What’s Mike Ashley’s game with Debenhams? March 8, 2019 | City Talk Mike Ashley is consistent in the way he always manages to surprise us. On Thursday night in a post-market RNS the Sports Direct boss announced he was planning a boardroom cull at Debenhams, installing himself as chief executive officer. Only the recently appointed Rachel Osborne would survive the cull. On Tuesday, after Debs warned on [...]
Debenhams shares bounce back as Mike Ashley launches power grab March 8, 2019 Shares in embattled department store chain Debenhams jumped as much as 25 per cent this morning after Mike Ashley launched an audacious bid to take control of the company. The retail mogul last night demanded an extraordinary general meeting of Debenhams shareholders, calling for all but one of the existing board members to be ousted. Read [...]
Mike Ashley moves to oust Debenhams board and appoint himself as director March 7, 2019 Retail tycoon Mike Ashley has ramped up the pressure on embattled department store chain Debenhams this evening, after making an audacious bid to axe most of the firm’s directors and appoint himself to the board. In a surprise announcement made on the London Stock Exchange tonight, the billionaire magnate pledged to step down from his current role [...]
Short sellers tailing off at Pets at Home March 6, 2019 In a rare sign of City confidence in the struggling high street, short sellers have been backing off the recently targeted retail giant Pets at Home. Last year hedge funds were vigorously targeting the leading pet care business, which spooked investors when it posted an 80 per cent crash in profits and vet practice closure [...]
Debenhams issues fresh profit warning as expectations are ‘no longer valid’ March 5, 2019 Debenhams warned this morning that its profit expectations for the current year were "no longer valid", as a combination of increased financing costs and market uncertainties signalled further disruption for the embattled department store chain. The high street retailer has withdrawn its full-year outlook today, saying discussions with stakeholders have "now progressed to include options to [...]
Former RBS executive John Hourican to return to UK as NewDay CEO March 2, 2019 Former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) executive, John Hourican is set to return to UK and join credit card company NewDay as chief executive. NewDay is a consumer finance firm that runs co-branded credit cards with retail giants like Debenhams, Amazon and Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group. Read more: Revolut outage: Digital bank's customers unable to [...]
New Look moves into the black February 13, 2019 Fast-fashion chain New Look moved into the black in its year-to-date results this morning, with cost savings and a third-quarter bump in sales providing a much-needed boon for the embattled retailer as it looks to tackle a £1bn pile. The figures Revenue hit £1.02bn in the 39 weeks to 22 December, slipping five per cent from [...]
Debenhams secures £40m cash lifeline in fight for survival February 12, 2019 Embattled department store chain Debenhams saw its shares jump 35 per cent this morning after it secured a £40m cash injection, as it fights to keep afloat amid crunch debt talks with lenders. The retailer, which has issued three profit warnings in the last 12 months, said that the agreed £40m loan will "act as a bridge to facilitate a [...]
Odeon director Welch joins Hammerson board February 5, 2019 Shopping centre landlord Hammerson has appointed Odeon director Carol Welch to its board. The move, which comes as Hammerson embarks on a radical overhaul of its business, follows on from last week’s announcement that former Argos boss Terry Duddy was stepping down from the board in the wake of his new role at Debenhams as interim chairman. [...]
January discounts give retailers a boost but high street caution remains February 5, 2019 Retail sales rose last month thanks to a boost from January discounting, but retailers remain cautious as uncertainty on the high street continues. Total sales were up 2.2 per cent in January compared to the month before, an improvement from the 1.4 per cent increase seen in the same period last year and the highest [...]