Analyst Views: What was your reaction to Sainsbury’s third quarter statement? January 8, 2014 GRAHAM JONES | PANMURE GORDONA very difficult October and November was made up by strong Christmas trading..we continue to view Sainsbury’s as the best placed of the UK food retailers, but our caution on the short-term sector outlook holds us back from having a more positive recommendation on the stock. JAMES GRZINIC | JEFFERIESKantar data [...]
Mothercare woes mount January 8, 2014 SHARES in Mothercare plunged 30 per cent yesterday after the mother and baby products retailer issued a profits warning more than halfway into its turnaround plan. Mothercare is the second listed-retailer to issue a Christmas profits warning after Debenhams’ shock announcement last week, also blaming higher levels of discounting activity on the high street as [...]
Domino’s Pizza and Majestic Wines on the Christmas menu January 8, 2014 BRITONS are indulging in fine wine and takeaway pizzas, according to Majestic and Domino’s pizza who both reported strong sales growth yesterday. Majestic’s chief executive Steve Lewis said demand for wines worth over £20 soared over the 10 weeks to 6 January, helping to boost sales at stores open more than a year by 2.8 [...]
Good Christmas for New Look January 8, 2014 FASHION retailer New Look saw a 1.5 per cent increase in like-for-like sales over the Christmas period, a spokesperson confirmed yesterday. The UK’s second-largest women’s value store did not discount its products heavily, unlike its rivals, and still managed modest growth in the last seven weeks of last year. Despite the positive news, New Look [...]
Former Burberry exec heads to Harvey Nicks January 8, 2014 UPMARKET department store Harvey Nichols yesterday named the former finance chief of Burberry as its new chief executive. Stacey Cartwright, who worked at Burberry for nine years before stepping down last year, will join the fashion chain at the start of April. She replaces Joseph Wan, who will retire after 21 years in charge.
Carney could scrap Help to Buy next year January 8, 2014 GEORGE Osborne’s flagship Help to Buy mortgage scheme could be shot down by Mark Carney in the coming 18 months, top bank analysts said yesterday, as the booming housing market gathers pace. The chancellor wants the scheme, which supports house buyers with small deposits, to last for three years. But if the housing market overheats [...]
David Cameron in tough talks with Polish PM over benefits January 8, 2014 PRIME Minister David Cameron has urged his Polish counterpart to agree to bilateral talks over the payment of child benefit to families living overseas. The move comes just days after the PM highlighted welfare spending as a key 2015 election battleground for his party. Cameron called Donald Tusk yesterday afternoon to discuss a number of [...]
Banks lend more to small firms in sign credit crunch is easing January 8, 2014 LENDING to businesses has bounced back in the past three months, a Bank of England survey showed yesterday. The number of banks reporting firms have better access to credit outweighed the number saying the situation was worse by a margin of 22.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2013, the credit conditions survey said. [...]
Yannick Bollore named as Havas Boss January 8, 2014 FRANCE’S Havas said yesterday Yannick Bollore, the 33-year-old son of top shareholder Vincent Bollore, would take over as chief executive of the world’s sixth-biggest advertising agency. It said current CEO David Jones would leave the company to become co-founder and CEO of a new technology start-up company.
House prices rise six times faster than earnings January 8, 2014 HOUSE prices rose by 7.5 per cent in 2013 as the property market increased six times faster than the rate of typical incomes last year. Halifax, which released the annual figures yesterday, said prices rose 1.9 per cent in the last three months of the year alone. Earnings only rose by 1.1 per cent between [...]
