Murdoch seeks to tie Penguin to News Corp October 29, 2012 RUPERT Murdoch’s News Corp has indicated it will make a “substantial cash offer” for media conglomerate Pearson’s Penguin Group, joining the race for the book publisher. The bid, said to total around £1bn, could scupper plans to tie Penguin with Random House, owned by Germany’s Bertelsmann. News Corp owns book publisher HarperCollins. Pearson confirmed on [...]
Murdoch seeks to tie Penguin to News Corp October 29, 2012 RUPERT Murdoch’s News Corp has indicated it will make a “substantial cash offer” for media conglomerate Pearson’s Penguin Group, joining the race for the book publisher. The bid, said to total around £1bn, could scupper plans to tie Penguin with Random House, owned by Germany’s Bertelsmann. News Corp owns book publisher HarperCollins. Pearson confirmed on [...]
Persimmon positive on future growth despite tough market November 13, 2012 HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon yesterday warned that the housing market continues to be challenging with mortgage availability the key constraint, but it was optimistic of future growth. In a third quarter update, the group said weekly sales rates were around four per cent higher on the previous year, down slightly from the five per cent reported in [...]
Rise in supply pushes house prices down October 28, 2012 HOUSE PRICES continued to slide in October, data from Hometrack revealed today, as an increase in supply outstripped a smaller boost to demand. The average house price slid 0.1 per cent in October, the data showed, after equal falls in August and September. This fall was driven by a 1.4 per cent increase in property [...]
Moonpig signs off year with jump in profits November 25, 2012 MOONPIG.COM, the online greetings card company, reported a 20 per cent rise in sales last year driven by growth at both its core and personalised card divisions. The internet retailer, founded 12 years ago by ex-commodities trader Nick Jenkins, said sales rose £7m to £45.8m in the year to 30 April. Profits jumped 10 per [...]
Random House agrees merger with Penguin October 29, 2012 PEARSON and German media giant Bertelsmann have agreed a deal to merge their respective book publishing units Penguin and Random House, creating the world’s largest company of its kind as they grapple with a growing threat from digital book sellers such as Amazon. The firms have inked a deal despite a late bid from Rupert [...]
Surveyors predict green shoots for housing market by year end October 8, 2012 SURVEYORS expect the housing market to pick up towards the end of the year, according to a leading survey released this morning. Sales expectations have jumped to their highest level since May 2010, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) announced today. The net balance of surveyors expecting a higher number of home sales in the [...]
Mulberry hurt by rising costs as margins fall December 6, 2012 MULBERRY’S profits tumbled by more than a third in the first half of the year due to rising costs as the British fashion house presses ahead with its expansion plans and moving the brand upmarket. The group yesterday posted a 36 per cent drop in pre-tax profits to £10m for the six months to 30 [...]
FT Group chief executive Rona Fairhead leaves after 12 years November 27, 2012 THE CHIEF executive of the Financial Times Group stepped down yesterday, in a move that is likely to heighten speculation that the newspaper’s owner Pearson is looking to sell it off. Rona Fairhead, who spent 12 years at Pearson, and six as head of the FT Group, is departing after missing out on the chief [...]
US markets up on McDonald’s and tech stock December 10, 2012 US stocks edged higher yesterday Monday, helped by gains in McDonald’s after the fast-food giant posted strong sales results, and a move up in technology shares. Technology stocks were the S&P 500’s best-performing sector as Hewlett-Packard climbed 2.9 per cent to $14.20 on rumours that activist investor Carl Icahn is building a stake in the [...]