ANALYST VIEWS: IS KINGFISHER SET FOR GROWTH IN A TOUGH MARKET? June 2, 2011 MATTHEW MCEACHRAN | SINGER CAPITAL MARKETS Kingfisher has delivered a strong update, capitalising on the favourable weather across Europe. We do not anticipate any major changes to forecasts at this early stage. We have moved our target price up to reflect the ongoing strategic initiatives and international growth ambitions. RICHARD HUNTER | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN The [...]
John Lewis gets Obama boost June 2, 2011 JOHN Lewis yesterday reported sales increases of 30 per cent on tennis tables following last week’s photographs of US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron playing a friendly match. The pair rolled their sleeves up to play against students, competing on a visit to the Globe Academy school in South London. John Lewis’ [...]
Carpetright in board shake-up June 2, 2011 FLOORINGS giant Carpetright has restructured its board, appointing Andrew Corden to the board as operations director for Europe as Christian Sollesse, managing director of UK & Ireland, steps down. Corden joined Carpetright 17 years ago, and has been responsible for the company’s European operations since 2008 having previously been the sales director for Europe since [...]
Kurt Geiger is sold to US retail group for £215m June 2, 2011 US designer and marketer The Jones Group yesterday bought upscale shoe retailer Kurt Geiger for £215m, giving it a foothold in the European retail market. Kurt Geiger, which has been majority owned by private equity house Graphite Capital since a management buyout in 2008, had sales of £205m in the year to April 2011. It [...]
Growth in UK construction offers relief June 2, 2011 POSITIVE growth figures from the construction industry provided some relief for the UK’s struggling economic recovery, yesterday. The building industry edged up to a score of 54 in the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for May, a modest rebound from April’s disappointing score of 53.3. All PMI scores above the no-change 50 mark indicate economic growth. [...]
Sharp fall in Spain’s unemployment rate June 2, 2011 SPAIN’S economy was boosted yesterday by data showing a sharp decline in unemployment benefit claims. Registered unemployment dropped by 1.87 per cent in May, compared to April, official figures showed. Benefits were down 79,701, to 4.19m. Compared to the same time last year, jobless claims were still up 3.04 per cent. The struggling Eurozone economy [...]
LONDON’S WORKERS FACE A LONGER COMMUTE THAN THE UK AVERAGE June 2, 2011 WORKERS in London face a far longer commute than elsewhere in the UK, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed yesterday. Londoners are over five times more likely to travel for over an hour to get to work. Half those surveyed in London take public transport to work, compared to just nine per cent across [...]
Bleak American jobs data June 2, 2011 Fresh claims for unemployment benefits in America fell last week, but not enough to assuage fears the labour market recovery has taken a step back. Initial jobless claims slipped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 422,000, the Labour Department said yesterday, less than economists’ expectations for a fall to 415,000.
US factories’ new orders decline June 2, 2011 New orders received by US factories declined in April, partly because of a sharp drop in demand for transportation goods, according to a Commerce Department report released yesterday. Overall orders fell 1.2 per cent to a seasonally adjusted $440.4bn (£269.6bn) after an upwardly revised 3.8 per cent rise in March.
Fresh talent floods into London June 2, 2011 A surge in enquiries from relocation agents to London renting firm Cluttons shows “renewed confidence in the capital,” the firm said yesterday. Enquiries are up 20 per cent on last month. “New talent is flooding into London at a rate not seen since the height of the market in 2007,” a spokesperson said.
