17,604 source-backed business facts - each attributed to a named person and a number, linked to the original source. Page 173 of 177.
“dropped 57 per cent in the first half of this year”
“fell to £4.8bn last year, down £1.2bn over the last two years, and it could drop below £3bn next year”
“the recently-named chairman of electronics retailer DSG International, John Allan, would be joining the board as a non-executive director from September.”
“And Alistair Cox, chief executive of Hays, is joining board as part of the group’s ongoing revamp.”
“UTILITY giants E.On and Gaz De France (GDF) Suez were fined a total of almost £1bn by the European Commission’s competition regulators yesterday”
“Germany’s E.On and France’s GDF Suez were fined €553m (£477m) each”
“after it emerged that they had agreed in 1975 not to compete with each other when they began to import gas through a Russian pipeline”
“They maintained the market-sharing agreement after European gas markets were liberalised, and only abandoned it definitely in 2005”
“E.On has said the alleged anti-competitive practices referred to agreements that had expired in 2004”
“GDF Suez head Gerard Mestrallet said the group would appeal against any fine imposed by the Commission”
“Rio Tinto is still in discussion with China’s steel mills, which want more than the 33 per cent cut agreed with other Asian steel groups.”
“Rio has not yet agreed iron ore contracts for 2009-10 and some Chinese media have accused the company of withholding iron ore from the spot market to drive up prices and undermine China’s bargaining position.”
“Persimmon said it had completed 4,006 homes over the six months to end of June, with total sales revenue of around £625m, 37 per cent lower than the first half of 2008.”
“Persimmon has already secured £700m of forward sales revenue into the second half of 2009, compared to £458m at the beginning of January and £650m in June 2008.”
“The group also said its current level of cancellations is at a historic low of 16 per cent.”
“Persimmon said it had invested in areas where it anticipates good sales and cash flow, having opened 45 new developments over the first half.”
“It plans to commence work on a further 50 sites before the end of the year.”
“The index rose to 58 from 54 in May, compared to a reading of 59 in June last year.”
“A third of consumers now believe that the economy will be better, compared to 28 per cent in May.”
“But over half thought that there would not be many jobs available in six months time, compared to a peak of 67 per cent in January.”
“Only 15 per cent of households thought that their income would fall over the next six months with the broad majority (71 per cent) expecting it to stay the same.”
“Although expectations remained upbeat, consumers were decidedly more pessimistic about the current economic situation with three-quarters saying it was bad.”
“And almost 70 per cent believe that few jobs are available at the moment.”
“While 40 per cent of consumers think that now is a good time to make a major purchase such as a car or a house, 38 per cent think it is a bad time.”
“But the number of consumers who believe that now is a bad time to buy household goods fell in June to 13 per cent from 17 per cent the previous month.”
“The Pearson-owned publisher has entered into a period of consultation with employees regarding the dismissal of around 10 per cent of its workforce, as it seeks to reduce costs, strengthen its appeal and “take advantage of structural chang…”
“This may lead to an overall reduction in headcount, potentially by around 5 per cent, although no decisions have yet been made and a consultation is underway.”
“It is anticipated that this will be concluded by the end of July”
“Maloney spent five years as chief executive officer of Esat Digifone”
“founded Business Objects in 1990 and grew it into a $6.8bn global software giant in 15 years”
“close to 2,000 of you – who entered our online reader survey last week.”
“The randomly-selected winners – of the main prize as well as the five runner-ups – are revealed by my colleague Victoria Bates on page 10.”
“suffered a £527,000 loss in the six months to 28 September”
“It has about 200 stores worldwide including franchises and independent outlets.”
“The siblings formed the Coffee Republic chain in 1995”
“Hashemi was ousted from the group in October 2007”
“Aleynikov, who earned $400,000 a year,”
“had a 20 per cent stake in failed sports broadcaster Setanta”
“Mark Evans, who formerly spent 15 years at Goldman Sachs in Europe Asia and the US”
“French heavyweight Bernard Liautaud, who founded Business Objects in 1990 and grew it into a $6.8bn global software giant in 15 years”
“in January this year Balderton said that there would be ‘‘some casualties’’ among the 80 or so companies it has chosen to invest in”
“close to 2,000 of you – who entered our online reader survey last week”
“the five runner-ups – are revealed by my colleague Victoria Bates on page 10”
“close to 2,000 of you”
“five runner-ups”
“The Pedigree bitter brewer intends to use approximately £140m of the proceeds to develop 70 new pubs while property remaind cheap”
“It has about 200 stores worldwide including franchises and independent outlets”
“Shares in Coffee Republic, which have lost two thirds of their value over the last twelve months, closed last Friday up two per cent at 22p, valuing the business at £2.8m”
“The siblings formed the Coffee Republic chain in 1995 after the pair said they couldn’t find a British coffee as strong as that in New York”
“Hashemi was ousted from the group in October 2007 by chairman Peter Breach and chief executive Steven Bartlett after the brand’s rapid expansion”
“Figures for June showed that Ryanair carried more passengers than ever before, with 5.8m people using the Irish airline.”
“This represents a 13 per cent increase on passenger traffic from a year ago, and 100,000 more than the company’s previous record of 5.7m customers, set in August 2008.”
“Ryanair has flown 60m passengers over the last 12 months.”
“Ryanair now carries twice BA’s monthly worldwide traffic and we will continue to grow as Ryanair continues to lower fares”
“Meanwhile, rival Luton-based EasyJet said it had carried 4.15m passengers in June, up 0.8 per cent from the same period last year.”
“But the number of full flights dipped by 0.6 per cent, to 86.3 per cent of total capacity.”
“The news comes just days after BA revealed its passenger numbers had fallen by five per cent, with business class performing particularly poorly.”
“Shareholders have voted with a majority of 80 per cent to approve Oudea’s appointment as chairman in addition to being CEO”
“five years”
“15 years”
“1990”
“$6.8bn ... 15 years”
“80 or so companies”
“Our target market is 18-35," says the manager”
“French heavyweight Bernard Liautaud, who founded Business Objects in 1990 and grew it into a $6.8bn global software giant in 15 years, will also be making investment decisions.”
“Joining Maloney at the helm of the fund will be Mark Evans, who formerly spent 15 years at Goldman Sachs in Europe Asia and the US.”
“However, in January this year Balderton said that there would be ‘‘some casualties’’ among the 80 or so companies it has chosen to invest in.”
“UK ad spend will decline by 10.5 per cent to £11bn in 2009”
“having predicted a decline of 8.7 per cent just three months ago”
“We forecast China to grow 5.4 per cent this year, overtaking the UK to become the world’s fourth-largest ad market”
“expects a 1.4 per cent decline £10.65bn in 2010”
“a reversal on its previous forecast of a rise of 2.3 per cent”
“after a fall of 8.5 per cent to $456.5bn (£278.58bn) in 2009”
“The losses, made by Jerome Kerviel – who was then a junior trader with the bank – resulted in the resignation of the company’s chairman Daniel Bouton”
“Perkins was suspended when the brokerage discovered the rogue trading late on Tuesday morning”
“Saying it was “the victim of unauthorised trading,” PVM announced it was conducting a full investigation, and that it had informed the FSA and the InterContinental Exchange (ICE)”
“PVM said its brokers were not authorised to take positions in the crude oil markets”
“The firm, founded in 1896, has a record of handling high-profile sales”
“In 1991 it sold the Crystal Palace to Lord Plymouth for £210,000”
“in 1915 it sold Stonehenge for £6,600 to Cecil Chubb who gave it to his wife as a present”
“She gave it back to the nation three years later”
“forecasting an improvement in beer volumes during this year and next”
“Rival Allied Carpets has recently sold a number of stores to Carpetright”
“but like-for-like sales continue to 'bump along the bottom.'”
“The broker has forecast improved Carpetright trading if Allied Carpets closes more stores, or the housing market picks up”
“noting that the warm UK summer so far has led to a surge in demand for barbecue products”
“especially pork, which has been popular in the downturn due to its relative cheapness in comparison to beef and lamb”
“The broker also believes the firm’s recent acquisition of pork processor Bowes of Norfolk will strengthen its strategic position”
“Barratt, set to issue a full-year trading update on Thursday, said in May it made hay in the spring house-selling season, but it also warned homebuyers are still struggling to get mortgages.”
“Persimmon, which faces similar challenges, is providing a trading update on Tuesday ahead of its interim results in August.”
“Howard Archer, chief European and UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said a Halifax house price report this week will likely show a rise in June, which could help boost shares in the housebuilder sector if Persimmon and Barratt adopt more…”
“Tullow Oil is set to update markets on Wednesday, and Premier Oil on Thursday, with the former thought likely to benefit from recently discovering 700m barrels of oil in Uganda.”
“Associated British Foods, set to update markets on Thursday, is expected to show an improvement in the second half of its financial year thanks to the opening of seven new outlets at its clothing retailer Primark.”
“CARPHONE Warehouse said yesterday it will offer contracts from Vodafone from next week in its 820 stores, three years after Vodafone pulled its mobile phone products from the retailer.”
“The company said it now would have a total of 1,650 Vodafone, Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U stores offering Vodafone contracts.”
“Carphone Warehouse said yesterday it will offer contracts from Vodafone from next week in its 820 stores, three years after Vodafone pulled its mobile phone products from the retailer.”
“Vodafone switched to an exclusive deal with Carphone rival Phones4U in 2006 in the hope it could pay lower sales commissions.”
“The move knocked Carphone’s shares at the time by a sixth.”
“Profit per equity partner – considered the best measure of a law firm’s profitability – remained broadly constant for the 2008/09 financial year at £1.44m, outperforming rivals who saw profits slump.”
“Revenue hit £1.29bn, an increase of nine per cent from £1.18bn last year, largely due to currency fluctuations.”
