- The Times
STAGECOACH PLANS TO TRIM WORKFORCE
Stagecoach Group is set to cut staff in response to the economic
difficulties that are expected to take a massive toll on jobs in London. The
company runs South West Trains, the largest commuter franchise in the capital.
Brian Souter, the group's founder, revealed that no decisions had been taken but
that any responsible company would seek to control costs in the face of a
downturn. Souter said: "The question for us and for other transport operators is
whether modal shift can occur faster than the impact of a downturn in the
economy."
BH MACRO SHARES DROP
Shares in BH Macro, which trades government bonds, currency and
interest-rate derivatives, dropped a further three percent on Wednesday. The
fall takes its cumulative loss in the past two weeks to 18 percent. The
closed-end fund is still trading at a healthy premium to its issue price, unlike
most other mid-cap flotations of last year.
The Daily Telegraph
PRICE COLLAPSE SEES HOUSE FALL IN ON GRAINGER'S PROFITS GROWTH
Grainger says it does not expect to see a growth in annual trading
profits this year, as declining house prices hinder the UK's biggest quoted
residential landlord. The company said total sales would increase 17.5 percent
to 143 million pounds but were unlikely to be in line with 2007 results. This is
because of the collapse in house prices and a greater proportion of investment
sales, where a property is sold on with a tenant in place.
GOOD TIMES STILL ROLL FOR SOME
Rolls-Royce is continuing to see rising sales, and seems to be bypassing
the credit crunch. Figures released on Wednesday showed RR delivered 129
vehicles in September, up 7.5 percent on the same month in 2007 and marking a
42.8 percent increase in deliveries since the start of this year to 827 cars.
Rolls-Royce continues to find emerging markets, such as India, where it opened a
second showroom this year, to be the company's best markets.
LLOYDS TSB SEEKS NEW TERMS FOR HBOS DEAL
It has emerged Lloyds TSB is renegotiating the terms of its planned
takeover of HBOS, the mortgage lender. Sources said the bank is confident the
deal will still go ahead, but it was now "inconceivable" that the terms of the
deal could stay as they are. Shares in HBOS fell 61 percent this week following
uncertainty that the government-brokered purchase of Britain's largest mortgage
lender would still go ahead.
The Independent
THORNTONS POSTS TASTY PROFITS RISE
Thorntons, the chocolate maker and retailer, has announced a rise in
first-quarter sales of 6.4 percent, and revealed its financial position remained
strong. The 97-year-old group said on Wednesday its sales increased to 45.7
million pounds in the 14 weeks to October 4. Chief executive Mike Davies said:
"We are pleased with the overall growth, particularly against the backdrop of
our strongest quarter of growth last year and a difficult wider retail
environment."
LAND OF LEATHER SLUMPS BY 87 PERCENT
Land of Leather, the furniture retailer, posted an 87 percent drop in
annual profits on Wednesday and blamed the economic downturn and weak consumer
confidence for the fall. The company said its pre-tax profit for the year to
August 3 was 2.3 million pounds. The number is down from 18.5 million pounds a
year ago. Total sales dropped three percent to reach 232 million pounds, while
the group's gross profit margin decreased 2.5 percentage points to 42.1 percent.
Chairman Roger Matthews said: "We expect, and are planning for, the challenging
market conditions to remain."
SAINSBURY'S SLIPS 15 PERCENT DESPITE SOLID SALES GROWTH
On Wednesday, Sainsbury's managed to deliver strong sales growth but this
did not stop its shares slipping almost 15 percent. The grocer, the
third-biggest in Britain, delivered like-for-like sales which were 4.3 percent
higher, excluding fuel, in the 16 weeks to October 4. The rise was attributed to
robust sales of non-food items and shoppers buying Sainsbury's cheaper own label
products instead of brands, as well as bigger product packs.
The Guardian
POOR APPETITE FOR M&S SANDWICHES HURTS UNIQ
Uniq, the food maker, issued a profits warning on Wednesday, due to a big
fall in sandwich sales at Marks & Spencer. Uniq's shares dropped 42 percent to
reach 44.5 pence as analysts revised forecasts from a full-year profit of three
million pounds to a loss of roughly 2.5 million pounds. The company saw sandwich
sales slow to 2.1 percent in the third quarter from a first-half growth of 13.1
percent. It is feeling the squeeze from increased food and energy costs, as well
as supermarkets reducing their overheads by winning better deals from suppliers.
U.S. COMPANY SNAPS UP MESSAGELABS FOR 400 MILLION POUNDS
On Wednesday, U.S.-based Symantec acquired MessageLabs, the email
security specialist, for 398 million pounds. The deal will see the Gloucester
company's founders and management share 200 million pounds. MessageLabs was
founded in 1999 by Ben White and his brother Jos, along with Rory Sweet. They
now own roughly half the company together with its executive team, which
includes chief executive Adrian Chamberlain. The company saw its revenue rise to
145 million dollars in the year to the end of July.
Prepared for Reuters by Durrants
Keywords: PRESS DIGEST British business Oct 9
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