Warren Buffett’s hat-trick of woe: Billionaire loses $1bn as Coca-Cola, IBM and Tesco share prices crash October 21, 2014 Billionaire investor Warren Buffett lost $1bn yesterday after shares in his second biggest investment Coca-Cola crashed to a six-year low, capping a torrid week for the 84-year old after similar misfortunes with IBM and Tesco. Buffett’s 400m shares in the soft drinks firm fell $2.61 each, reducing the value of his holding by $1.1bn after [...]
One door closes, while others open – Editor’s letter October 21, 2014 Investment bankers are a bit like accountants. They see opportunities from every eventuality. Accountants thrive in the good times and the bad, with the big firms’ restructuring departments jumping into action when the economy turns sour. Yesterday as BCA Marketplace, owner of the webuyanycar.com website, pulled its stock market flotation in London, I asked one [...]
Tesco suffers worst decline in grocery sector October 21, 2014 TESCO emerged as the biggest loser in the grocery sector over the past three months, despite sales showing signs of recovery, as the supermarket price war and fierce competition continued to take its toll on the troubled retailer. The company, which stunned the City last month with revelations of a £250m black hole in its [...]
Supermarket woes deepen over price wars October 21, 2014 THE UK food industry’s troubles were laid bare today after a report revealed the sector had suffered the sharpest rise in financial distress compared with other UK industries. According to Begbies Traynor’s latest Red Flag update, which monitors the health of UK companies, levels of “significant” financial distress among UK food retailers rose by 11 [...]
Tesco share price rises as declines in its market share slows, while Waitrose reaches record high October 21, 2014 Tesco shares rose 2.2 percent in mid-morning trading after new figures showed while it has lost yet more market share, its rate of decline is slowing. while Waitrose has climbed to a record high, doing just enough to keep it ahead of German challengers Aldi and Lidl. The figures, by Kantar Worldpanel, also showed [...]
Buffett left red faced as IBM’s shares tumble October 20, 2014 JUST days after legendary investor Warren Buffett admitted that buying a near four per cent stake in Tesco was a “huge mistake”, another one of US fund manager’s big gambles is looking shaky. IBM. led by chair and CEO Ginni Rometty, yesterday reported that sales fell four per cent to $22.4bn (£13.9bn) in the three [...]
FTSE 100 falls again as price slump hits oil sector – London Report October 20, 2014 Britain’s top equity index resumed its fall yesterday, giving back half the gains made in the previous session, as investors reckoned with reduced earnings expectations for oil companies after a slump in oil prices. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down 43.22 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 6,267.07 points, after rising 114 points on [...]
Warren Buffett’s second “huge mistake”? IBM shares slide 7.5 per cent in pre-market trading as it admits fall in profits October 20, 2014 It has only been a few days since Warren Buffett admitted buying nearly four per cent of Tesco was a "huge mistake", but now another one of the legendary investor's big gambles is looking shaky. IBM said sales fell four per cent to $22.4bn (£13.9bn) in the three months to the end of September – [...]
Fenwick boosts board with Alastair Kerr and Christine Cross October 19, 2014 Fenwick, the family-owned department store chain, has bolstered its board by hiring two retail heavyweights, Alastair Kerr and Christine Cross, as non-executive directors. Cross spent the biggest part of her career at Tesco, where she held a string of senior non-food retailing roles between 1989 and 2003 under Lord MacLaurin and Sir Terry Leahy. She [...]
Tesco probe finds evidence of inappropriate behaviour by staff October 19, 2014 THE INVESTIGATION into Tesco’s £250m black hole is understood to have found evidence that a small group of staff deliberately misled its auditors as they struggle to meet sales targets. The UK’s largest supermarket chain is due to report its delayed half year results on Thursday, with chief executive Dave Lewis set to update the [...]