McDonald’s in shake up as Europe boss swaps fries for pizza August 16, 2011 MCDONALD’S European president Steve Easterbrook (pictured) has left the company to become chief executive of Pizza Express, after 18 years at the fast food giant. Easterbrook will join the Gondola Group – parent company of the Pizza Express, Zizzi and Ask restaurants – from October, replacing former chief executive Mark Angela at the helm of [...]
… as Asda loses market share to budget chains August 16, 2011 ASDA, which is owned by Walmart, yesterday reported a narrow 0.5 per cent like for like sales rise between 1 April and 30 June. The company said it was pinning its hopes for growth on its acquisition of 147 Netto stores. Asda said sales growth accelerated in the second quarter as its online price guarantee, [...]
World’s largest retailer struggles in US August 16, 2011 WITH annual revenues of $420bn (£256bn), Walmart is the world’s largest company by sales. So it is unsurprising that it tells us something about the global economy. Its international business, which accounts for just over a quarter of sales, is booming. International revenues grew by 16.2 per cent in the second quarter, thanks to strong [...]
Sir Ken Morrison fined £210k August 16, 2011 Former Morrisons chairman Sir Ken Morrison has been hit with a £210,000 fine for failing to disclose his reduced shareholding and voting rights to the company and investors. The 79-year-old businessman, who spent more than 50 years turning the business into the UK’s fourth largest supermarket chain, reduced his stake in the company from 6.38 [...]
Home Depot raises outlook August 16, 2011 Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement chain, raised its fiscal-year profit forecast for the second time in three months yesterday as timely promotions and renewed focus on cheaper products helped it gain market share from rival Lowe’s Cos. Home Depot said it still expects fiscal-year sales to rise 2.5 per cent. It forecast earnings [...]
SAKS SIGNALS GROWTH AMID VOLATILITY August 16, 2011 LUXURY US department store operator Saks forecast same-store sales growth and better margins for the rest of the year even as the volatile financial markets give it reason to be cautious about autumn sales. Saks forecasted that same-store sales would rise by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage in the second half of the fiscal year, which includes [...]
Train ticket prices to rise by up to 13pc August 16, 2011 RAIL commuters will face inflation-busting hikes in ticket prices next year, which could see some fares rise by as much as 13 per cent, following the release of latest inflation figures yesterday. Under the revised scheme, which was set out in the Treasury’s spending review last October, regulated fares such as season tickets will rise [...]
Thomas Cook gets Co-op OK August 16, 2011 THE Competition Commission (CC) has cleared a merger between struggling Thomas Cook’s UK retail business and those of the Co-operative group and Midlands Co-operative Society, to create Britain’s biggest retail travel operation. The deal will bring together three of the biggest travel agents on the British high street. Thomas Cook currently has 780 stores, while [...]
John Menzies media firm dips as aviation takes off August 16, 2011 JOHN Menzies saw profits from its aviation division overtake the media distribution business for the first time, as newspaper and magazine volumes continued to decline in the first half of the year. A return of cargo-handling volumes to “pre-recession levels” and scores of new contracts for ground services helped drive turnover at the global aviation [...]
HOW HIGH COULD RAIL FARES GO? August 16, 2011 HOW THE CHANGES WILL AFFECT YOUR FARE Under new rules laid out by the Treasury in October, regulated fares, including season tickets and off-peak journeys, will increase by three per cent on top of July’s Retail Price Index rate of five per cent for the next three years. Train companies are also allowed to vary fares on individual routes by an [...]
