John Lewis, M&S, Debenhams – the best Christmas TV adverts of 2014 November 7, 2014 Alright, so there's still a month and a half until the big day – but settle in, because Christmas ads have begun to grace our screens, and they're going to be around for the next 47 evenings in. You might as well become acquainted. First up, we had the big one: John Lewis' much-awaited Christmas [...]
Exclusive: CMC Markets plans more growth before IPO November 6, 2014 Online trading firm CMC Markets could float this time next year if the group grows as planned, chief executive Peter Cruddas told City A.M. yesterday. “I expect we can triple in size in the next five to seven years. I would be disappointed if we didn’t,” he said. “We are looking at a flotation, but there [...]
Morrisons’ sales slump begins to slow down November 6, 2014 SALES at WM Morrison fell again in the third quarter, but yesterday investors were pleased at promising individual sales figures. The supermarket’s sales fell 6.3 per cent on the year, on a like-for-like basis – an improvement on the 7.6 per cent fall in the previous quarter. Its shares jumped by 6.22 per cent on figures [...]
Tesco loses out to Germans discounter Schwarz Beteiligungs in global market as Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Seven and I remain on top November 3, 2014 Battered retailer Tesco is losing market share on the global stage as German discount chains continue to steal ground from the British giant, researchers at Euromonitor International said today. Tesco has now been bumped from fourth-largest retail chain in the world into fifth place by German value group Schwarz Beteiligungs. Its dominant position in the [...]
Fraud squad to probe Tesco’s accounting hole October 29, 2014 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office (SFO) announced yesterday that it would take over from the Financial Conduct Authority in investigating a £263m hole in troubled Tesco’s accounts. The retail giant previously said the profits had been overstated due to erroneous timings in accounting for supplier rebates. It is the latest major case to land on the SFO’s plate, [...]
Competition and sterling hit profit margins October 27, 2014 THE NUMBER of profit warnings issued by companies increased over the summer as margins were squeezed by greater competition, rising input prices, and a strong pound. UK quoted companies issued 69 profit warnings in the third quarter of 2014 – 13 more than the same quarter last year, a report released yesterday by accountants EY [...]
Premier Foods’ share price tanks as Aldi, Lidl and online shopping weigh on manufacturer October 23, 2014 Food manufacturer Premier Foods reported lower third-quarter sales yesterday, hit by consumers turning to online shopping or discount chains that stock their own brands for groceries. Shares tanked 14.6 per cent on the disappointing results yesterday to close down at 29.25p. “Market conditions in the third quarter have proved to be increasingly demanding with unprecedented [...]
FTSE recovers but Tesco’s woes drag down rival retailers – London Report October 23, 2014 BRITAIN’S top equity index recovered yesterday and ended slightly higher, tracking a broad rally in US stocks following some strong earnings results, although a slump in Tesco and Unilever capped gains. The FTSE 100 index ended up 0.3 per cent at 6.419.15 points, after falling as much as 1.4 per cent during the day. Troubled [...]
Dave Lewis’s shopping list: Blueprint for a Tesco turnaround plan October 23, 2014 Another update, another set of gloomy results from Tesco. The pattern is now well established, and yesterday’s weak trading numbers didn’t come as a great surprise. But one thing that did surprise was the apparent lack of a forward strategy. What is new chief executive Dave Lewis going to focus on? The issue of price [...]
Is Waitrose boss Mark Price right that the Big Four supermarkets are “20 years out of date”? October 22, 2014 James McGregor, director of Retail Remedy, says Yes. Mark Price is correct that structural shifts in retail are a far bigger threat to the Big Four (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons) than Aldi and Lidl. Yes, the discounters are a problem, but they’re not the big problem. The main issue is that people’s grocery shopping [...]