M&S’s board still backs Marc Bolland but its patience will not last forever January 9, 2013 THIS was no ordinary trading statement. If Marc Bolland, the Marks & Spencer chief executive, had sold an item from his womenswear ranges last autumn every time the retailer’s advertising slogan had been parroted back at him, he’d have wiped the floor with the rest of the high street. Last night’s hastily-released quarterly trading update [...]
Sainsbury hails bumper Xmas but sales slow January 9, 2013 SAINSBURY’S yesterday hailed “a record-breaking Christmas” despite suffering its weakest growth in seven years as the grocer market battles with squeezed household income and cut throat competition. Chief executive Justin King pointed to a 32nd consecutive quarter of like-for-like growth, with sales at stores open a year up 0.9 per cent, excluding fuel in the [...]
Ted Baker unveils festive results boost January 9, 2013 TED BAKER made a seamless start to the year after yesterday announcing that mens’ tailoring helped to boost sales by more than a fifth over Christmas and New Year. Chief executive Ray Kelvin yesterday said the clothing chain “delivered a good result” over the period with retail sales up 20.9 per cent in the 8 [...]
Analyst Views | Did Sainsbury’s update make you alter your recommendation? January 9, 2013 PHILIP DORGAN PANMURE GORDON Third quarter showed a slower level of sales growth…Therefore, in common with its peers, Sainsbury is failing to deliver a decent return on substantial investment. This needs to change. We expect space growth to slow investment to shift online and ultimately to see significant and recurring returns. SAM HART CHARLES STANLEY [...]
Centamin posts record output at Sukari mine January 9, 2013 DESPITE a temporary closure of the Sukari mine last month, Egyptian miner Centamin yesterday said output at its flagship asset jumped to a record high in the final quarter of last year. The FTSE 250 miner said that total gold production over the three months to December hit a record 85,543 ounces, a 45 per [...]
Rothschild resigns from Barrick board to prepare for Bumi role January 9, 2013 FINANCIER Nat Rothschild has resigned from the board of Canadian miner Barrick Gold, ahead of a showdown with the Bumi board next month that could see him reinstated at the head of the troubled coal miner. Earlier this week Bumi agreed to a February general meeting to discuss Rothschild’s plan for a board overhaul. He [...]
Linkedin hits 200m users January 9, 2013 LINKEDIN, the professional social network, announced yesterday it had reached 200m members worldwide. The company, whose stock has almost doubled in the last 12 months, said 11m of those members were in the UK, and that Richard Branson was the most followed user, ahead of US President Barack Obama. In comparison, Facebook recently announced it [...]
Meggitt boss to step down January 9, 2013 AIRCRAFT parts supplier Meggitt said yesterday Terry Twigger, its chief executive of over 12 years, is retiring at the end of June. Stephen Young, the company’s finance director since 2004 and a close colleague of Twigger, will succeed him as chief executive on 1 May, the company said. Shares in the FTSE 100-listed firm closed [...]
Battersea power station flats go on sale January 9, 2013 FLAT hunters with an eye for a view – and who can wait until 2016 to move in – can from today buy an apartment in the first phase of redevelopment at Battersea Power Station. Studio apartments in the project start from £338,000, and the developers hope to attract buyers from around the world. The [...]
Better Capital joins Ireland’s fund for SMEs January 9, 2013 BETTER CAPITAL is among the investment firms that have agreed to help the Irish public pension fund in a €850m venture focused on small- to medium-sized enterprises. The National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) and Better Capital’s 2012 fund will each invest an initial €50m (£40.7m) to spend on overhauling struggling SMEs in Ireland, they said [...]
