Sainsbury’s in festive feast as sales rise January 7, 2010 J SAINSBURY was given a festive boost with sales rising by 3.8 per cent as shoppers snapped up food and drink for Christmas. The like-for-like sales figures at Britain’s third largest supermarket chain, revealed yesterday, beat the forecasts of City analysts who had predicted a 3.5 per cent gain. Sainsbury’s slashed prices on its beer, [...]
New Look hails strong Xmas January 7, 2010 BUDGET fashion chain New Look yesterday said it was undecided on a return to the stock market as it reported strong Christmas trading. Like-for-like sales in the UK grew 5.9 per cent in the 14 weeks to 2 January, while total turnover including overseas operations was up 14.4 per cent. The “disposable fashion” group, backed [...]
Sarkozy proposes Google tax to help French artists January 7, 2010 France could start taxing internet advertising revenue from online companies such as Google, using the funds to support creative industries that have been hit by the digital revolution. The proposal, put forward in a government-commissioned survey, is France’s latest challenge to Google and its online rivals. Google said that it does not believe an additional [...]
JD Sports on track as sales surge January 7, 2010 JD Sports Fashion said yesterday it was on track to beat the City’s profit expectations for the year after enjoying a festive boost. Like-for-like sales rose 6.6 per cent in the five weeks to 6 January, driven by the performance of its fashion-focused chains Bank and Scotts, where trading rose 9.7 per cent. The group [...]
Summer blockbusters and rise of 3D movies boost revenues for Cineworld January 7, 2010 CINEWORLD revenues were up more than 11 per cent last year after receiving a welcome boost from the rise in popularity of 3D movies. Box office takings were up by nearly 17 per cent and food sales were up by almost 10 per cent. These rises were enough to overshadow a drop in advertising revenue [...]
AstraZeneca rises as top drug stays safe until 2014 January 7, 2010 ASTRAZENECA settled a US patent row with Israeli drug maker Teva yesterday, protecting its top-selling heartburn drug Nexium for almost four more years. The deal will allow Teva, the world’s biggest manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals, to start selling a cheaper copy of Nexium when the first patent expires in 2014. However, under a previous arrangement, [...]
Interest rate kept on hold again by Bank January 7, 2010 THE Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) yesterday froze the interest rate at 0.5 per cent while persevering with quantitative easing until next month. The interest rate has remained unchanged since March after the MPC took drastic action to tackle the global economic crisis. Quantitative easing, aimed at pumping cash into the financial system, [...]
House prices continue to strengthen in December January 7, 2010 HOUSE prices in the UK recorded their sixth consecutive monthly rise in December, data from the Halifax showed yesterday, though the mortgage lender expects prices to plateau over the rest of 2010. Prices rallied one per cent between November and December, bringing the cost of the average UK home to £169,042. December also saw house [...]
Jobless claims in US rise less than expected January 7, 2010 THE DOLLAR enjoyed a slight boost yesterday after the number of Americans making first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose less than expected. The US government said initial jobless claims increased by just 1,000 to 434,000 in the week ending 2 January, supporting hopes that the struggling job market is bottoming out. The seasonally adjusted figure [...]
Cautious gain at Persimmon January 7, 2010 HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon yesterday remained cautious over the health of the housing market despite a stronger performance in the second half of 2009. The FTSE 250 group said it completed the sale of 8,796 new homes during 2009, which generated a turnover of around £1.4bn. Almost 5000 of these properties were sold in the second half [...]