Saville Row tailor turns to crowdfunding for global expansion

Miranda Wadham
-
0
Saville Row tailor turns to crowdfunding for global expansion

British tailor Mark Marengo is seeking a £90,000 revenue loan on Crowd2Fund.com, to expand its Saville Row business.

The company was first established in 2005 by founder Mark Marengo, who began his career working as a tie salesman. Marengo then began designing his own suits and shirts, before launching his own business on Saville Row eight years ago.

CEO Mark Marengo

The company’s products are manufactured in Italy by small workshops, with a significant emphasis on their handmade elements. As well as retailing online, Mark Marengo products are wholesaled both in the UK and internationally. The company has had particular success in well-known retailers such as Harvey Nichols, where Mark Marengo’s Asian fit suit brand is the best selling suit line throughout the store.

The business’ early success has led to plans for further expansion; Marengo aims to ramp up online sales, as well as focussing on international buyers, where Savile Row name and connotations travel well. The company already has plans to start selling through Secoo.com, the main online luxury portal in China. They plan to dovetail these efforts by introducing visiting tailoring teams in both China and other countries.

Marengo says:

“We are intending to push the business online using free publicity which Savile Row gives us, and send our visiting tailors to visit CEOs of banks. With this model we can launch a business very quickly in America, Australia or Japan.”

He chose to raise the debt funds through crowdfunding, rather than a traditional lender due to alternative finance offering the opportunity to reach brand advocates, as well as banks lacking the foresight to understand his business.

“The banks are very unapproachable and they lack vision even if security is offered,” he says. “Crowdfunding enables you to share your aspiration with like minded investors based on a solid business plan.”

The company is seeking a £90,000 revenue loan on Crowd2Fund.com. As well as offering an interest rate of 9 percent, the campaign offers a number of rewards to investors who inject cash above certain thresholds; these include scaling annual discounts of up to 25 percent. For more information, visit their campaign page here.

Morning Round-Up: Uber-Saudi investment, France to help Greece, OPEC meeting

Miranda Wadham
-
0
Morning Round-Up: Uber-Saudi investment, France to help Greece, OPEC meeting
Saudi investment fund pours money into Uber Controversial taxi app Uber have raised $3.5 billion of investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, bringing the company’s value up to $62.5 billion. In a written statement, Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick labelled the investment a “vote of confidence in our business”, with the fund’s managing director Yasir Al Rumayyan taking a seat on Uber’s board. Uber are planning a $250 million expansion into the Middle East, where it has a strong female market – women in Saudi Arabia are banned from driving themselves. French PM to encourage investment in Greece French Prime Minister Manuel Valls wants to support Greece’s economic recovery through investment, as he begins an official state visit to Athens. In an interview with Kathimerini newspaper he confirmed that the leadership is “urging more French businesses to look into investment prospects because we want to assist Greece’s economic recovery.” Paris has been supportive of Greece throughout heated bailout talks, saying that “the place of Greece is inside the European Union and the euro zone”. Valls visit comes just days after a further bailout agreement was reached between Greece and the Eurozone. OPEC stage meeting for Saudi-Iran resolution OPEC energy ministers will meet later today in Vienna to continue the discussion on oil prices, with the intention of freezing output. The group have failed to agree on formal output targets in December, with rivals Saudi and Iran clashing over numbers. In April, Saudi Arabia vetoed plans for an output freeze which may have brought oil prices into steadier territory. A spokesman for OPEC made clear the group’s intentions at today’s meeting, confirming that “the Gulf Cooperation Council is looking for coordinated action at the meeting.” 
02/06/2016

Telford Homes profits up 28%

UK Investor Magazine
-
0
Telford Homes profits up 28%
At 10:30am BST Telford Homes PLC (LON:TEF) traded at 369.12 -0.57% Telford Homes PLC today announced its final results for the year ended 31 March 2016 reporting a record 42% growth in revenue of £245.6 million for the year up from £173.5 million in 2015. Pretax profit rose by 28%, exceeding original market expectations as it rose to £32.2 million from £25.1 million. The company also forecast profits would exceed £50 million in fiscal 2019. Telford announced a final dividend of 7.70p per share, bringing the total dividend to 14.20p, a 27.9% increase up from 11.1p the previous year. The London-focused residential property developer said its demand for its “typical product” remained strong from investors and owner-occupiers across all developments. Its move into the institutional private rented sector (PRS) have returned ‘exceptional capital returns’ and mark the start of a “new direction” for Telford Homes and could become an increasingly significant part of future sales in the coming years. Telford Homes stated it has secured over 50% of the cumulative revenue expected in the next three financial years up to 31 March 2019. It’s development pipeline is in excess of £1.5 billion of future revenue, six times greater than the revenue reported in the year to 31 March 2016. Chief Executive of Telford Homes, Jon Di-Stefano said:
“The group is focused on desirable non-prime locations in London at a price point that continues to see strong demand. There is a housing crisis in London and a clear imbalance between the supply of homes and the needs of a growing population. This imbalance underpins the board’s plans to increase the number of homes the group is building both for open market sale and subsided affordable housing,” “Telford Homes is more than 50% forward sold for the next three financial years combined and has a development pipeline greater than six times the revenue reported in the year to 31 March, 2016. The move towards private rented sector sales is an excellent fit with the group’s typical product and area of operation and results in significantly enhanced capital returns”
01/06/2016
By Aaron Kidd

IG Group full year earnings ahead of expectations

UK Investor Magazine
-
0
IG Group full year earnings ahead of expectations
At 10:26am BST London IG Group Holdings PLC (LON:IGG) traded at 804.00p up 0.56% following its trading statement released today. The group announced that it expects full year earnings to be slightly ahead of expectations ahead of the start of its new financial year that begins tomorrow on June 1st 2016. It a brief trading update, the online trading company said it performed well during what was a relatively quiet fourth quarter of the year with all key operating and financial metrics remaining strong. The company said it expects full-year earnings to be slightly ahead of expectations, as an increase in marketing spend is returning what it described as a ‘compelling result’. IG said it is thanks to a “continued robust performance” and “ongoing strength in trading revenue”. IG said: “As outlined in the third quarter trading update, this continued robust performance has resulted in higher variable operating costs in the last part of the year, including an increase in online marketing spend, where the payback remains compelling,” Further adding: “This cost increase was more than offset by the ongoing strength in trading revenue, meaning the Company now expects full year earnings to be slightly ahead of expectations” The company will publish its result for the year ended May 31 on Tuesday 19th July 2016 01/06/2016  

Classlist nears £550k crowdfunding target

UK Investor Magazine
-
1
Classlist nears £550k crowdfunding target
Technology start-up Classlist continues its mission to revolutionise the way parents and teachers can communicate, edging closer to the £550,000 target in their crowdfunding campaign. With only 22 days left, 75 investors have already seen high potential in the site and the campaign has raised £492,920. Classlist, who aim to use the funds to develop infrastructure and build its international platform, have been gaining support from schools around the UK; having already been approved and accepted in over 70 schools, the company continues to be highly rated and approved by parents, headteachers and advertisers. Founders Susan Barton and Claire Wright started with a simple aim: to discover a new way to find contact details for other school parents. The pair argue that mainstream social media platforms are not designed efficiently for finding such information, ‘needlessly wasting time for busy families’. They therefore devised a ‘designed-for-purpose’ third generation platform accessible for parents with authentication – security and privacy being Classlist’s core values. After 18 months of large scale piloting and feedback from parents, Classlist now includes tools to support group and private messaging, discussion forums, parent listings, PTA and private event planning, photo sharing, and lift-share maps. The company hopes that funds amounted through its crowdfunding campaign, which closes on the 19th of June, can help improve and add more tools to their site. Following the massive interest generated by the funding campaign, Classlist said it was “delighted to see Classlist’s loyal parent users – who have helped us grow so quickly – becoming owners in the business”. For more information on Classlists campaign, visit their website Crowdcube page here. 27/05/2016 By Aaron Kidd

Hostelworld sinks 25%

UK Investor Magazine
-
0
Hostelworld sinks 25%
In an AGM statement released to shareholders this morning Hostelworld PLC (LON:HSW) traded at 190.00 down -26.14% 10:19AM BST after the Irish hostel booking company said it has traded “below expectations” in the second quarter of its financial year. On reflection the company said that ‘recent geo-political events, particularly in Europe’ such as the terrorist attacks on Paris and Brussels were a strong influence behind the dip in trade. Bookings into higher priced European destinations were weaker whereas the Asia-Pacific region continued to be its fastest growing area due to an increase in hostelers travel preferences. With Group bookings ‘marginally lower’ compared with its previous year, the company expects its recent launch of its digital advertising campaign to support key summer trades. However the company said it has continued to see strong bookings growth in the Hostelworld brand. Hostelworld also said it expects marketing investment in its cost-per-click as a percentage of net revenue coming in at below the previous guidance of between 45-50% on a full year basis. It said: “The trends in bookings and Average Booking Value that we have seen in the travel market, particularly into higher priced European destinations, while partially offset by improved marketing efficiency, means that the year’s outturn will be dependent on a recovery in key European destinations over the important summer travel season, and we remain mindful of the exchange rate environment. “Hostelworld will continue to actively respond to movements in demand, supply and pricing. The strength of our brand and technology, underpinned by a growing marketplace, gives the Board confidence in the Group’s future prospects” 26/05/2016 By Aaron Kidd  

FTSE rallies for second day

UK Investor Magazine
-
0
FTSE rallies for second day
The FTSE 100 index climbed 37.72 points, 0.57 % to 6,254.88 12:17PM BST continuing its risk on rally into a second day. Lloyds Banking Group rose 0.9p to 73.4p, Standard Chartered climbed 10.6p to 546.6p, with Royal Bank of Scotland being the biggest riser, surging more than 3% or 7.9p to 253.1p. HSBC was up 9.5p to 443.8p after raising $2bn (£1.4 billion) from selling perpetual subordinated contingent convertible securities, strengthening its capital base. M&S shares have dropped down 35.6p, or 8%, to 409.1p after investors ignored the retailer’s “get back to basics” revival plan of its clothing business. The group said a turnaround of falling clothing branch would take time and cost money, at least in the short term. Another big faller was technology firm Intertek Group (LON:ITRK) dropping 3.4% to 3186p, after reporting earnings. Dixons Carphone PLC (LON:DC) on the other hand rose 2% to 458p after reporting higher revenues and predicting profits at the top end of forecasts. European equities rose to a four week high with Greek banks profiting a 1.3% rise after euro zone finance ministers made progress on talks over completing a debt relief deal. Oil Rallies Energy shares were in demand with oil giant Royal Dutch Shell rising 22p to 1683p as oil prices edged closer to $50 a barrel, up 1.3% as the U.S crude hit its highest in over 7 months following a suspected draw-down in U.S crude inventories following industry data. Having nearly halved its debt from £305,000 to £230,000 Independant Resources PLC (LON:IRG) rose up nearly 43% to 0.075p. This follows the company’s recent major oil prospect in Tunisia and a big underground gas storage scheme in north-east Italy. Shares in Petrel Resources PLC (LON:PET) climbed by 8.8% to 4.63p following the news that is expects Woodside Pettroleum ltd. to start a 3D seismic survey of Frontier exploration licence in the Irish Atlantic in a months time. Judges Scientific PLC (LON:JDG) on the otherhand lost 1/5 of its value down to 354.5p at 1460p followings warnings from designer of scientific intruments on its first half profits. Currency markets The pound fell by 0.2% against U.S dollar to $1.4612, alongside a 0.3% slip against the euro to €1.3098. 25/05/2016 By Aaron Kidd

M&S show growth, but warns on near-term profit

Miranda Wadham
-
0
M&S show growth, but warns on near-term profit
M&S released mixed results this morning, with pre-tax profit coming in ahead of analysts expectations but marred by a warning that the group’s turnaround plan may impact profit in the short term.
The group reported an underlying pretax profit of £689.6 million for the year to March 26, up nearly 5 percent on the year before, with with group revenue also up 2.4 percent.
However, new chief executive Steve Rowe warned on the short term profits of the company, as it undergoes a turnaround plan designed to spark growth in its clothing section:
“We are clear on the actions needed to recover and grow Clothing & Home, which is our top priority; to continue to grow our Food business; and to focus on driving profitability. We are investing to re-establish our price position by sharpening prices and to enhance service by putting more employees into our stores.
“These actions, combined with the difficult trading conditions, will have an adverse effect on profit in the short term.”
mands
25/05/2016

Morning Round-Up: Greece/Eurozone deal, Monsanto rejects Bayer, last minute for BHS

Miranda Wadham
-
0
Morning Round-Up: Greece/Eurozone deal, Monsanto rejects Bayer, last minute for BHS
“Breakthrough” deal for Greece agreed by Eurozone Eurozone finance ministers have agreed to send further bailout funds to Greece, after hours to talks that extended into the early hours of Wednesday. The “breakthrough” deal includes a commitment from the IMF for the first time, just days after the Greek parliament approved another round of gruelling budget cuts to help balance the country’s spiralling debt. The agreement will release a 10.3 billion euro payment, as well as the possibility of debt relief in 2018 should Greece continue to meet payments. Euclid Tsakalotos, the Greek finance minister, said: “I think there is some ground for optimism that this can be the beginning of turning Greece’s vicious circle of recession-measures-recession into one where investors have a clear runway to invest in Greece.” Monsanto rejects Bayer offer

Monsanto has rejected a bid from Bayer just days after a potential deal was announced, calling the $62 billion offer was “financially inadequate”.

German chemical group Bayer offered $122 a share in cash for Monsanto – the largest all-cash offer, ahead of InBev’s $60.4 billion offer for Anheuser-Busch. However, Monsanto’s CEO Hugh Grant said the bid undervalued the company, but remained open to anything higher.

Monsanto shares rose 3.1 percent on the news, with Bayer similarly rising on the German market. BHS in emergency bidding process Last-minute bidding has begun to save retail chain BHS, with a consortium led by former Mothercare boss thought to be the frontrunner.

Richess Group, a newly formed consortium headed by Greg Tufnell and backed by a wealthy Portuguese family, is looking the likely winner so far after other bidders, including Matalan founder John Hargreaves, dropped out.

According to sources, if no deal is made by Friday BHS is likely to enter liquidation, risking 11,000 jobs. 
25/05/2016
 

Big Yellow Group posts revenue growth, notes slow economic acitivity

UK Investor Magazine
-
0
Big Yellow Group posts revenue growth, notes slow economic acitivity
The UK’s leader in self storage the Big Yellow Company PLC announces a strong revenue growth in the year ended March 31 against a “backdrop of slower economic activity compared to the prior year” The FTSE 250 company posted revenue of £101.4M for the year, a 20% increase from the previous year of £84.3m alongside a like-for-like revenue increase of 10% to £87.6m from £79.9m Alongside its increase in revenue, Big Yellow PLC increased its final dividend by 13% from 11.3p per share up to 12.80p per share meaning its total dividend for the year to 24.9p a 15% growth from the previous year which stood at 21.7p The statutory metrics show that Big Yellow’s profit before tax grew 7% from £105.2m to £112.2m. Occupancy growth has increased from 267,000 square feet the previous year projected by 185,000 square feet. The Company’s like-for-like basis was up by a 3.5 percentage points from the previous year at 76.7% from 73.2% The Big Yellow said that its objectives it to achieve a 85% Occupancy across its next porfolio. Executive Chairman Nicholas Vetch said: “Against a backdrop of slower economic activity compared to the prior year, we are pleased to have delivered another year of occupancy, revenue and earnings growth. We will continue to innovate, by improving our digital platform and operations to grow our market share and leverage our market leading brand. In addition, our focus will remain on London and the South East and large regional cities where barriers to entry are at their highest, and supply remains very constrained,”
1...1,7201,7211,722...1,835Page 1,721 of 1,835