Sir Philip Green to close 25 more stores than initially planned May 25, 2019 Sir Philip Green's Arcadia is set to close 25 more stores than the initial 23 it announced earlier this week. The Topshop and Dorothy Perkins owner revealed 23 stores would shut down earlier this week as part of plans to save the company. Read more: Sir Philip Green told to put his own cash into Arcadia [...]
Sir Philip Green told to plug Arcadia’s mammoth pensions deficit with his own cash May 24, 2019 Frank Field has weighed in on the row surrounding Sir Philip Green’s proposed restructuring of Arcadia, calling on the Topshop tycoon to guarantee his staff’s pensions with his own personal fortune. Read more: Arcadia to shut two dozen stores in radical rescue plan In a letter, the Work and Pensions Committee chair said Green should [...]
Online clothes shopping helps UK retail sales beat economists’ expectations in April May 24, 2019 Online clothes purchases and warm weather helped UK retail sales beat economists' expectations in April, official statistics showed today. Read more: Bank of England upgrades UK economy growth forecast Britons bought 5.2 per cent more goods in April than in the same month a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, released today, [...]
Mothercare’s annual loss jumps to £87m, delayed annual results reveal May 24, 2019 Mothercare’s annual loss grew to £87.3m in the last financial year it said today in a delayed set of annual results. The struggling retailer was due to report its results yesterday, but pushed back its report to today because of the “complexity” of its finances, sending shares down 5.2 per cent. Sales fell 7.9 per cent to [...]
Marks & Spencer pension scheme transfers £1.4bn to two insurers May 23, 2019 Troubled retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has transferred £1.4bn in pension scheme liabilities to two insurance companies, bringing the total insurance coverage to two thirds. Phoenix Group has insured £460m of liabilities, covering 5,000 pensioners, while Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has insured £900m of the £10bn pension scheme. Read more: M&S braced for fresh decline [...]
Tate and Lyle shares drop as it looks to year of flat earnings growth May 23, 2019 Shares sank at Tate and Lyle this morning as the company said it expects earnings per share to remain flat or grow slowly in this financial year. The figures The company said today that a £43m charge on the sale of the division helped push down profits by 16 per cent to £240m in the [...]
Mothercare shares fall as it delays full-year results due to their ‘complexity’ May 23, 2019 Global retailer Mothercare’s shares have fallen this morning after it delayed the publishing of its full-year financial results results due to their “complexity”. Read more: Mothercare suffers another drop in UK like-for-like sales The company, a global retailer for parents and young children which has struggled amid a declining high street, released a statement today [...]
B&M to open 50 UK stores this year despite retail doom and gloom May 23, 2019 Discount retailer B&M said today it plans to open 50 shops this year, despite the wider gloom in the UK retail sector. B&M grew revenue 17 per cent to £3.4bn and profit before tax 8.7 per cent to £249.4m in the 52 weeks to 30 March. The company said it opened 44 new stores in the financial [...]
DEBATE: Does the Jamie’s Italian chain have only itself to blame for its demise? May 23, 2019 Does the Jamie’s Italian chain have only itself to blame for its demise? Patrick Clover, founder and chief executive of BLACKBX, says YES. It’s a sad story for all involved, not least the 1,000 workers made redundant, but to call Jamie’s Italian a victim of external forces is too simplistic. The climate for mid-market restaurants [...]
Drink to that: Young’s pub chain hails profit growth and hikes dividend May 23, 2019 Pub group Young’s hailed robust profit and revenue growth in its latest financial year today, but warned investors of a “tough start” to 2019 after the World Cup fuelled a strong summer in 2018. Read more: City Pub Group cheers investors with sales rise as expansion continues The figures Profit before tax climbed 5.1 per [...]