News

Your daily news update straight from the City PM newsroom in London

Enterprise says less pubs closing

September 29, 2009

Enterprise Inns, the UK’s second-biggest pubs firm, said the rate of closures across its properties had slowed and fewer tenants needed financial support as conditions improved. Enterprise, which has around 7,500 leased and tenanted pubs, said yesterday it had benefited from selling underperforming pubs and had seen a stabilisation in beer sales, improved food sales [...]
GM’s eBay venture set to end

September 29, 2009

Car giant General Motors’ short-lived effort to sell cars online through eBay is set to end this week. The scheme, which was kicked off in August, hasn’t driven sales as much as had been hoped, dealers and sales figures show. The online venture was one of GM's first acts after it emerged from bankruptcy in [...]
TUI Travel to raise 440m to repay loan

September 29, 2009

TUI Travel, Europe’s biggest tour operator yesterday said it would raise £440m to help finance £900m of borrowings, as it cautioned that winter booking volumes remained lower than last year. TUI Travel said it would launch a £300m five-year convertible bond issue and had agreed a new credit facility worth £140m in a bid to [...]
Clapham House expects trading to remain tough

September 29, 2009

RESTAURANT group Clapham House yesterday said revenues grew two per cent in the first half to the end of March compared with a year earlier, but it expects the trading environment in the UK to remain tough, especially at its Tootsies business. The owner and operator of Gourmet Burger Kitchen, The Real Greek and Tootsies [...]
Compass sees boost from new business wins

September 29, 2009

COMPASS Group, the world’s biggest caterer, has seen a 14 per cent growth in yearly earnings per share on the back of new business wins, cost cuts and a weak pound, sending its shares to a 12-month high. The company, which feeds office and factory workers, soldiers and schoolchildren, said it expected underlying sales to [...]
EX-RBS BANKER HOUNDED OUT OF THE CITY

September 28, 2009

ONE of Sir Fred Goodwin’s former sidekicks at the Royal Bank of Scotland was last night forced to resign from his new City role at headhunter Odgers Berndtson, after his connection to the beleaguered bank cost his firm one of its most lucrative contracts. Johnny Cameron, previously head of investment banking at RBS, said he [...]
JP MORGAN EXEC: NO ONE INNOCENT

September 28, 2009

THE co-chief executive of JP Morgan’s investment banking arm has blamed “greedy bankers, investors and borrowers” for the financial crisis. Bill Winters’ comments – which will be seen as an attack on Wall Street, the City and clients – were made earlier this week during a closed-doors debate at the Investment Management Association. City rainmaker [...]
Orange finds juicy deal for Apple iPhone

September 28, 2009

ORANGE has landed the rights to carry Apple’s flagship product the iPhone, ending rival O2’s exclusivity deal with the firm. The mobile operator, which is owned by France Telecom, said it would start selling the iPhone later this year, although it has yet to decide on pricing and exact release date. Orange said yesterday that [...]
WHO PROFITS MOST FROM THIS DEAL?

September 28, 2009

JOHN TYSOE THE MOBILE WORLDApple usually wants to be with the largest operator but this seems to break the mould of exclusivity. The scale of it is not transformational for Orange, but if other operators are able to follow suit it will allow Apple to address the entire market. I don’t think this will be [...]
Barclays eyes Standard Life Bank division

September 28, 2009

BARCLAYS is eyeing a bid for the banking operations of insurance titan Standard Life, sources close to the situation said yesterday. The insurer is understood to have put its Standard Life Bank unit up for sale at a price of between £200m and £300m and people familiar with Barclays’ plans said that the business would [...]