WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 16, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES MOBILE MAKERS ACT TO CURB FAKE PHONESThe global mobile phone industry is trying to rein in the rapid worldwide spread of illegitimate handsets by introducing a stricter regime for the allocation of handset identification numbers. The move comes as unlicensed Chinese handset manufacturers have started flooding the world market with exports in a [...]
Costa profits aid Whitbread October 13, 2009 WHITBREAD yesterday reported profits that beat analysts’ expectations thanks to its coffee chain Costa, although its hotel business continued to suffer in the slump. Whitbread, which owns hotel chain Premier Inn, reported a 2.7 per cent dip in pre-tax profits to £118.2m in the six months to 27 August, but this was still ahead of [...]
Costa profits aid Whitbread October 13, 2009 WHITBREAD yesterday reported profits that beat analysts’ expectations thanks to its coffee chain Costa, although its hotel business continued to suffer in the slump. Whitbread, which owns hotel chain Premier Inn, reported a 2.7 per cent dip in pre-tax profits to £118.2m in the six months to 27 August, but this was still ahead of [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: DID COSTA PERK UP WHITBREAD’S RESULTS? October 13, 2009 MATTHEW GERARD INVESTECThe first half performance was well guided in the September pre-close, but positive comments on the outlook and a very creditable performance on cash flow and costs may push the shares higher. The positive momentum seen in second quarter has continued into the second half. RICHARD HUNTER HARGREAVES LANSDOWNWith value offerings across many [...]
RIVERS OF BUBBLY AND HALF A COW: CITY BOYS TAKE MACHO CHALLENGE September 20, 2009 EMERGING pleasantly sated from an overdose of fine wining and dining this past weekend, The Capitalist was intrigued to see two City institutions taking a stand on how to deal with the effect of the recession on the Square Mile lunch market. A little bird at Gaucho – catering for the red-blooded males and less-than-faint-hearted [...]
Whitbread up as Baker hire steadies ship September 7, 2009 WHITBREAD, the owner of hotel group Premier Inn and Costa Coffee, yesterday appointed former Boots chief executive Richard Baker as a non-executive director. Baker, who is also chairman of gym chain Virgin Active, succeeds Charles Gurrassa, who is stepping down after nine years at the group. Chief executive Alan Parker yesterday slammed rumours that Baker [...]
Whitbread up as Baker hire steadies ship September 7, 2009 WHITBREAD, the owner of hotel group Premier Inn and Costa Coffee, yesterday appointed former Boots chief executive Richard Baker as a non-executive director. Baker, who is also chairman of gym chain Virgin Active, succeeds Charles Gurrassa, who is stepping down after nine years at the group. Chief executive Alan Parker yesterday slammed rumours that Baker [...]
ARE YOU IMPRESSED BY WHITBREAD’S MANAGEMENT TEAM? September 7, 2009 SAM HART CHARLES STANLEY“Whitbread’s trading update was slightly better than expected. Going forward, we expect the trading environment to gradually improve as the UK economic recovery gathers momentum.” MATTHEW GERARD INVESTEC“The decline in Premier Inn has stabilised and management is making significant progress on cost savings, which is leading us to upgrade our full year [...]
Market to eye consumer purse while MPC mulls rates September 6, 2009 THIS week will be all about consumers’ purse-strings and just how tightly they are pulled. Results from across the retail and leisure sectors will go some way to answering that question, while the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee’s decision on interest rates and quantitative easing will tell us what the experts think about any [...]
Market to eye consumer purse while MPC mulls rates September 6, 2009 THIS week will be all about consumers’ purse-strings and just how tightly they are pulled. Results from across the retail and leisure sectors will go some way to answering that question, while the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee’s decision on interest rates and quantitative easing will tell us what the experts think about any [...]