Toyota is wounded but in the long term the brand is strong February 7, 2010 LAST week was surely the worst in the history of the Japanese car-maker Toyota. A global safety recall of 9m cars was projected to cost the company $2bn. The potential damage to future sales can only guessed at, but we can get a hint from what happened to its share price, which fell by more [...]
Unions ask for guarantees as Kraft readies bid documents November 30, 2009 A UNION representing workers at confectioner Cadbury yesterday asked hostile bidder Kraft for a promise on employment security, saying it was increasingly worried about “massive job losses”. Unite, Britain’s biggest union, said it had written to Kraft chief executive Irene Rosenfeld about the £10bn cash-and-shares bid and asked for commitments there would be no compulsory [...]
Banks push FTSE higher but vaccine worries hit pharma January 5, 2010 THE leading share index ended 0.4 per cent higher on yesterday, hitting a fresh 16-month closing high, as banks and commodity stocks rose, but gains were capped by a fall in drugmakers on concerns over vaccine sales. The blue chip FTSE 100 closed 22.16 points higher at 5,522.50, its highest close since 2 September 2008 [...]
Cadbury gets a sweet boost from UK sales July 29, 2009 BRITISH consumers tucking into chocolate for comfort and returning to nostalgic favourites during the recession have boosted sales at confectionery giant Cadbury. Total revenues rose 12 per cent in Britain and Ireland during the first half of 2009 with chocolate revenues jumping 13 per cent, outperforming the rest of the market. Chief executive Todd Stitzer [...]
Cadbury gets a sweet boost from UK sales July 29, 2009 BRITISH consumers tucking into chocolate for comfort and returning to nostalgic favourites during the recession have boosted sales at confectionery giant Cadbury. Total revenues rose 12 per cent in Britain and Ireland during the first half of 2009 with chocolate revenues jumping 13 per cent, outperforming the rest of the market. Chief executive Todd Stitzer [...]
A IS FOR… A TOUCH OF ACRIMONY AT ALCHEMY February 2, 2010 PROOF, if it were needed, that the old adage about time being the best healer does not always ring true. Private equity veteran Jon Moulton is in the preliminary throes of building his new business, Better Capital, after quitting his former firm Alchemy Partners last September amid a boardroom bust-up over strategy. (His resignation letter [...]
The man who could be chancellor plans radical changes for the City May 3, 2010 Allister Heath and David Crow pay a visit to Vince Cable ahead of the last week of the election campaign FEW politicians have emerged from the financial crisis with their reputation intact. Vince Cable must be the only one who has actually enhanced his, with his brand of left-wing policies playing perfectly to the shifting [...]
Lending restrictions in China turn the screw on the miners January 20, 2010 TOP shares recorded a three-week closing low yesterday as more signs of fiscal tightening in China hurt commodity stocks. The FTSE 100 closed down 92.34 points, or 1.7 per cent, at 5,420.80 – the lowest closing level since December 31, 2009. It posted its biggest one-day fall in a month. The index is up 57 [...]
HOW DO YOU RATE CADBURY’S PERFORMANCE? June 18, 2009 JULIAN HARDWICK RBS“We expect consensus earnings forecasts will be revised down as analysts review their currency assumptions, and this is likely to have some adverse impact on the shares in the near term despite the generally reassuring tone of this update we say “hold”. JEREMY BATSTONE-CARR CHARLES STANLEY“Our “hold” recommendation is based on our perception [...]
HOW DO YOU RATE CADBURY’S PERFORMANCE? June 18, 2009 JULIAN HARDWICK RBS“We expect consensus earnings forecasts will be revised down as analysts review their currency assumptions, and this is likely to have some adverse impact on the shares in the near term despite the generally reassuring tone of this update we say “hold”. JEREMY BATSTONE-CARR CHARLES STANLEY“Our “hold” recommendation is based on our perception [...]