Hints and tips:
...Dixons Carphone shares have fallen by two-fifths over the past year, materially worse than European peers Fnac Darty and Ceconomy....
...Mr Bompard joined Carrefour from Fnac Darty in July....
...Chief executive Seb James exudes breezy confidence much as David Davis, the minister negotiating Britain’s exit from the EU, once did....
...Fnac Darty, the French retailer, has hired Peggy Vendel as head of M&A....
...In a note early on Monday, and before Fnac’s latest bid, Cedric Lecasble, analyst at Raymond James, said: “We do not believe material financial leverage suits this low-margin industry at all well....
...Cedric Lecasble, an analyst at Raymond James who covers Fnac, forecast that the retailer would drop plans to bid for Darty....
...jonathan.guthrie@ft.com Darty: kate.burgess@ft.com...
...That would imply Dixons chief executive Sebastian James would hold the same post at the merged entity....
...The shares cost 26 times “earnings before bad stuff”, compared with 17 times for Darty....
...A parliamentary report on the near-collapse of Halifax Bank of Scotland pins much of the blame on chairman Lord Stevenson and chief executives Sir James Crosby and Andy Hornby....
...“Kantar data suggest that this has had some success in reversing share loss to both the discounters and superstore competitors but not to a degree sufficient to offset the lower gross margins,” wrote James...
...Sebastian James, Dixons Retail chief executive, said Pixmania had been losing out to competitors Darty and Fnac. “The first priority at Pixmania is [to] stop the bleeding,” Mr James said....
...The Financial Services Authority has delivered that through the prosecution of insider traders James and Miranda Sanders, sent down for four years and 10 months respectively....
...“The strong close and impressive rally on Friday has the FTSE in a position to rally further this week,” said James A. Hyerczyk, analyst at Autochartist....
...“We believe that the group’s Asian exposure offers unique strategic appeal,” analyst James Pearce said....
...British Airways added 3.6 per cent to 206¾p after Raymond James Equities added the stock to its focus list based on recovery hopes....
...Simon Fox has just finished reading James Frey’s controversial memoir A MillionLittle Pieces, a story of rehabilitation after a lifetime of self-abuse....
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