Sainsbury’s reports “record” Christmas performance January 7, 2010 SUPERMARKET chain 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 for the 12 weeks to Boxing Day beat the forecasts of City analysts who had predicted a 3.5 per cent gain. The data also show that [...]
Persimmon in house sales boost January 7, 2010 Housebuilder Persimmon 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 – [...]
JD Sports “back on track” after seasonal lift January 7, 2010 JD Sports Fashion said it was on track beat the City’s profit expectations for the year after enjoying a festive boost. Like-for-like sales rose 6.6 per per cent in the five weeks to January 6, driven by the performance of its fashion-focused chains Bank and Scotts, where trading rose 9.7 per cent. The group said [...]
The coup that melted faster than the snow January 7, 2010 TWO former cabinet ministers yesterday called for a secret ballot to decide whether Gordon Brown should lead the Labour party into the general election, although the plot against the Prime Minister soon fizzled out. Former health secretary Patricia Hewitt and ex-defence secretary Geoff Hoon wrote to all Labour MPs urging them to back a secret [...]
Strong demand for gilt sale despite worries over deficit January 7, 2010 A KEY auction of government bonds was yesterday heavily oversubscribed, in a tentative sign that investors are still keen to buy UK debt despite fears over the country’s credit-worthiness. The Debt Management Office (DMO) said it had received bids for 2.68 times the £4bn of five-year gilts on offer, equivalent to the highest level of [...]
Commuters face delays as bad weather drags on January 7, 2010 COMMUTERS in London were bracing themselves for more travel disruption today as Britain remained in the grip of the deep freeze. Some of the worst weather in years has hit trains, flights and roads and forced thousands of schools to close, with many said likely to remain shut today. Train operators voiced hopes that services [...]
Fed cautious over housing January 7, 2010 SOME Federal Reserve officials worried last month that waning government support could snuff out a fragile housing market recovery and a few believed it might be desirable to step up asset purchases. Labour market weakness remained an important concern for Fed officials, the minutes released last night showed, with officials saying they expect unemployment to [...]
Labour can’t even organise a proper plot January 7, 2010 HOW incompetent can you be? If the Labour Party had any sense, it would remove Gordon Brown as soon as possible; all the polls show that Labour would gain at least some ground with any half-decent alternative leader. A change at this late stage is what the Tories dread the most. Instead, we had the [...]
BA and Unite in new talks January 7, 2010 BRITISH Airways will hold talks with union leaders representing cabin crew this week, in a bid to avoid potentially crippling industrial action. Unite is already balloting its members for a second strike after a planned 12-day action over the Christmas period was ruled illegal by a High Court judge. Discussions will revolve around planned changes [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 7, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES INEOS PUTS IPO ON BACK BURNER Ineos, the world’s third-largest chemicals producer, has put on ice exploratory work for an initial public offering, according to people close to the situation. A listing, which would have been among the largest by a UK company, was one of a range of options that had been [...]