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The Business Matrix: Friday 17 April 2015

 

Thursday 16 April 2015 19:41 BST
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Car sales rise by 11% across Europe

Demand for new cars in Europe hit a high last month, with growth soaring in Spain and Portugal, where sales increased by more than 40 per cent on March last year. The Continent’s car industry has been slower than Britain’s to recover from the crash but sales rose 11 per cent last month. UK sales were up 6.1 per cent.

Goldman has best year since 2010

Goldman Sachs posted its best quarterly earnings in five years, with big gains on trading bonds and currencies in the first three months of the year. The US bank’s total trading revenues rose by 23 per cent to $5.46bn (£3.66bn). Total net revenues were up 14 per cent at $10.6bn, while earnings increased by 41 per cent to $2.8bn.

Morrisons to hire 5,000 shop staff

The new boss of Morrisons, David Potts, is putting more staff on the shop floor while slashing jobs at its head office in Bradford. The supermarket will recruit 5,000 shop assistants as it tries to revive sales, following 2,600 store-management cuts last year. Morrisons said the head-office shake-up would come at the cost of 720 roles.

Unilever reports 2.8% sales growth

Unilever reported sales growth of 2.8 per cent, saying trade in emerging markets had unexpectedly bounced back. The consumer goods giant’s chief executive, Paul Polman, had warned the City not to expect good growth this year. But yesterday he said the company was now seeing “more tailwinds than headwinds”.

Debenhams turns around fortunes

Debenhams continued its strong momentum from Christmas, after years of profits warnings. Sales for the six months to February rose by 1.7 per cent to £1.1m, with pre-tax profit up 4.3 per cent at £88.9m. The department store also cut the number of promotional days during the period by 14.

Mothercare sees sales rise by 5%

The mother and babywear retailer Mothercare said it was still cautious about its future, despite recording four quarters of consecutive growth in the UK for the first time for five years. Sales in the UK rose 5.1 per cent in the 11 weeks to the end of March, despite drastic cuts to the amount of discounting.

Sellafield workers vote for action

Workers at the Sellafield nuclear site have voted for industrial action in a health and safety row. The Unite union, which is trying to have a health and safety official appointed at the site in Cumbria, said its 1,200 members there overwhelmingly backed a campaign of action.

Alstom faces new criminal charges

The Serious Fraud Office has charged a UK subsidiary of the French engineer Alstom with four more corruption and conspiracy offences. It said the alleged offences concerned train contracts for the Budapest Metro between January 2006 and October 2007.

Nestlé takes aim at rival Kraft-Heinz

Nestlé told shareholders it was taking steps to maintain its position at the head of the global food industry. Its chairman said creation of new rivals such as Kraft-Heinz had prompted a reorganisation of its product portfolio and its management.

Crude oil price rebounds to $63

Crude oil prices rose yesterday amid signs that the US shale-gas boom is losing pace and news that a militant group had seized control of terminal in Yemen. The price of benchmark Brent crude rose as high as $63.54, its best level this year.

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