Shops failing to cash in on low inflation as British Retail Consortium sales monitor shows no growth in March April 12, 2016 Retail sales flat-lined in March, according to the latest sales monitor from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), in an early sign that a wobble in the consumer-led recovery could be on the cards. Total retail sales were unchanged on March 2015, compared to a 4.7 per cent annual increase registered in this month last year. [...]
Safestay boss Larry Lipman explains why a new breed of hostels is catching the attention of investors April 11, 2016 The boss Safestay said it was only a matter of time until hoteliers exploring opportunities outside of their saturated markets jump on the hostel bandwagon, as the upmarket hostel owner revealed a rise in full-year revenues. The Aim-listed company, which was founded by property veteran Larry Lipman five years ago with the aim of sprucing up the hostel [...]
Tesco explores sale of Dobbies Garden Centres April 11, 2016 Tesco is preparing to sweep its shelves clean of more non-core businesses – this time in the gardening section – as the supermarket chain focuses on reviving sales at its core supermarkets. The retailer, which will publish its full-year results on Wednesday, already sold off a number of assets including its South Korean business Homeplus for £4.2bn last [...]
Markets in Peru climb higher as free-market candidates move on to election second round April 11, 2016 Peru's markets have recorded their sharpest jump since 2008 after voting results showed two free-market candidates have moved on to the second round of presidential elections. In early afternoon trading the Peru General Index was up more than eight per cent, falling back from highs of over 10 per cent in earlier trading. The Peruvian sol currency added 2.68 per cent [...]
Brent crude and WTI: Oil prices jump back ahead of crucial meeting of producers April 11, 2016 Oil prices shook off early losses today to gain around two per cent, ahead of Sunday's crunch meeting between the world's major producers. Prices had earlier dipped on doubts that a production freeze from some of the countries taking part in the talks in Doha will be enough to balance markets. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell [...]
Goldman Sachs agrees to pay $5bn to settle mortgage claims April 11, 2016 Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $5.06bn (£3.6bn) to settle claims that it mis-sold mortgage backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. The settlement with the US Justice Department relates to residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) sponsored or underwritten by the US investment bank between 2005 and 2007. Goldman Sachs has agreed to [...]
Pets at Home and new finance chief Graeme Jenkins part ways after Australia’s Wesfarmers admits to accounting errors at his former firm Target April 11, 2016 Pets at Home said that its incoming chief financial officer Graeme Jenkins will no longer be taking up the role after his former employer Wesfarmers this morning admitted to accounting errors at its Target Australia subsidiary where Jenkins was previously finance chief. The Australian conglomerate said that a probe into Target's accounting practices found that first-half profits at the department store had been falsely inflated by around [...]
Vedanta Resources gets more leeway with debt covenant change April 11, 2016 Shares in Vedanta Resources rose today, after the miner secured changes to its debt covenants which will give it more financial leeway amid the commodity price rout. The India-focused miner said certain changes agreed with creditors at its request came into effect on 31 March, the end of its financial year, and will stand until 30 [...]
Proptech: Aviva backs property tech start-up Opun with £3m funding April 11, 2016 An online property startup that helps homeowners find local contractors to repair their homes has secured £3m of funding from Aviva's new capital venture arm. Opun, which was founded two years ago by entrepreneurs Rod Brown and John Cushing, acts effectively like a broker by putting renters or landlords in touch with craftsmen in their area and [...]
Central and eastern Europe should adopt the euro to boost their credit ratings April 11, 2016 Adopting the euro would be good news for central and eastern Europe, according to credit ratings agency Fitch, which has said that joining the Eurozone could help lower government debt costs and help attract external financing. Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania could all see their credit scores move up a notch or two if they [...]