JD Sports warns weak euro will dent its margins June 17, 2015 Sports fashion group JD Sports yesterday said it has made a “strong start” in the first 19 weeks of the year despite tough comparatives with last year, having announced record annual pre-tax profits of £100m in April. In a trading update ahead of its annual general meeting yesterday, the Size? and Millets owner said the [...]
Suppliers lose out on over half of supermarket promotions June 17, 2015 Suppliers of everyday products to supermarkets are losing money on 60 per cent of promotions, and the situation has been getting worse, according to data gathered over three years by Nielsen. Around $500bn (£317bn) is spent on trade promotions globally each year, with makers of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) such as Unilever often investing 20 [...]
Asia Resource Minerals hit with £4.65m FCA fine June 17, 2015 The financial regulator has slapped a £4.65m fine on Asia Resource Minerals (Arm) for breaching the listing rules. The firm was cited by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for having “inadequate systems and controls to comply with its obligations as a listed company”. This included failing to identify transactions valued at just over £8m. Georgina [...]
House insurance prices forecast to fall further as competition thrives June 17, 2015 The UK’s household insurers could swing to an underwriting loss within two years, despite recording an industry-wide profit of around £500m last year. In a report released today, audit firm Deloitte warns that increasing competition pressures are forcing household insurance prices down. Relatively benign weather conditions over the past two years have also helped keep [...]
Grexit: Greek central bank warns of “uncontrollable crisis” if negotiations fail June 17, 2015 The Bank of Greece has warned its government of an "uncontrollable crisis" if it fails to reach an agreement with creditors by the end of the week. Greece's central bank says such a scenario would kick-off a "painful" course of events that could lead to the country's exit from the European Union, and urged the [...]
JPMorgan Chase vice chairman Jimmy Lee dies June 17, 2015 JPMorgan vice chairman Jimmy Lee has unexpectedly died, the company announced in a statement. Lee, a veteran banker involved in the industry for over 40 years, had led the company's investment banking arm and had recently worked on the record-breaking Alibaba IPO. Read more: JP Morgan’s lead over broking rivals increases In a statement chief executive [...]
Fed fuels interest rate hike on “moderate” growth in US economy June 17, 2015 The Federal Reserve has kept interest rates unchanged at a historic low of 0 to 0.25 per cent, but offered hope of an increase in short-term interest rates with positive statements about the US economy. Read more: Why it’s not time to dump US equities – a Fed interest rate hike won’t drag down stocks The [...]
Waitrose PYOO (“pick your own offers”) ups game in supermarket price wars with Aldi, Lidl and big four June 17, 2015 Middle England favourite Waitrose has upped the stakes in the supermarket price wars with what it's calling "game-changing" discounts. The latest salvo in the battle with Aldi, Lidl and the big four – and adding a new acronym to our lingo almost as good as BOGOF – is "Pick Your Own Offers", or PYOO, which is [...]
Former Nokia executive Stephen Elop jumps off his burning platform June 17, 2015 Stephen Elop has finally jumped off his burning platform after going from Microsoft to Nokia and then back again. He is leaving Microsoft, it was announced today, after moving to the tech giant as part of its $7.2bn (£4.58bn) acquisition of Nokia in 2013. He had worked for Microsoft's business division before joining the Finnish [...]
RBS missing payments blasted by Treasury Select Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie June 17, 2015 The Treasury Select Committee chairman has blasted RBS for the “serious” glitch that caused hundreds of thousands of payments to go missing. It emerged this morning that around 600,000 payments, including tax credits and benefits, had not been made overnight, leaving thousands of RBS, Natwest, Coutts and Ulster Bank customers stranded without enough cash [...]