Next lifted by hot weather May 4, 2011 NEXT yesterday raised its guidance after first-quarter sales beat expectations, boosted by warm weather over Easter and spending ahead of the royal wedding holiday weekend. Total sales increased 5.2 per cent over the 13 weeks to 30 April. That compared with its guidance for first-half sales that ranged from a drop of 0.5 per cent [...]
Blacks hires new chief exec as it narrows losses May 4, 2011 BLACKS Leisure yesterday named Julia Reynolds as its new chief executive as the outdoor retailer tries to complete a dramatic turnaround after surviving being on the brink of adminstration. Reynolds has been working as chief executive at lingerie retail website Figleaves.com which was bought by N Brown last year. She has overseen growth of sales [...]
AB InBev beer sales drop as US jobs market and rainy Brazil take their toll May 4, 2011 ANHEUSER-BUSCH InBev, the world’s largest brewer, suffered its first drop in beer sales for a year and half as price hikes, rain in Brazil and high US unemployment deterred drinkers. However, the maker of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s said it expected volumes to improve from the second-quarter and forecast continued benefits from price rises [...]
Focus DIY files intention to appoint administrators May 4, 2011 FOCUS DIY yesterday filed an intention to appoint administrators after it defaulted on a credit facility. The retailer confirmed that Ernst & Young will be appointing administrators. Focus said: “Following notification of an event of default under the senior credit facility, and a realisation that there were no alternatives that could be explored any further, [...]
JD Wetherspoon sales up May 4, 2011 JD Wetherspoon yesterday reported rising third-quarter sales and said an encouraging performance from its recently opened pubs should help it achieve a reasonable full-year outcome. The pub group said like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to 24 April were 2.4 per cent higher. The company said in a statement: “Sales and cashflow continue to be [...]
Rightmove in strong trading as traffic rises May 4, 2011 PROPERTY website Rightmove yesterday said it had traded strongly in the past three months to the end of March and remained confident of meeting forecasts. Website page impressions in the quarter were up by 15 per cent and searches on mobiles rose by more than 200 per cent, while advertising revenue was on the up. [...]
BMW profits jump thanks to China sales May 4, 2011 BMW OUTSHONE its rivals with a sharp increase in first-quarter sales yesterday, fuelled by demand for the German group’s cars from customers in China and the United States. BMW’s sales in China jumped 72 per cent in the first-quarter as a growing army of super-rich in the country fuels demand for luxury cars, especially its [...]
Private investigators hired by Sony over data breach May 4, 2011 SONY has brought in a team of private investigators to track down hackers who stole the details of more than 100m of its customers. In a desperate bid to claw back credibility in the face of one of the biggest online security breaches ever, Sony has hired a former special agent with the US Naval [...]
Japan PLC can learn from hacker scandal May 4, 2011 ON holiday in Japan last year, I was struggling to find a restaurant in the tangled nexus of Tokyo’s backstreets. Eventually, I asked a local for directions. He assured me that he knew where the restaurant was, setting off with a confident stride. After twenty minutes or so, he said he couldn’t quite remember where [...]
Sage returns all regions to sales growth May 4, 2011 SAGE has returned all of its regions to organic growth for the first time since 2007, with Africa, Australia, the Middle East and Asia reporting a blistering sales increase of 13 per cent in the first-half. The Newcastle-based firm, which provides software to more than 6m small and medium sized businesses, posted a five per [...]
