Kingfisher sees revenues rise March 25, 2010 B&Q owner Kingfisher beat profit forecasts and raised its dividend yesterday – helped by a rise in sales of eco-friendly products. Pre-tax profit excluding one-off items jumped 49 per cent to £547m for the year to the end of January, above the average forecast of £543m. As well as raising its dividend for the first [...]
Freeview could be a poisoned chalice March 21, 2010 THE outcome of Ofcom’s long-anticipated review of the pay-TV market is the world’s worst secret: it will almost certainly make BSkyB slash the amount it charges rivals to show its premium content. Less attention has been given to the ways in which Ofcom might placate Sky. Allowing the pay-TV giant to access customers via the Freeview [...]
VEXED IN THE CITY May 12, 2010 Can I ask my colleague about his home life? DEAR VEXED: There’s a colleague I work really closely with on a number of projects. We get along well, but our relationship is strictly professional. Recently I’ve noticed him being really distracted, and I overheard him having a bitter argument with his wife on the phone. [...]
Osborne: hung house will paralyse the UK April 26, 2010 THERE is a “clear risk of economic paralysis, higher interest rates and a loss of market confidence” if the general election results in a hung parliament, George Osborne warned yesterday. Speaking in an exclusive interview with City A.M., the shadow chancellor said the Tories needed to win an overall majority so they could make “the [...]
Kingfisher says profits will survive the impact of the winter’s big freeze February 18, 2010 B&Q owner Kingfisher said it had defied the big freeze in posting better-than-expected results for January. The company said it had kept a lid on costs and profits would be “slightly ahead” of the £540m for the year to 30 January pencilled in by city analysts Like-for-like sales for the final quarter at B&Q had [...]
Don’t let City living dull your good looks June 7, 2010 A FRIEND visited from the country this weekend and claimed to have blown dirty snot into a tissue after spending just two days in London. Like most long-term Londoners, I’m in denial about black phlegm, but she had a point. Living between the office, the Tube, the fumes of the street and the boozy, salt-and-sugar [...]
Don’t let City living dull your good looks June 7, 2010 A FRIEND visited from the country this weekend and claimed to have blown dirty snot into a tissue after spending just two days in London. Like most long-term Londoners, I’m in denial about black phlegm, but she had a point. Living between the office, the Tube, the fumes of the street and the boozy, salt-and-sugar [...]
Sky worried despite likely revenue boost March 23, 2010 BSkyB could generate additional revenue of more than £700m if it is allowed to sell Premier League football through Freeview. In a move described by Sky as a “sop”, Ofcom is likely to allow the broadcaster to go ahead with a project dreamed up in 2007 codenamed “Picnic”. This would involve setting up a subscription [...]
Mergers can give you stellar profits March 14, 2010 THE financial rumour mill went into overdrive on Friday after whisperings that Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corporation, the global media group, was thinking about buying back BSkyB, the broadcaster he helped to found in 1990. It was mooted that Murdoch might even be willing to pay up to 735p per share, a 20 [...]
Axed Moody’s reassured as Worsley gets nod for Scots March 9, 2010 ENGLAND coach Martin Johnson insists the door is not closed on Lewis Moody after the Leicester flanker was dropped for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland. Moody was withdrawn after just 55 minutes of Saturday’s defeat to Ireland, and has now been replaced in the starting line-up by Joe Worsley, who returns for the first [...]