Smartphones are making paying for the things we want even easier September 8, 2015 Payments are one of the big new features coming to smartphones over the next few years, and they’re going to make our lives even easier. The pitch is simple – especially in London where most people always have their smartphone in their hand. Now you can use that mobile device to pay for things at [...]
“Drastic Dave” Lewis is delivering at Tesco with £4.2bn sale of South Korean arm Homeplus to MBK September 7, 2015 Ever since Dave Lewis was appointed chief executive of Tesco last year, he has made strengthening the balance sheet a priority for the troubled retailer. Although Homeplus in South Korea was a profitable business, the focus has been on protecting Tesco’s UK market share in light of increasing competition from lower priced discounters, such as [...]
Milk emergency: Farmers face water cannons as they stage huge protest in Brussels against falling prices September 7, 2015 Today, thousands of farmers have driven their tractors into Brussels to protest against falling milk prices in Europe. They are gathering outside the headquarters of the European Union, bringing traffic to a standstill. The protest coincides with an emergency meeting held by the EU Agriculture Council in the Belgian capital. Anti-riot police have [...]
Tesco’s share price rises as it agrees to sell Korean arm Homeplus to consortium of investors led by MBK for £4.2bn September 7, 2015 Tesco's share price opened up this morning after revealing it has agreed to sell its South Korean arm Homeplus for £4.2bn to a consortium of investors, led by MBK Partners, the beleaugered supermarket has confirmed. The consortium also includes the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Temasek. [...]
Tesco: What assets has it sold and what’s left at the checkout after £4bn South Korea Homeplus sale? September 7, 2015 Tesco has bagged up another asset, adding a nice £4.2bn to its coffers from the sale of its South Korean Homeplus business to a consortium of investors, it was revealed today. It's a major milestone in the supermarket's efforts at fixing its balance sheet – here's how it's progressing so far. Bagged up South Korea [...]
Tesco Bank, Metro Bank and Aldermore put more pressure on Treasury over George Osborne’s new bank tax September 6, 2015 The government is expected to face fresh criticism this week as politicians and City bosses step up their attacks on a new bank tax. Labour and the SNP have tabled amendments that would exempt challenger banks and building societies from having to pay an additional eight per cent of UK profits in corporation tax, the [...]
Halfords share price plummets on poor summer bike sales September 2, 2015 Shares in car and bike maintenance retailer Halfords fell more than 7.7 per cent to 470.6p in early trading, after this summer's soggy weather hit its bicycle sales. The figures Like-for-like sales at the company dropped 1.3 per cent in the eight weeks to the end of August – although for cycling specifically the fall was 11 [...]
Tesco’s share price dips as supermarket selects MBK as preferred bidder for sale of South Korean unit Homeplus September 2, 2015 Tesco has identified private equity firm MBK Partners as the preferred bidder to buy its South Korean arm, Reuters is reporting. The troubled supermarket has been looking to offload Homeplus, which is valued at around $6bn (£3.9bn), as part of a wider attempt to bolster its bottom line. Two months ago it held a beauty parade [...]
Supermarket wars hot up: Poundland launches online shopping trial September 1, 2015 Poundland is dipping a toe in the waters of online retailing, with the bargain chain launching a trial online shopping service today. The discount retailer’s website, will initially offer 2,000 products ranging from Poundland’s £1 Make Up Gallery cosmetics range to Toblerone bars and three-for-£1 cans of Coke. Poundland said the service will have no [...]
Former Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke to be quizzed by Serious Fraud Office August 28, 2015 Former Tesco boss Philip Clarke is set to be grilled by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as part of an investigation into the supermarket chain’s multi-million pound accounting black hole. The UK prosecutors have also called in ex-commercial director Kevin Grace for questioning, according to people with knowledge of the matter cited by Bloomberg. Read [...]