Spending drop for Christmas, says Execution November 1, 2009 BRITONS are planning to spend less on gifts this Christmas than last year as they worry about rising unemployment and taxes, putting into question signs of a recovery in consumer spending, a survey showed yesterday. Broker Execution interviewed a representative sample of 2,000 Britons from October 20 to 26 and found participants on average plan [...]
Prudential June 1, 2010 EVERYTHING about Prudential’s play for AIA happened back-to-front. Desperate to pounce on the Asian business before it floated, Prudential boss Tidjane Thiam raced in with the generous offer of $35.5bn (£25bn) – 25 times new business profits, a multiple unheard of for insurers even in China – and then had to work backwards to model [...]
Majestic Wine ready to toast healthy figures May 17, 2010 MAJESTIC wine said yesterday its profits for the year which ended in March would come in “at the upper end of analysts’ expectations”. The range for underlying profits forecast up until today had been as low as £15.9m to as much as £18m. That is a sharp recovery from the previous year’s £12.7m. After Christmas [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU GOING TO BE A BIG SPENDER THIS CHRISTMAS November 11, 2009 ANDREW DICKSON BARCLAYS GLOBAL INVESTORS“I tend not to spend much at Christmas anyway, so I’ll spend about the same amount as usual on presents. But I think retail sales could fare well this year, particularly because cheap prices will open up more opportunities for shoppers.” MATT GROVER TINDALL RILEY“I’m going to spend about the same [...]
PROPERTY BIGWIGS GET OUT THEIR WALLETS FOR A DAY AT THE RACES July 11, 2010 FOR STARTERS, let’s head down to Ascot racecourse – always a pleasure – for the annual Property Race Day, playground of the suited and booted doyens of the property world. This year marked a change of scenery for the charity event set up by Parkwood Asset Management founder Derek Lucie-Smith, which moved from Sandown Park [...]
The defence industry boss who is reshaping his firm for new realities September 28, 2010 FOR Cobham’s chief executive Andy Stevens, life is measured out in five-year plans. The head of the FTSE 100 defence company first joined the business in 2003 as head of its aerospace division and played a key role in the 2005 strategic review that “took a root a branch look at our operations and decided [...]
Why Britain needs to save far more July 20, 2010 THERE is no better way to kill a dinner party discussion than to bring up the subject of pensions. Just ask your friends when they expect to retire, and how much they hope to earn when they stop working. The usual answer – apart from the lucky few who still enjoy final salary schemes – [...]
British Airways staff to vote on Christmas strike action November 8, 2009 Passengers flying on British Airways over Christmas are bracing themselves for mayhem after 2,500 cabin crew backed union leaders’ decision to call a strike vote at a mass meeting. The ballot – in protest over the company’s imposed job cuts and two-year pay freeze – will start next week and close on 14 December. Unite [...]
It’s so great to beat the Aussies, admits Cameron May 24, 2010 PRIME MINISTER David Cameron gave England’s cricket heroes a big thumbs-up for their World Twenty20 success, admitting: It’s great to get one over the Aussies. Cameron invited the victorious squad, led by captain Paul Collingwood, to show off their trophy in the sun-drenched garden of Number 10 yesterday. The PM told the players how they [...]
Creditors give Christmas deadline for INM bond November 1, 2009 Creditors have given Independent News & Media until 23 December to finalise plans on the payment of a bond originally due in May. After being granted several extensions to the deadline on the €200m (£179m) bond, INM last month agreed a deal with bondholders that could give them a 47 per cent stake in the [...]