Sports Direct scores extra points on profits May 28, 2015 SHARES in Sports Direct were quick off the mark yesterday after Mike Ashley’s sports retail empire said full-year profits were running ahead expectations. In an unscheduled update ahead of its annual conference for staff yesterday, Sport Direct said earnings for the year to 26 April would come in at £380m, roughly in line with market [...]
Abercrombie & Fitch says sales improving with Hollister’s help May 28, 2015 Clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch said yesterday that its business is recovering, buoyed by the strong performance of its Hollister brand. Abercrombie shares rose nearly 12 per cent yesterday after the company reported that same-store sales fell eight per cent in the first quarter, less than the 8.7 per cent analysts had on average expected. Comparable [...]
B&M eyes more stores as sales jump by a third May 28, 2015 Bargain retail chain B&M has hiked its store expansion targets after reporting a near 30 per cent jump in revenue in its first year as a public company. The company, which sells everything from toys to electrical goods and furniture, yesterday said sales jumped 29.5 per cent to £1.6bn in the year to 28 March, [...]
Kingfisher kicks off B&Q store closures as quarterly profits rise May 28, 2015 Kingfisher, Europe’s biggest home improvement retailer, said it has found buyers for a quarter of its stores earmarked for closure as it posted a rise in first quarter retail profit yesterday. Kingfisher plans to close 60 B&Q stores over the next two years in a major overhaul of the business revealed by new chief [...]
Forecourt owner Applegreen set for London float May 28, 2015 APPLEGREEN, one of Ireland’s biggest petrol forecourt retailers, announced plans yesterday to make a £230m stock market debut, in what will be the first Irish retail initial public offering (IPO) since the recession. Applegreen is part of Irish fuel group Petrogas, founded by former Esso executive Bob Etchingham in 1994. It has 152 forecourts including [...]
CMC Markets to float next year after taking rivals’ customers May 28, 2015 SPREADBETTING and trading firm CMC Markets is hiring investment bankers to plan a stock market flotation next year, chief executive Peter Cruddas announced yesterday. Much of the sector has been shaken this year by the shock of the Swiss National Bank scrapping its currency’s cap against the euro, which resulted in some firms closing down. [...]
Gear4music sets the price for £28m float May 28, 2015 GEAR4MUSIC, the online musical instruments retailer, will be valued at £28m when it lists on Aim next week after setting the placing price for the shares yesterday at 139 pence. The Yorkshire-based group, which was founded in 2003, intends to raise 10.3m, part of which will be used to pay down debt and open a [...]
Mortgage lending rises as buyers borrow more despite election worries May 28, 2015 Mortgage lending kept growing in April despite the uncertainty of the election hanging over the housing market, according to figures yesterday from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). A total of 73,650 of mortgage loans were given out in the month, up from 72,074 in March. April’s loans were worth a total of £11.7bn, up from £11.5bn in [...]
London bucks trend of growth in UK new home registrations May 28, 2015 New home registrations declined in London during the period between February and April, despite an increase across the UK in general. Registrations of new homes increased by 20 per cent in the quarter, compared to the same period in 2013, according to the National House Building Council (NHBC), and 12,459 homes were registered in April, [...]
£1 trillion pot: Landlords’ wealth grows as UK house prices and rents rise May 28, 2015 Landlords earned £112bn last year from rent and rising house prices, according to a study out yesterday from Kent Reliance. The total value of their assets is up 11 per cent on the year to £990.7bn – just shy of £1 trillion. London’s private rental sector is worth £406.5bn, up £50.7bn on the year. As [...]
