July 2018



Greggs first-half sales up 5% to £476m

Shares of Greggs, the Newcastle-based bakery and “food-on-the-go” retailer, rose about 8% after it said its sales rose 5.2% to £476 million in the 26 weeks…






Bodycote expects results to beat consensus

Macclesfield-based engineering and thermal processing giant Bodycote said it expects its full year results to “be marginally ahead of current consensus.” Bodycote said that for the…




Cussons profit falls amid Nigeria slump

Manchester-based soaps and consumer products company PZ Cussons said its adjusted profit before tax fell 21.5% to £80.1 million for the year to May 31, 2018, “largely due to…


Outages hurt Drax H1 earnings; shares down 7%

Shares of Selby, North Yorkshire-based power company Drax Group fell about 5% after it said its first-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell to…











DFS Furniture warns earnings will fall

Doncaster-based DFS Furniture warned in a trading update that its full-year earnings will fall below last year, blaming “exceptionally hot weather” and “disruption outside of our…



Begbies Traynor revenue tops £52m

Manchester-based Begbies Traynor Group plc, the business recovery, financial advisory and property services consultancy, said its revenue from continuing operations in the year ended April 30, 2018,…


Tour de Yorkshire injects £98m into economy

The 2018 Tour de Yorkshire boosted the county’s economy by about £98 million, according to an economic impact study conducted by independent research company GRASP and…



Stobart Group boardroom battle rages on

The battle for control of the board at Carlisle-based aviation, energy and transport firm Stobart Group continues to rage on despite former CEO Andrew Tinkler failing narrowly…


Co-op Bank hires ex-Lloyds executive as new CEO

Manchester-based Co-operative Bank announced on Monday the appointment of former Lloyds Banking Group executive Andrew Bester as its new chief executive officer. Co-operative Bank said in…


Stobart CFO quits amid boardroom vote delay

Carlisle-based aviation, energy and transport firm Stobart Group late on Friday delayed the results of its contentious AGM shareholder vote on the future of chairman Ian Ferguson. Ferguson has…








Regulator probes KPMG over Conviviality audit

The UK’s Financial Reporting Council has launched an investigation into auditor KPMG’s work for Conviviality, the Crewe-based alcohol wholesaler which owned Bargain Booze and Wine…