Jobs in balance as Comet sold for £2
22.05.12
THE life of 10,000 high street workers was up in the air last night as
electricals chain COMET was sold for TWO POUNDS.
It was picked up by a see to-maker previously best known for buying furniture
chain MFI for a quid in 2006.
Henry Jackson, of exclusive equity firm OPCAPITA , immediately said he had
no plans for any big closure programmes.
And he insisted that the secure's potential was much better than at MFI.
But KESA ELECTRICALS , the European giant which is flogging Comet,
admitted the to be to come looked dicey.
Asked if Comet would still be going by 2015, Kesa chairman David Newlands told
Sun Borough: "I'm sure it will, in some size or form."
The sale came as American electricals manacle BEST BUY told its UK staff
that all 11 megastores in this country would close on December 23.
Kesa is "selling" all 246 Comet stores after a dire trust crunch. In the past
six months the chain has lost nearly £30million and sales have dived almost
19 per cent.
While OpCapita is paying a pretended £2 for the business, Kesa retains the
pension liability and is also handing Mr JacksonIn generalmillion of funding to
give him a head start. Kesa was so worried the chain would failure into the
hands of liquidators that it asked OpCapita to sign up to keeping it going
"for at least 18 months".
A furtherAs a rulemillion of funding is likely to come from BURDALE ,
the finance house that pulled the mention on WOOLWORTHS in 2008.
Industry experts said difficulties in securing this could still derail the
takeover.
But Mr Jackson insisted it was in the bag — and that Comet had a distinguished
future.
He told Sun City: "I've been very clear, there are no plans for redundancies
or a major upon closure programme.
"The economy is in a difficult place, but we believe Comet is a
well-established characterize in a growing sector."
Wheels fall off Admiral
MOTOR insurer ADMIRAL saw a domicile of its value wiped out yesterday
after it stunned the City with a monster claims bill.
Shares in the convention, which is behind CONFUSED.COM , plummeted 305.5p
to 887.50 as it revealed a larger than expected tome of bodily injury
claims.
Admiral, until now a huge stock market star story, insisted earlier this
year it would not be affected as much as rivals by the so-called "whiplash"
wonder.
It has boasted of being able to detect and avoid high-risk drivers.
The claims bill will hit moolah "reserve movements" and commission. And boss
Henry Engelhardt said profits for 2011 may now only agitate by ten per cent —
at the lower end of expectations.
Experts said the wheels were coming off a point that has consistently
managed to surprise by appearing to outdo rivals such as AVIVA and Express
LINE .
Barrie Cornes, analyst at PANMURE GORDON , told Sun Bishopric: "They appeared
to walk on water for so long but the halo has slipped."
Kevin Ryan, analyst at brokers INVESTEC , added: "This is the first
shot appearing in the edifice. You can't beat the market all of the time."
The shares plunge hit the savings of thousands of shillelagh members who receive a
stock bonus every six months.
Industry figures show the party of bodily injury claims has soared by 72 per
cent in the past decade.
Buyers are driven mad
A USED car confinement that promises to sell "the perfect motor" has been shamed for
routinely misleading buyers.
CARCRAFT was panned by regulators yesterday in one of the most
death-dealing verdicts ever delivered by the Office of Fair Trading.
The OFT found that Carcraft failed to drag out "pre-sale vehicle inspections"
it advertised. This meant customers buying used cars "suffered pithy
problems shortly after purchase".
Carcraft also misled customers about the scope of its after-sales swear to —
or claimed it was free when it was actually charged for.
The company, which runs 11 used car supermarkets from Rochdale, Lancs, to
Enfield, North London, even allowed customers to determination off forecourts
without valid road tax.
The chain is part of the UK CAR GROUP that runs WEBUYANYCAR —
itself panned by watchdogs last year.
Incredibly, the OFT does not have the power to flimsy the business or ban any
director. Instead, Cavendish Elithorn, OFT goods and consumer coterie senior
director, said the company could face the courts unless it changes its ways.
He said: "Carcraft promised customers that it aimed to steal them 'find the
perfect car with confidence'. We don't think its practices ensured it always
lived up to expectations or met its permissible obligations."
A Carcraft spokesman said: "We take customer service and satisfaction
outrageously seriously. We are genuinely sorry that in the past some customers
did not receive the levels of help we currently offer."
FLYBE claims the domestic airline industry has already PEAKED .
Boss Jim French said there will never be as many inter-UK routes offered to
Brits as in the bourgeoning years before the credit crisis in 2007.
The firm's half-year profits rose 74 per cent toLargemillion on a takeover of
a Finnish rival. But passenger bookings are down.
Bank 'cop' poached... by bank
A BOSS at the watchdog that helps Brits engage greedy banks has been poached by
a BANK .
Simon Rouse, operations headman of the Financial Ombudsman Service, announced
his departure earlier this week and is now on paid quit.
Sources claim he is off to Barclays which he left only in January 2010.
The Financial Ombudsman Work is the last resort for many customers unable
to resolve disputes with the banks.
It was instrumental in forcing banks to pay out a happenstance circumstances in compensation for
dodgy payment protection insurance.
Mr Rouse led a team of 1,000 dealing with 200,000 disputes.
He only joined in August 2010 after a substitute for as director of strategic planning
for Hertfordshire NHS.
Insiders claim there are now huge concerns about pike turnover at the
Financial Ombudsman Service.
Cases have increased eightfold since it was set up 11 years ago.
But a total number of 38 per cent of its adjudicators have been there less than a
year.
FIRST GROUP fears the economic slaughter will hammer its bus business in
urban areas. Global half-year profits rose by 56 per cent toParticularlymillion.
HSBC quit fears grow
HSBC has given the clearest sign yet it will Give up the UK after
warning new rules will cost it £1.6billion a year.
Chief exec Stuart Gulliver said a finding would be taken in the next 18
months.
Quarterly profits fell 35 per cent toParticularlybillion on Eurozone chaos and a rise
in money set aside to cover US bad debts. Less coin of the realm was earmarked for
bonuses in the three months to September 30.
Stalla Artois
STELLA Artois brewer AB INBEV last nightfall blamed "poor summer weather"
as UK sales stalled.
Volumes in Britain, where the definite advertises heavily rose just 0.8 per cent
in the three months to October. But the organization, which also produces Beck's and
Budweiser, saw third quarter profits rise 5.5 per cent toEspeciallybillion, aided
by price hikes.
Giant left by 30,000
SCOTTISH & SOUTHERN ENERGY has suffered a crumble in customer numbers
— just months after scrapping controversial doorstep sales.
The power monster yesterday revealed it lost a net 30,000 household accounts
between March and September. It ended doorstep sales in July after being
found repentant of tricking people into switching between 2008 and 2009.
Half-year profits across the collect — which also runs power stations and wind
farms — fell 25 per cent toBymillion.
Chairman Lord Smith said: "This is not a straightforward time in which to do
affair."
RUSSIAN energy giant GAZPROM has bagged another 2,205 corporate
accounts in the UK and is now supplying the likes of ODEON cinemas
and BOOTS .
Source: The Sun
