City rainmaker with taste for drama could be leading man March 29, 2012 THE hiring of Greenhill & Co chairman Simon Borrows in July was seen as a coup for 3i. Now, less than nine months later, the City rainmaker could be on the verge of taking over from Michael Queen. Borrows, currently 3i’s chief investment officer, has advised some of Britain’s biggest companies, including G4S, Tesco, Informa, Inchcape and [...]
RAPID RESPONSES March 28, 2012 Insufficient appeal [Re: Taxpayers must not be forced to pay, Tuesday] Surely if a party appealed to a sufficient number of people, they would happily donate funds for the party to use. Insufficient appeal leads to insufficient funds. If there was cash at the end, maybe politicians would be more likely to respond to consumer [...]
Rio Tinto decides that diamond mines are not forever March 27, 2012 DEMAND for diamonds is booming. Tiffany, the luxury jeweller that is famous for using the precious stones in its pieces, earlier this month said its worldwide sales jumped 15 per cent in 2011 and warned that supplies were struggling to keep up. Gem Diamonds, which counts Tiffany as one of its biggest clients, reported a [...]
Tesco continues to shed market share as Asda hits record high March 27, 2012 TESCO has continued to shed market share in the first three months of 2012, latest figures showed yesterday, while number two supermarket Asda has seen its slice of the pie jump to a record high. According to Kantar data released yesterday, Tesco’s year-on-year growth lagged behind the rest of the sector at just 2.7 per [...]
Government to ban cheap alcohol sales March 22, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT will today announce the introduction of a minimum price for alcohol as part of measures that aim to reduce the social impact of excessive drinking. New legislation will force retailers to charge a minimum of 40p per unit of alcohol. Prime Minister David Cameron has also promised to ban bulk-buy discount deals in [...]
TNT Post bids to rival Royal Mail’s service March 22, 2012 TNT POST is further encroaching on Royal Mail territory by launching an end-to-end delivery trial in London as part of a long-term plan to rival the government-owned postal service. Following a successful trial in Liverpool, TNT postal workers will hit the streets of west London from mid-April to test the waters for extending the company’s [...]
Sainsbury’s sees boost in market share March 21, 2012 J SAINSBURY boss Justin King said the retailer’s success “was not dependent on others failing” as the group continued to win market share from rivals like Tesco and posted a surge in fourth-quarter sales. Justin King described himself as a “competitive guy” as the UK’s third largest supermarket reported a 2.6 rise in like-for-like sales [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW HAS THE RETAILER FARED COMPARED TO RIVALS? March 21, 2012 CLIVE BLACK | SHORE CAPITAL Sainsbury has delivered what can only be considered a very sound and resilient performance against the backdrop of demonstrably challenging times. Indeed, the group deserves credit for the sales momentum delivered in the fourth quarter and in the face of some deep fuel related discounts by competitors. RICHARD HUNTER | [...]
Sainsbury’s sales and market share rise March 21, 2012 J Sainsbury, Britain’s third-biggest supermarket group, beat forecasts for fourth quarter sales growth as it won market share from rivals. “We continue to outperform the market and gain market share,” said chief executive Justin King. He said although the economic climate was likely to remain challenging Britain’s roster of summer events, including celebrations to mark [...]
FTSE SUFFERS BIGGEST FALL IN TWO WEEKS March 20, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index suffered its sharpest fall in two weeks yesterday, as concerns over materials demand in top consumer China hit commodities-linked sectors, marring a rally that had been part-driven by hopes for improving global growth. The benchmark FTSE 100 index closed down 69.7 points, or 1.2 per cent, at 5,891.41, having rallied more [...]