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BUSINESS EXTRA Chain sold FINANCE No change at EY
and advisory divisions worldwide.
But, bearing in mind the strategic importance of the nowunhappy US member firm to Project Everest, EY halted the project.
FULHAM SHORE, owner of the Franco Manca and The Real Greek restaurant chains, is selling them for £93.4 million (€106 million).
the same companies whose books they were scrutinising.
The UK’s accounting and audit regulator, the Financial Reporting Council, said that auditing operations should be isolated from the rest of EY’s businesses. In the event, EY went further still with a restructuring operation that would have separated audit
“The global executive remains committed to moving forward with creating two worldclass organisations that further advance audit quality, independence and client choice,” explained a note to staff from EY’s global executive committee.
“We will begin taking actions based on what we have learned from the work done over the past year, actions that will both benefit our businesses today and better prepare us for a new transaction,” the executive committee added.
Ups and downs
ic recovery in 2022.
Despite the sobering outlook for UK economy, this latest prediction is rather better than the IMF’s January prediction of a 0.6 per cent contraction.
Buyer is the Japanese giant Toridoll which is listed on the Tokyo stock exchange, owns 5,500 restaurants and has worldwide sales of £1 billion (€1.13 billion).
Toridoll already runs the Marugame Udon, Shoryu and Wok to Walk chains in the UK and is teaming up with Capdesia, the private equity company behind Wasabi Sushi & Bento, for the Fulham Shore deal.
Shares in Fulham Shore soared by a third to 15p (approximately 16 cents) when the deal was announced.
Shared out
countries regarded as the world’s seven most advanced economies. The UK topped this group, which dominates global trade and the international financial system, during the pandem
Meanwhile the IMF has raised Spain’s 2023 growth forecast by fourtenths of a percentage point to 1.5 per cent but lowered next year’s prediction by another fourtenths, to 2 per cent.
This year’s improved forecast matches those of other organisations, especially af
Could do better
LADBIBLE GROUP, part of LBG Media, made light of a disappointing financial performance.
The group, which is based in Manchester, pointed out that it is now the leading news publisher on TikTok, and by December 31 last year the number of its followers had grown by 72 per cent compared with 2021.
LadBible’s global audience grew by 39 per cent yearonyear to 366 million, with 98 billion content views, 56 per cent more than the previous year.
Nevertheless, pre tax profits dropped 10 per cent to £7.3 million (€8.3 million) over the same 12month period, while a 15 per cent revenue increase to £62.8 million (€71.3 million) missed forecasts.
The year’s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was also down 6 per cent at £15.7 million (€17.8 million).
ter Spain’s 2022’s strong 5.5 per cent growth. Two months ago the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) raised its 2023 forecast to 1.7 per cent, while the Bank of Spain upgraded its own from 1.3 per cent to 1.6 per cent.
Despite these reasonably encouraging figures, they fall short of the Spanish government’s overestimate of a predicted 2.1 per cent growth announced in its Budget.
Stepping stone
MULTINATIONAL natural stone company Cosentino continues to diversify production beyond its Silestone brand.
After launching Dekton in 2013, the company has now opened a new €120 million factory covering 40,000 square metres in Cantoria (Almeria).
This brings up to 140,000 square metres the area allocated to Dekton, with everything in place for a fourth production line in the near future.
Despite announcing plans to float the company in the first quarter of 2023, Cosentino said that its board had not made a firm decision.
“All options are on the table but it is not true that this has delayed until next year,” a statement insisted.
ELEVEN top executives at Inditex received 202,500 shares that are worth more than €6 million. This corresponds to the second and last phase of the company’s 20192023 incentive plan, which makes up part of the variable salary for senior executives and other personnel and is linked to meeting specified targets.
The volume of this year’s shares was 21 per cent lower than that distributed during the incentive plan’s first phase which ended in April 2022, although each share is worth €30.39, a 20 per cent increase on their 2022 value.
More to go
BARCLAYS announced that it intends to close 15 more branches across the UK this summer.
The high street bank revealed that it will be pulling down the shutters on two locations in Northern Ireland, one in Wales and 12 in England next July.
These latest closures bring a total of 73 Barclays branches that have closed, or will close, this year.
The industry routinely justifies closures by pointing out that fewer people now use branches after learning how to bank from home during the pandemic.
Dow Jones
Stretching it
DISCOUNT shopping chain Poundstretcher has reportedly hired advisers to look into the possibility of a stock market float after sales boomed during Covid. The group, created in 1981, now has around 350 outlets and announced in February that it would open another 50 stores across the UK in 2023.
Sea change
BANCA is preparing to sell a majority stake in frozen food company Nueva Pescanova. The financial institution, which owns 97 per cent of the fishing group’s capital, is negotiating the transfer of 80 per cent of its shares to Canadian company Cooke Inc, which also specialises in seafood products.
