Mitsubishi's Tokyo shares suspended in wake of car cheating scandal
Trading in Mitsubishi Motors shares was suspended on Thursday as too many investors lined up to sell in the wake of the company fuel usage controversy.
Offices of the carmaker in Nagoya were also raided by Japanese officials after it admitted rigging fuel economy tests on 625,000 mini-cars sold in Japan.
UK retail sales experience continued decline
UK retail sales fell for a second month in March as consumers bought less of everything from food to clothing. Retail sales volumes dropped 1.3 per cent in March, compared with February, a bigger fall than was expected.
Core retail sales – excluding auto fuel – were down 1.6 per cent, marking the biggest decline since January 2014. This was also a much bigger decrease than the 0.4 per cent predicted by economists.
On the year, retail sales were up 2.7 per cent, missing expectations for a 4.4 per cent increase.
Dog grooming boosts Pets At Home
Services such as dog grooming and vet practices have driven higher full year sales at Pets At Home. The UK’s largest pets shop chain says its veterinary services rose by 23 per cent in the year to March 2016, while some 12,000 dogs were groomed at its stores the week before Christmas.
Like-for-like growth in services, which strip out new store openings, rose 10.4 per cent for the 52 weeks to 24 March, compared to the same period a year ago.
Sky customers growth slows in third quarter
Sky, the Pay-TV and broadband group, on Thursday said it attracted 177,000 new customers in in its third quarter, 160,000 fewer than the previous quarter. The number of customers leaving - rose to 10.7 per cent from 10.1 per cent in the UK as discounting fell. But revenue at the FTSE 100 broadcaster rose 5 per cent to £8.72 billion in the first three months of the year, while operating profits climbed 12 per cent to £1.14 billion.
Fnac takes lead in fight for Darty
The battle for London-listed electrical firm Darty continued on Thursday, after Fnac, a French books and music retailer trumped the latest bid from former Argos suitor Steinhoff. Fnac, which proprosed a takeover offer for Darty last year, said it would offer 145 pence per share to buy Darty, valuing the company at £779 million. Steinhoff, through its subsidiary Conforama on Wednesday had increased its offer to 138 pence. Darty is attractive to bidders for different reason. Fnac is looking to diversity through a deal while Steinhoff is trying to get its capital out of a deteriorating South African home market into safer European assets.
