Lululemon ups 2014 forecast September 11, 2014 CANADIAN clothing heavyweight Lululemon Athletica reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit yesterday, mitigating some of the damage from a series of mishaps last year, spurring it to raise its 2014 profit forecast and pushing its stock higher. Lululemon’s shares jumped 13.9 per cent on the results to $43.73 yesterday, after it reported a 13 per cent [...]
Uber driver hit with first fine September 11, 2014 Ride hire app Uber suffered a fresh blow in Germany yesterday, after a Frankfurt taxi operator won a temporary injunction against an Uber partner driver. Earlier this month, the Frankfurt regional court imposed an injunction on the firm’s ride-sharing offering UberPop – that allows passengers to share a hire car to the same destination – [...]
Philips needs solid numbers if he’s to see through his three-year plan – Bottom Line September 11, 2014 So you’ve had a row with your other half, and the next day, with the ensuing awkwardness still lingering, your eyes drift towards the posh chocolates in Waitrose. Combine ’em with some flowers, you reckon – chuck in a faux-sentimental card and maybe even a two-day break in Bruges – and hey presto, problem solved. [...]
House sales up again with flood of new buyers September 11, 2014 The housing market resurged again in July, defying expectations that activity was slowing down, industry figures revealed yesterday. The number of first-time buyers surged by 25 per cent in the year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). More than 30,000 bought a place on the housing ladder in the month, the biggest number since [...]
Gulf between London and the rest of the UK at 20-year high September 11, 2014 HOUSE prices in London and the south east have soared so fast that the gap with the rest of the country is at the highest level since 1995, LSL Property Services said today. In London, the average price stands at £571,336, while the overall average price in the country is £274,302. But excluding those two expensive [...]
Dunelm family back at helm as chief exec quits September 11, 2014 DUNELM’s former chief executive has returned to the helm of the homewares chain after the abrupt departure of Nick Wharton. The furniture-to-kitchenware retailer said yesterday that Wharton, who joined four years ago from Halfords, was stepping down to pursue “a new challenge”. Will Adderley, the son of Bill and Jean Adderley who founded the group [...]
Argos boosts Home Retail Group September 11, 2014 HOME Retail Group yesterday reported a ninth successive period of growth at Argos, but said the group’s full-year result will depend on the all-important Christmas trading period. Sales at Argos were up 1.4 per cent to £901m for the 13 weeks to 30 August, while like-for-like sales grew by 1.2 per cent. Higher sales of [...]
Oil hits two-year low as global recovery falters September 11, 2014 BENCHMARK Brent crude oil yesterday fell to a two-year low as increasing supply and signs of weakening demand countered worries that conflicts in the Middle East could curb output. The price fell as low as $96.72 (£59.57), its lowest level since July 2012, as the International Energy Agency (IEA) yesterday cut its global oil demand [...]
Ukraine conflict casts a chill on Gazprom as profits fall sharply September 11, 2014 GAZPROM took a huge blow to its profits in the first three months of 2014, as the conflict in Ukraine and a weaker rouble took their toll on the massive Russian gas supplier. Net profits at Gazprom, Russia’s largest company, fell 41 per cent in the first half of 2014 compared with a year before, [...]
Worries over US economy as jobless claims increase again September 11, 2014 THE NUMBER of new jobless benefit claimants in the US increased unexpectedly last week, official data showed yesterday, indicating the economic recovery might not be running as smoothly as economists had hoped. A total of 315,000 made initial claims for benefits, up 11,000 on the week. And the previous week’s jobless claims figure was revised upwards by [...]