Discount battle knocks margins at Debenhams January 8, 2013 DEBENHAMS’ shares took a battering yesterday after the department store group’s rise in sales this Christmas came at the expense of more promotions to lure cautious shoppers through its doors. Chief executive Michael Sharp said it had been the toughest Christmas in his 40-year career and shot down comments made by Next’s chief Lord Wolfson [...]
Prosecco adds fizz to Majestic’s festive sales in slow December January 8, 2013 MAJESTIC said Britons uncorked a record number of bottles of Prosecco this Christmas than last year and drank just as much as Champagne as the wine specialist posted a rise in sales over the period. Chief executive Steve Lewis said Prosecco sales rose 20 per cent on last year while Champagne sales were flat. New [...]
Sainsbury’s takes the lead at Christmas January 8, 2013 SAINSBURY posted the highest sales growth of the so called big four grocers in the run-up to Christmas and was the only one to grow market share, data revealed yesterday. Figures from Kantar Worldpanel showed Britain’s grocery market grew 3.2 per cent in the 12 weeks to 23 December, with the strongest growth at the [...]
Analyst Views | Did Debenhams fare as well this Christmas as you expected? January 8, 2013 JEAN ROCHE PANMURE GORDON We anticipated a weak performance from Debenhams shares [yesterday], as a better than expected top line is likely to be more than overshadowed by weak gross margins…This shows that Debenhams is suffering from the extremely promotional backdrop we saw pre-Christmas and are continuing to see. BETHANY HOCKING INVESTEC The Christmas statement [...]
Dunelm looks to build on profits January 8, 2013 British home wares retailer Dunelm said yesterday that it expects to report a pre-tax profit in the range of £59m-£60m for the first half as it continues to grow sales despite weak demand and extreme weather conditions. Dunelm said revenue increased 13.4 per cent for the 26 weeks to 29 December, compared with a year [...]
Winter sales shine bright for Signet January 8, 2013 Sales at Signet’s US stores open at least a year rose 4.7 per cent in November and December, the jeweller said yesterday. Ahead of Valentine’s Day, the report eased concerns over whether slumping consumer confidence in December might dent luxury sales.
McBride hit by weak Europe January 8, 2013 McBride, Europe’s leading provider of private label household products, yesterday posted a six per cent decline in revenue, measured at a constant currency rate. In a trading update, it said the firm had experienced weaker trading in December in its core European markets due to economic headwinds in the region.
Topps Tiles turns around revenues January 8, 2013 Topps Tiles, the flooring company, laid down a solid set of interim results yesterday with a 1.6 per cent quarterly rise in revenues. This reversed a 4.2 per cent drop in revenues for the same period last year. Like-for-like growth improved in the quarter’s last six weeks.
Aldi hitting the mainstream as customers seek value January 8, 2013 THIS time last year poor results at Tesco shocked investors and the grocery sector, although followers of YouGov’s BrandIndex and this column would have been aware of their problems a month earlier. With the all-important Christmas season now behind us I’ve taken a look back at 2012 to see what the big customer perception stories [...]
Internet drives sales at Domino’s January 8, 2013 BRITONS ordering pizzas online from the comfort of their sofas helped drive a 20 per cent rise in sales at Domino’s to £174.5m. The group yesterday said online sales in the UK and Ireland jumped 56.6 per cent to £84m in the final 14 weeks of the year to 30 December. E-commerce now accounts for [...]
