The Business Matrix: Monday 10 October 2011

New City jobs total falls 17% in a year

The number of new City jobs created in the third quarter of the year has dropped 17 per cent from the same period in 2010, says recruitment firm Astbury Marsden. Some 12,750 City jobs were created in the three months to the end of September, down from 14,900 a year ago.

No September lift for high street gloom

The high street slump continued last month with retail sales falling 4 per cent, the steepest fall in demand since February 2009, according to BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker. Fashion stores had the biggest hit, with sales down 5.1 per cent.

Sala in £52m merger with EDM Group

Sala International has merged with rival document management business EDM Group in a £52m deal. Sala was backed by private equity house LDC, while EDM was backed by ECI Partners.

Ladbrokes

Analysts are betting on an update from the bookie about its bid for Sportingbet in its trading update on Thursday. A sticking point is likely to be the online group’s Turkish unit, which it wants to sell to Gaming VC.

WH Smith

The stationery and books chain indicated in August that it was bucking the gloom seen elsewhere on the high street, leaving the City expecting its annual profits on Thursday will meet forecasts of about £93m.

Burberry

Even though fears over China’s growth prospects have seen shares in the upmarket fashion group Burberry retreat from all-time highs, analysts still expect a strong first-half update on Wednesday.