Lords leader quits to return to business January 7, 2013 LORD Strathclyde, Leader of the House of Lords, resigned yesterday after 25 continuous years on the Conservative front bench. The hereditary peer, 52, said he took the surprise decision to quit the cabinet halfway through this parliament so he can pursue a second career in business before it is too late. “I started my life in [...]
Morrisons says Christmas sales disappointing January 7, 2013 MORRISONS chief executive Dalton Philips yesterday defended his strategy for the group after the grocer confirmed its position as the turkey among “the big four” this Christmas. The grocer reported a 2.5 per cent slump in like-for-like sales in the six weeks to 30 December, despite the help from an extra pre-Christmas trading day compared [...]
New Look says turnaround plan paying off as festive sales rise January 7, 2013 VALUE fashion retailer New Look said it enjoyed a stellar Christmas trading period as it benefited from shoppers delaying spending and hunting for bargain buys. The firm, owned by private equity groups Apax, Permira and founder Tom Singh, posted a 3.7 per cent rise in UK like-for-like sales for the 14 weeks to 29 December. [...]
Analyst Views | Was the statement from Morrisons as bad as expected? January 7, 2013 PHILIP DORGAN PANMURE GORDAN This trading statement is grim, but there is no direct profit warning, in part because consensus continues to fall. We see continued downside to consensus profits for 2014 and 2015, given the likely sales underperformance and the costs of entry into new channels. KATE CALVERT SEYMOUR PIERCE Despite soft comparables, Morrison [...]
House of Fraser Basks in bumper Christmas January 7, 2013 HOUSE OF FRASER has become the latest retailer to boast of a bumper Christmas, with like-for-like sales up 6.3 per cent in the period. Following hot on the heels of rival John Lewis, the department store group said in a trading statement yesterday that its stores performed well while online sales rose a record 48 [...]
Universal hires exec as rivals vie for assets January 7, 2013 UNIVERSAL MUSIC has appointed a new boss for its international divisions ahead of a sale of high-profile assets. The company – owned by French media giant Vivendi – yesterday promoted veteran Max Hole to be chief executive of Universal Music International. Hole, who was instrumental in Universal’s recent acquisition of the EMI label, will be in [...]
Travelodge names industry vet Brian Wallace as new chairman January 7, 2013 TRAVELODGE yesterday hired Hilton veteran and trained accountant Brian Wallace as its new chairman, with chief executive Grant Hearn heralding the appointment as key to the future of the budget hotel chain’s “successful growth strategy”. Wallace brings experience at some of the world’s biggest hotel chains, including 12 years at Hilton where he had stints [...]
Bad Christmas for retailers as sales stay flat January 7, 2013 BRITISH retailers failed to see a Christmas boom, with sales only edging up on the year and failing to beat inflation, according to industry data out today. Total sales rose just 1.5 per cent compared with December 2011, according to the British Retail Consortium. That compares with the latest inflation data showing prices rose by [...]
Carlyle to leave Chinese insurer on record high January 7, 2013 PRIVATE equity heavyweight The Carlyle Group is set to cash out its remaining stake in China’s third largest insurer China Pacific Insurance, reaping a record profit of around $4bn (£2.5bn) for investors. The group, based on the same avenue as the White House in Washington DC, has released a term sheet detailing plans to sell [...]
UK forecast to hold rates for five more years to fight slump January 7, 2013 THE BANK of England will have to keep printing money to stimulate the weak economy and will keep interest rates at 0.5 per cent or below until 2017, analysts at Citi warned yesterday. And the UK is likely to lose its triple-A credit rating this year because the government is still adding to the national [...]
