Zara owner Inditex’s profit up 80 per cent as shoppers stock up June 8, 2022 Zara owner Inditex has posted a bumper quarterly profit, while taking a hit of €216m after the temporary closure of its business in Ukraine and Russia. The Madrid-listed firm, which is the largest fashion company in the world, saw net income profit hit €760m in the first quarter of the year. It marked a decade-high [...]
M&S bosses set to pocket £15m pay pot if bonus targets are hit June 7, 2022 Top bosses at Marks & Spencer could pocket some £15m in total if they achieve bonus targets, including a 50 per cent boost for the retailer’s share price. New CEO Stuart Machin is due to trouser a basic salary of £896,000, according to the supermarket’s annual report. Former boss Steve Row pocketed a salary of [...]
M&A quarterly transactions down as investors nervy amid war in Ukraine June 7, 2022 The number of merger and acquisition transactions in the UK has plunged in the first quarter of the year, versus the end of last year. According to fresh figures published by the Office for National Statistics, there were some 370 completed M&A deals in the first quarter of the year. This was a significant drop [...]
FTSE 100 brushes off Prime Minister’s no confidence vote June 7, 2022 The FTSE 100 opened flat on Tuesday as investors were largely unaffected by the Prime Minister narrowly dodging a vote of no confidence last night. The capital’s premier index was mostly unchanged at 7,610 points on opening on Tuesday. Tory MPs voted by 211 to 148 in support of the Prime Minister as part of [...]
JD Sports prepares for £2m bill after watchdog finds it broke law by fixing Rangers FC merch prices June 7, 2022 JD Sports may face a hefty penalty after the competition watchdog found it broke rules by fixing retail prices of some Rangers Football Club branded clothes. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had provisionally found that Elite Sports and JD Sports fixed the retail prices of a number of Rangers-branded replica kits and [...]
LV= appoints new chair as insurance mutual’s CEO faces calls to quit June 7, 2022 LV= has appointed Simon Moore as its new chair, as the insurance specialist’s chief executive faces renewed calls to step down. Moore, who presently holds the position of chair at consumer lending firm PCF and digital bank RCI Bank UK, will succeed interim chair Seamus Creedon. Moore said he was “determined” that the legacy firm [...]
National Express: Profit recovery held back by desire for low UK fares as demand recovers June 7, 2022 Coach operator National Express said its endeavour to keep price affordable for UK users will limit the pace of its margin recovery. The company made the headlines when its offer to buy rival Stagecoach was snubbed in favour of German asset manager DWS Infrastructure. National Express reiterated an expectation for an average profit margin of [...]
Ted Baker’s chosen bidder drops takeover plans as hunt for buyer continues June 7, 2022 Ted Baker’s chosen suitor has decided to drop its sales bid for the fashion retailer at the eleventh hour. The London-listed company confirmed that it had selected a chosen firm to oversee a public to private takeover at the end of last month. There has been speculation that this firm was Reebok and Forever 21 [...]
No more Netflix and chill: Consumers cancel subscriptions and miss out on meals out amid historic inflation June 7, 2022 Consumers are tightening their purse strings by cancelling digital subscriptions and holding off on buying new sofas, as inflation sits at a 40-year high. Shoppers’ hesitancy to splash the cash on unnecessary treats or big ticket purchases has contributed to a retail sales growth slowdown, according to a tranche of spending statistics published today. May [...]
New Look CEO to step down from high street fashion chain June 6, 2022 The CEO of New Look, Nigel Oddy, will step down from the helm of the high street fashion chain. The retailer said a hunt to select a successor was “currently well-advanced”, with a further announcement to come in due course. Oddy navigated the company through two Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) restructuring processes and shuttered 39 [...]