How Boohoo’s joined the queue of retailers flocking to market February 17, 2014 ONLINE fashion retailer boohoo.com is being groomed for a snap stock market flotation next month, joining the stampede of retail companies marching towards a London market listing this year. Boohoo.com, which is run by Manchester-based co-founders Carol Kane and Mahmud Kamani, is working with its financial broker Zeus Capital on plans for an initial public [...]
Bottom Line: Boohoo floats on rising tide as M&S sinks February 17, 2014 BOOHOO.COM’s founders look set to be crying tears of joy this March when the retailer, which specialises in catering to fashionistas, floats on the London stock exchange. For one of its most established competitors, however, it’s another reason to reach for the Kleenex and start sobbing. Marks & Spencer’s clothes division is a once-great national [...]
Cat cure firm Circassia in biggest healthcare float for eight years February 6, 2014 A CURE for cat allergies could soon be hitting the market after its Oxford-based developers yesterday confirmed plans to raise £175m on the London stock market in the biggest healthcare float since 2006. Circassia, which is privately backed by firms like Invesco Perpetual and hedge fund Lansdowne Partners, said it will use the money to [...]
Grant Thornton go dining with dinos January 29, 2014 IT’S not very often the business glitterati spends a night surrounded by dinosaurs and fossils (well, not of the prehistoric kind anyway) but those who ventured to the Grant Thornton Quoted Company awards last night were sat next to the very finest the Natural History Museum has to offer. The BBC’s Naga Munchetty compered the [...]
McColl’s kicks off retail IPOs with plan for £50m stock market float January 27, 2014 CONVENIENCE store group McColl’s is set to jump the queue of retailers preparing to join the stock market after confirming plans yesterday to float next month. The retailer, which owns 1,276 newsagents and convenience stores, wants to raise £50m in a main market listing that is expected to value the group at around £225m. McColl’s [...]
Britain is world’s leading online retail exporter January 20, 2014 BRITAIN’S online retail industry generated a bigger trade surplus than any other country last year thanks to thriving overseas demand for UK fashion brands and websites such as Burberry and Asos. A study out today from OC&C Strategy Consultants and Google reveals that UK online retailers exported a net £720m more goods than were imported [...]
Resource Guru raises £530,000 January 19, 2014 Resource Guru, the London-based online team scheduling service with clients including ASOS and Vodafone, has raised $870,000 (£530,000) from Index Ventures in order to accelerate hiring and fund product development and customer acquisition. “We’ve been impressed how Resource Guru tackled this problem with its simple to use online tool that leads to huge time savings [...]
Slump for Asos despite stellar Christmas sales January 14, 2014 ASOS shares slid yesterday despite the online fashion retailer posting another set of glowing results, boosted by sales in Europe and a surge in UK customers clicking online in the run-up to Christmas. The retailer’s shares fell as much as seven per cent before closing down three per cent yesterday, with analysts pointing to an [...]
Bottom Line: Time to take stock after an incredible year January 14, 2014 LAST year was huge for Asos. As the online retailer launched both Russian and Chinese language sites and increased sales by 40 per cent from 2012, shares rocketed – climbing 140 per cent in just 12 months and giving the firm a market capitalisation of close to £6bn. That’s huge. If chief executive Nick Robertson chose [...]
Asos storms forward as Christmas sales leap 38pc January 14, 2014 Asos' stellar Christmas has demonstrated the draw of online shopping over the high street – the fashion giant saw sales jump 38 per cent to £36m in the four months ended December. Analysts had predicted a 35 per cent rise in sales over the festive period; the store said it's enjoyed "another strong Christmas", with [...]