Sales up for Happy Shopper and Makro owner Booker September 19, 2013 Booker Group, the owner of Happy Shopper, has announced a 19.3 per cent sales increase in the 12 weeks to 13 September 2013. (Release) Booker acquired cash and carry Makro earlier this year. Excluding Makro, Booker like-for-likes were up 3.5 per cent with non-tobacco like-for-likes increasing 6.9 per cent (including Makro, non tobacco increased 30 [...]
Asos sees sales soar with strong UK market and new growth in US and Russia September 19, 2013 Online retailer Asos has announced UK retail sales up 47 per cent for the three months to the end of August with 49 per cent growth in the UK. (Release) Retail sales for the year were up 40 per cent year-on-year. The company had 7.1 million active customers at the end of August, up 42 [...]
Before the open: Record highs as Fed doesn’t taper September 19, 2013 New records were reached on US markets last night following the Fed's decision to refrain from tapering QE. Consequently, European markets are expected to surge this morning with the Dax at record highs and FTSE opening calls of +70 and higher. Yesterday, the Bank of England upgraded the UK's growth forecast for the third quarter [...]
Ben bottles it as Fed rejects QE tapering September 18, 2013 Stock markets surge as the US Federal Reserve decides not to start rolling back its easy money scheme US treasury yields dive and gold prices rocket after the shock move to wait at least another month Janet Yellen is now the favourite to take over from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke once he leaves his post [...]
Manchester United cashes in on its global megabrand September 18, 2013 MANCHESTER United announced record annual revenues of £363.2m yesterday, with the English football giant massively expanding its commercial income streams. Commercial revenue jumped by 29.7 per cent to an impressive £152.5m in the year to 30 June, with the New York-listed club insisting that there is more to come. “We remain convinced there are huge [...]
Tory row as Boris takes on Osborne’s housing boom September 18, 2013 BORIS Johnson yesterday said only building more houses would help Londoners get on the property ladder – just as chancellor George Osborne denied there is a housing bubble in the capital, and argued subsidising mortgages will help buyers the most. In the week it was revealed house prices rose at almost 10 per cent in [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 19 September 2013 September 18, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Criteo seeks $800m Nasdaq IPO Criteo, a French digital advertising company that delivers online ads for brands including Orange and Expedia, has filed for an initial public offering in the US that could value the company at $800m. The flotation will provide an important test of investor demand for the advertising technology sector, [...]
Botin warns red tape will stop banks lending September 18, 2013 SANTANDER’S UK boss said she is trying to lend more to small businesses, but warned excessive regulation will stop banks taking risk and so stop growth taking off. Ana Botin said the bank’s strategy is to shift away from mortgage lending and into small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). But although the government wants more SME [...]
SEC outlines rules to reveal top bosses pay September 18, 2013 AMERICAN companies may be required to disclose the paychecks of senior management and chief executives under a proposal yesterday that Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Mary Jo White said had caused deep divisions. The US Chamber of Commerce and the center on executive compensation have opposed the measure, calling the data costly to compile [...]
UK wins its battle with EU over the location of Libor regulators September 18, 2013 THE EUROPEAN Commission yesterday pulled back from plans for a continental regulator to oversee benchmarks like Libor, in a victory for the UK. The EC has still proposed tough reforms which will see banks fined up to 10 per cent of revenues if they fail to guard against rate rigging. And banks will no longer [...]