Sports Direct on the sidelines as Adidas kicks off December 12, 2013 SHARES in Sports Direct fell more than 12 per cent yesterday despite a rise in pre-tax profits, after disappointed investors were denied the upgrade to target that they were expecting. Sports Direct, which was promoted to the FTSE 100 in September, reported a 23.5 per cent rise in revenues to £1.35bn in the six months to [...]
FirstGroup rebel won’t go away December 11, 2013 THE US hedge fund demanding radical change at FirstGroup, the transport company, pledged to keep up the pressure despite having its plans for change snubbed by the group’s board. “We’re not going away,” said Tom Sandell yesterday in an interview with City A.M., hours after a FirstGroup statement described its plan to split off the [...]
Stagecoach sees opportunities ahead after growth in US arm December 11, 2013 TRANSPORT operator Stagecoach said yesterday it saw opportunities to expand its rail and bus portfolio after posting a two per cent rise in first-half pretax profit, driven by growth in its US bus business. The bus and rail operator reported a pretax profit of £98.5m for the six months to the end of October, broadly [...]
Thomas Cook sells holiday extras business Essential Travel for £2m December 11, 2013 THOMAS COOK yesterday sold its travel add-ons website Essential Travel to rival firm the Holiday Extras Group for £2.1m. The company said that it will still offer its customers the same services after striking a deal for Holiday Extras to be its exclusive distributor of certain extra travel products such as airport parking, airport hotels [...]
Imagination out of favour after demand slows December 11, 2013 IMAGINATION Technologies said a slowdown at the top end of the smartphone market would hit the number of chips shipped with its graphics and video technology in the second half of the year, sending its shares down more than 20 per cent. Its lower guidance, combined with disappointing first-half results, pushed Imagination’s shares down to [...]
Prudential sets aggressive Asia growth targets December 10, 2013 PRUDENTIAL set out ambitious targets for growth in Asia yesterday, boosting investor confidence and sending its shares higher. The insurer told a shareholder conference it will target 15 per cent compound annual profit growth in its Asian life and asset management markets between 2010 and 2017. In addition, it is aiming to achieve £10bn of [...]
Great Portland Estates offloads 20 St James’s Street for £54.5m December 9, 2013 GREAT Portland Estates has sold a prime West End site between Piccadilly and St James’s Park to a German pension fund managed by US property investor Pramerica for £54.5m. Chief executive Toby Courtauld said yesterday that the group had originally planned to refurbish the building in 2015 to exploit the lack of new space in [...]
Saga poaches Domino’s Pizza boss Batchelor December 9, 2013 PRIVATE equity-backed insurer Saga yesterday named Domino’s Pizza boss Lance Batchelor as its new chief executive. Batchelor, a former Royal Navy submarine officer and Domino’s chief executive since December 2011, will leave the fast food chain in April to join Saga, almost four years after he first joined Domino’s as a non-executive director. Batchelor’s departure [...]
Brewin Dolphin adds to funds and lifts margin December 4, 2013 BREWIN Dolphin’s funds swelled in the last year while restructuring costs chipped away at profits, as the firm worked on its mission to become a more profitable wealth manager. The company, which sold its stockbroking arm two years ago to focus on funds, said its total managed funds rose 8.9 per cent to £28.2bn in [...]
UK government backs BP in US federal dispute December 3, 2013 THE UK government has backed oil giant BP in its dispute over the US government’s decision to suspend all of the oil major’s federal contracts after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. “This is a straightforward economic argument – BP is vital to British jobs and British pension funds; businesses need certainty to operate and invest,” a [...]