Business in brief: Movember | Starbucks

THE “Movember” movement that sees men grow their facial hair in November to raise awareness of prostate cancer has hit razor sales at the world’s largest consumer goods firm.

Procter & Gamble, owner of the Gillette brand, said the craze had compounded a growing trend for men to ditch shaving.

Global revenues at its grooming business, which includes Gillette, were flat in the three months to 31 December as the firm was also affected by foreign exchange movements.

P&G also owns Fairy washing up liquid and Pampers nappies. Group sales were unchanged at $22.3 billion (£13.5bn).

Client funds record at Charles Stanley

BROKER Charles Stanley posted an 18 per cent jump in third-quarter revenues to £36.7 million yesterday, with total client funds reaching a new record of £20.1 billion in the three months to end-December.

That was up 8.8 per cent on total funds of £18.5bn in the three months to September. Charles Stanley said it had seen a 21.4 per cent rise in fee income, which now represents 62.4 per cent of overall group revenue “in line with our strategy of diversifying our revenue base”.

It said it was particularly pleased at an increase in managed funds to £11bn from £9.3bn.

SpaceandPeople set for jump in profits

Advertising and promotions firm SpaceandPeople is tipped to post a 13 per cent rise in full-year profits after a string of client wins boosted its sales.

The Glasgow-based company, which rents out marketing space in venues such as St Pancras International railway station in London, said revenues in the year to December grew 5.3 per cent to £13.8 million.

Annual results from the Aim-quoted group are due in March, and analysts at Edison Investment Research expect pre-tax profits to rise to £2.6m, from £2.3m last time.

International sales perk up Starbucks

Coffee shop giant Starbucks has seen its first-quarter profits surge by almost a third, boosted by higher overseas sales.

The Seattle-based firm, which has more than 20,000 outlets around the world, posted an operating profit of $814 million (£493.4m) for the three months to December, on revenues 12 per cent higher at $4.2 billion.

Like-for-like sales grew by 5 per cent, slightly below analysts’ forecasts, but takings in Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew at the fastest pace in more than three years. Sales across China and the Asia Pacific region were up 8 per cent on a year ago.