wear it. This particular [...]
Gollings to captain Sevens September 15, 2010 RUGBY UNION: Ben Gollings has been named as captain of the England Sevens team for next month’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi. The 30-year-old former Harlequins fly-half, who now plays in New Zealand for Tasman, will be competing in his third Games after playing in Manchester in 2002 and winning a silver medal in Melbourne in [...]
England top order crumbles as Riaz gives Pakistan edge August 18, 2010 MATT PRIOR has backed his England side to bounce back from a disastrous day with the bat as Pakistan seized control on the opening day of the third Test. Wicketkeeper Prior was England’s saviour with an invaluable unbeaten 84 as debutant Wahab Riaz took 5-63 to help dismiss the hosts for 233 at the Oval. [...]
Eurozone needs to cut out the rot before it’s too late September 7, 2011 WHEREVER one looks, the signals are bad. The S&P 500 is down 14.5 per cent from its highest point of the year. The Vix, a measure of market turbulence, rose 9.4 per cent yesterday. Bank stocks tumbled everywhere. The Swiss franc went nuts when the authorities took the dramatic step to peg it to the [...]
Mitchells & Butlers sees food sales soar September 23, 2010 Britain’s biggest pubs and restaurants group Mitchells & Butlers reported a 4.4 per cent increase in sales at outlets open for more than a year driven by a surge in demand for food. The company, which is re-shaping itself into a food-led business, said sales of food increased 7.1 per cent in the nine weeks [...]
Playtech sees profits soar as it grows further August 26, 2010 PLAYTECH, the online gaming software firm, yesterday reported a jump in profit of 14 per cent to €37m (£30m), as launches of Italian bingo and French poker networks increased its presence in new markets. Total revenue was up 29 per cent to €72.9 and core profit rose 20 per cent to €54.2. The firm now [...]
Kingfisher beats profit forecast with cost-cutting September 16, 2010 Kingfisher, Europe’s biggest home improvement retailer, beat first-half profit forecasts, helped by cost-cutting and business improvements that it said would help it to cope with a tough consumer outlook. The group, which runs market leader B&Q in Britain and the Castorama and Brico Depot chains in France, said it made a profit before tax and [...]