ASOS surge driven by overseas sales January 19, 2011 SALES at online fashion retailer ASOS soared by 59 per cent over the Christmas period – with its international performance driving the company forward. Overseas sales jumped by 156 per cent while poor weather in the UK hit deliveries. The firm said UK retail sales increased 23 per cent to £56.3m, in the three months [...]
Wetherspoon has happy Xmas January 19, 2011 PUB operator JD Wetherspoon said yesterday sales grew in recent weeks despite the snow but warned profit margins were coming under pressure from the increasing cost of food, drink and other bills. Wetherspoon, which operates nearly 800 outlets, said like-for-like sales increased three per cent in the 12 weeks to 16 January, up from 1.6 [...]
Character looks to rival Lego January 19, 2011 CHARACTER Group is to launch its own version of building bricks to exploit some of its best-selling models based on licences including Dr Who and HM Armed Forces. The new building blocks, which are set to rival Lego, will be launched at next week’s London Toy Fair. The company will also launch Bob the Builder [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT IS DRIVING THE ADVANCE OF ASOS IN A TOUGH CONSUMER ENVIRONMENT? January 19, 2011 PHILIP DORGAN | ALTIUM SECURITIES With the launch of the US website going well, ASOS has accelerated its growth, as expected and management has reinvested margin gains in the offer, again, as expected. We are maintaining our ‘Hold’ recommendation. We are bullish that ASOS will hit its sales target, but think that the short-term outlook [...]
Credit fears for HMV send shares lower January 19, 2011 SHARES in HMV Group plunged yesterday after the music and book retailer confirmed some of its suppliers have had levels of credit insurance cut. A shadow has been cast over HMV since it issued a profit warning earlier this month with store closures ordered in an attempt to cut costs. The share price sank by [...]
William Hill in lift from online betting profit January 19, 2011 BOOKMAKER William Hill has said its annual operating profits are set to be at the top end of forecasts. It reported strong revenue growth in the final three months of 2010, in part thanks to a big jump in online business. Web-related revenue grew by a quarter compared with a year earlier, while retail revenue [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU SHOP IN HMV AND WOULD YOU MISS IT IF IT FOLDED? January 19, 2011 CRAIG MEDFORD | MH CARBON “It’s just been wiped out. I don’t think there’s a way for it to undercut. There are so many other competitors like Tesco’s and Sainsbury. It’s lost its market really.” DANIEL FARIKULLAH | NOMURA “Naturally, it has to go, with technology taking control. People are quite lazy and it’s easier [...]
Benefit claims drop, yet jobs market slows January 19, 2011 UNEMPLOYMENT benefit claims fell by 4,100 between November and December to hit their lowest number for 21 months, official data revealed yesterday. The claimant count dropped by almost 10 per cent over the course of last year, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). “This was its third monthly drop in a row, despite [...]
Inflation to slow Asian boom January 19, 2011 GROWTH is expected to cool across Asia this year as governments tighten monetary policy to tackle rising inflation, according to a poll released yesterday. Yet Asia’s rising economies will still lead global growth in 2011, far outpacing rich world peers. A global survey by Reuters of around 500 economists showed China again topping the economic [...]
Stunted recovery ahead for Eurozone, says survey January 19, 2011 RECOVERY in the Eurozone will be sluggish this year, according to a Reuters poll of economists. A resurgent German will not be sufficient to drag the single currency area above quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.3 to 0.4 per cent in the first half of the year, and 0.5 per cent in each of the second two [...]
