Argos sales lift fuels profit forecast rise at Home Retail Group January 14, 2010 ARGOS and Homebase owner Home Retail Group (HRG) has increased its full-year profit forecast by £20m after sales in the second half of 2009 beat expectations. The retailer now expects its pre-tax profits for the current financial year to 31 March to hit £285m. The revised figure came as a trading statement showed that Argos [...]
Barratt in housing market boost January 14, 2010 HOUSEBUILDER Barratt Developments today fuelled hopes of recovery in the sector with rising volumes and prices bringing about an improvement in operating margins. The FTSE 250 group completed 5028 homes in the six months to 31 December and says it on track to hit its full-year targets of 12,000 completions. The average price of its [...]
Barclays buys NYSE market maker for $25m January 14, 2010 BARCLAYS has announced a $25m (£15.3m) deal for New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) market maker LaBranche & Co. The move means the UK bank can make even stronger its position as the biggest market maker on the index. The deal will also reduce the number of designated market makers on the NYSE to just four [...]
Matalan auction boosted by Xmas sales January 12, 2010 FASHION and homewares retailer Matalan has boosted its £1.5bn auction by revealing further strong growth over the Christmas period. The group revealed that like-for-like sales rose 13.7 per cent in the five weeks to 2 January. The upbeat trading statement came despite tough comparatives with positive trading figures seen a year earlier. Five private equity [...]
Greggs in slim sales rise after mince pie bonanza January 12, 2010 BAKERY chain Greggs sold more than a million mince pies a week over the festive period helping to give it an overall sales lift. Comparative sales during the four weeks to December 26 grew 1.1 per cent with a “very strong performance” in the Christmas week with a 4.4 per cent improvement. But the company [...]
Start-ups hit by global recession January 12, 2010 THE number of new businesses being set up around the world has dipped in the global recession, a report has revealed. Start-ups were down 10 per cent down last year in 20 of the world’s richest nations, according to the annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). It found that the decline was the most severe in [...]
Cadbury chief’s plea: ‘Don’t let Kraft steal your company’ January 12, 2010 CADBURY has launched a renewed attack on Kraft’s unwanted bid for the company and issued upbeat trading figures to back its case. The British chocolate maker accused the US food giant of dramatically undervaluing the company. Revenues grew by 6 per cent in the second half of 2009 at Cadbury according to the figures issued [...]
Tesco sales surge after Clubcard bonus January 12, 2010 TESCO has had its best Christmas in three years after slashing prices and offering double Clubcard points to get customers through the door. Britain’s biggest supermarket chain reported that like-for-like sales at its UK stores jumped by 4.9 per cent during December and early January. Tesco saw a 35 per cent surge in sales of [...]
RBS is a ‘prisoner of the market’ on bonuses January 12, 2010 Royal Bank of Scotland is forced to pay large bonuses because it is a “prisoner of the market” chief executive Stephen Hester has told a parliamentary committee. Facing the cross party group of MPs he said that RBS was paying “the minimum we can get away with in the market place”. Hester also claimed that [...]
Debenhams sees slim sales rise January 12, 2010 DEBENHAMS has reported a marginal rise in Christmas trading figures – and vowed to step up its store refit scheme. The chain said the 0.1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales for the 18 weeks to 2 January was in line with internal forecasts. Debenhams said growth was limited by its decision to move away [...]
