Apple iPads, World Cup TVs lift Currys owner DSG

He said the UK businesses performed particularly well, most notably with customers responding to our strong World Cup promotion.
Like-for-like sales increased 6pc in Britain and Ireland, where the firm gained market share. The company’s shares rose 1.5pc to 25.63p.
With austerity measures in Europe expected to put a damper on consumer spending, DSG, which also runs UniEuro in Italy, Elkjop in Nordic countries and Kotsovolos in Greece, said it was wary about the economic outlook.
However, the company said it was well positioned to cope.
DSG said its store refit programme, part of a turnaround plan, is on track with 200 stores now reformatted in Britain.
As part of the plan, the company is also selling underperforming businesses, cutting costs, opening larger stores and improving product ranges and customer service.
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Aviva warns consumers of premium hikes as profits soar

By Daily Mail ReporterLast updated at 1:12 PM on 5th August 2010

Insurance giant Aviva reported better-than-expected results for the first half of the year today but warned that the cost of insurance premiums is set to soar.
Aviva – Britain’s largest general insurance group – reported a 21% rise in operating profits to £1.3 billion in the first six months of 2010, largely due to record results in the UK life and pensions arm.  Shares in the group were up 7 per cent.
The results are also likely to have been boosted by Aviva’s high profile advertising campaign starring comedian Paul Whitehouse.

Aviva’s advertising campaign starring comedian Paul Whitehouse has helped boost the insurance compnay’s profile

In spite of the results, home and motor policies will be targeted for further premium hikes as the insurance sector seeks to improve profits.
Aviva said it had driven through ‘double digit’ increases in motor premiums over the past six months, while also increasing home insurance rates.
More Than parent RSA said it had hiked rates by as much as 13% for motor policies and 4% for home cover.
Cover available through insurance brokers increased by as much as 37% in some cases, according to RSA.
A highly competitive industry in recent years saw many players slash rates to maintain market share, which the market claims led to unsustainable low rates that are now rising to more normal levels.
 

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MIDAS: Wheels turn a little faster at Titan Europe

By
Joanne Hart
Last updated at 10:59 PM on 10th July 2010

Titan Europe has had a rough recession. In 2007, the shares were trading at more than 230p, valuing the company at nearly £200million. By December 2008, the stock had sunk to just 7p and questions were being raised about its survival. The company is an engineering business spun out of America’s Titan Inc in 2004. It makes huge wheels for tractors, dumper trucks, mobile cranes and similar large vehicles used by farmers, construction groups and miners. Some of its wheels are more than 5ft in diameter and cost £13,000 each - and that is without the tyre. Titan also makes undercarriages for tracked vehicles used to build roads, harvest sugar beet, transport logs from large forests and a range of other activities. It even made the undercarriage for an underwater machine mining diamonds off the coast of Angola.

Upbeat: Mike Akers has cut costs and changed the way the business is run so it will benefit as its markets recover

Most of Titan’s customers are involved in agriculture, construction
or mining - all industries that have suffered to a greater or lesser
extent in recent years. As a result, demand for its products fell
sharply, particularly as many customers were afraid to buy new
equipment and chose instead to run down machinery stocks.
Titan sales went from £450million in 2008 to £258million last year
and the group tumbled from a pre-tax profit of £9.6million in 2008 to a
£41million loss the following year. 

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Questor share-tip: BT is a buy

After a three-year investigation Ofcom, the regulator, finally ruled that
BSkyB must wholesale its flagship Sky Sports 1 and 2 to rivals, including BT
and Virgin Media.

While Virgin, which recently agreed a more extensive deal with BSkyB, has not
changed its prices, BT has sent all its strikers forward to tackle Sky’s
defences.

BT will charge its BT Vision customers just £16.99 a month for access to Sky
Sports 1 and 2, compared to BSkyB’s minimum, and difficult to obtain, £26 a
month offer.

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US debt sale underlies dilemma facing Lloyds as funding costs grow

“We estimate that Lloyds has the highest level of term debt requiring
refinancing of any quoted bank in Europe [about €80bn] and its funding costs
are definitely at the higher end of the spectrum,” said Simon Samuels,
a banks analyst at Barclays Capital.

“The debt market is differentiating between bank issuers in a way it
never did before the crisis. Banks like HSBC are now funding well inside of
Lloyds,” he added.

A spokesman for Lloyds said comparing the two bond issues was unfair and that
their different structures meant no comparison could be drawn.

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Northern makes a meal of it

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INVESTORS who gobbled up shares in Northern Foods last autumn have probably
lost their appetite. Shares in the maker of Goodfella’s pizzas and Fox’s
biscuits have lost a third of their value during the period and are
languishing at 48½p.

In the past year Goodfella’s, one of its biggest brands, has lost 10% of its
market share, partly to rival pizza brand Chicago Town.

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Nationwide to cut jobs as profits dive

Nationwide Building Society said that annual profits almost halved as historic low interest rates continued to hit its results.
Britain’s biggest building society predicted “broad stability” in the country’s housing market over the next six to 12 months, with an increase in property supply helping to relieve pressure on prices.
Nationwide posted underlying pre-tax profits of £212 million in the year to April 4, down 46 per cent on last year’s figure of £393 million.
It warned of further job losses from its workforce of 15,800, although it said it was too early to indicate the scale. The group is working on plans to reduce branch and retail distribution outlets, which currently total more than 1,000, and to trim a 20-strong network of back office and administration centres.

Nationwide cut around 800 jobs last year and closed 12 branches. The group said that this was partly due to mergers with the Derbyshire and Cheshire building societies and the takeover of Dunfermline’s savings assets.
Today’s drop in profits comes as the group struggles to maintain margins in the face of a 0.5 per cent bank base rate, which looks set to remain at its record low until the economic recovery picks up pace. The group said that government belt-tightening and potential tax increases could heap further pressure on profits.
Nationwide reported £8.2 billion in net outflows of savings business. It attributed the fall in savings to stiff competition for customer deposits from banks and government-backed businesses, but said that it had begun to stem the flow in the second half.
Bad debts rose to £549 million from £394 million, although the rise was solely driven by commercial property loans that had turned sour. Nationwide said it believed that the worst of the commercial property woes had passed.
It lent £12 billion of mortgages over the past financial year, representing a market share of 8.7 per cent, down from 9 per cent a year before.
Graham Beale, chief executive of Nationwide, said that the results were satisfactory given the harsh trading environment.
“This is a strong set of results for Nationwide, and that is particularly pleasing given the difficult trading environment that we have experienced over the past year. We have provided a safe haven for our members’ savings and supported our borrowers, and have remained very competitive in these core markets.”
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Asda’s market share falls again

While Asda suffered, upmarket rival Waitrose maintained its strong run with an
increase in market share from 3.8pc to 4.1pc. It saw year-on-year growth of
12.5pc – nearly four times the total grocery market growth of 3.3pc.
Meanwhile, Kantar said that Tesco’s premium Finest Range continued to
perform well.

A spokesman for Asda said that the chain is addressing its under-performance: “We
know where we want to be, we know what we need to do, and we’re doing it.”

J Sainsbury saw its market share grow by 4.4pc, while Wm Morrison saw its
share grow by 6pc. One analyst said that over the last four weeks there has
been a “convergence in the sales performances of the ‘big four’.”

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T-Mobile and Orange tie-up to be called ‘everything, everywhere’

Reuters

Published: 1:21PM BST 11 May 2010

Both brands, which individually trail O2 and Vodafone, will be retained, Tom
Alexander, chief executive, said after unveiling the new name on Tuesday.

“Together, we are Britain’s biggest communications company, with over 30
million customers,” he said.

Mr Alexander said both brands had different personalities, with Orange having
a “premium element”, whereas T-Mobile had a “straightforward,
value-orientated appeal”.

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Argos has lost its way, say investors

THE owner of Argos and Homebase faces a shareholder backlash over plans to buy
back £150m of its shares.

Leading institutional investors in Home Retail Group told The Sunday Times the
buy-back was a “waste of money” and the company must come up with a strategy
to counter the big supermarkets.

One of Home Retail’s biggest shareholders, who asked not to be named, said:
“The company needs to come up with a new plan for Argos. They have done
nothing to answer the long-term questions about how they will fend off the
competitive threat from the supermarkets.”

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