New Argos boss handed free rein to shake-up firm February 23, 2012 THE NEWLY appointed managing director of Argos, the catalogue and shop chain, said he has been given a free rein to examine all options for the struggling business, including closing some of its 750 shops. John Walden, a 52-year-old American who started his job at the Home Retail owned business three days ago, said yesterday: [...]
Retailers pledge warranty action February 7, 2012 Dixons, Comet and Argos, Britain’s three biggest electrical retailers, have promised the UK’s competition watchdog they will improve the transparency of the extended warranties market to avoid a full-blown investigation. The Office of Fair Trading said yesterday its third study in just over a decade of the extended warranties market found consumers may not be [...]
Lloyds shakes up exec board February 1, 2012 TRUETT Tate, the widely respected head of wholesale at Lloyds, will leave his job by the end of the month, the bank confirmed yesterday as part of a management overhaul. The shake-up will see the number of executives who report to chief executive António Horta-Osório cut from 13 to five in an attempt to reduce [...]
Home Retail hires Walden as Argos boss February 1, 2012 HOME Retail Group has named former Best Buy executive John Walden as the new boss of its struggling Argos business. He takes over as managing director of the chain next month and will report to group chief executive Terry Duddy, who had taken on the role temporarily after the departure of Sara Weller last April. [...]
Shop group pins hopes on US internet expert February 1, 2012 ARGOS’ incoming chief executive John Walden is a little known figure on this side of the Atlantic, but his extensive multi-channel experience in the US has caught the attention of executives at Home Retail Group. Walden, 52, kicked-off his retail career in the 1990s as chief operating officer of online supermarket pioneer Peabody before joining [...]
Home Retail appoints new Argos boss February 1, 2012 Home Retail Group has appointed a former Best Buy executive to be the new boss of its struggling Argos business. The firm named John Walden as managing director of the 759-store Argos chain, reporting to group chief executive Terry Duddy. Walden, who was at top US electricals retailer Best Buy between 1999 and 2007 before [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 31, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES EU TO RULE ON DEUTSCHE BÖRSE AND NYSE MERGER The NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse tie-up today faces its day of reckoning in Brussels, as European Union commissioners are expected to sign-off a recommendation to block a merger that allegedly stifles competition. BAA SIGNALS END TO HOPES OVER STANSTED RUNWAY BAA has signalled [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 18, 2012 ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND Goldman Sachs rates the bank “neutral” and has raised its target price from 25p to 30p. The broker thinks the plans to restructure RBS Global Banking and Markets could hit earnings per share by six per cent, but raise returns on equity by 1.2 per cent by 2014. But it notes [...]
Home Retail to slash divi January 12, 2012 HOME RETAIL GROUP warned it was set to slash its dividend after a declining electronic goods market caused Christmas sales at Argos to slump by more than £150m. The near-nine per cent fall in sales at Argos stores open more than a year in the 18 weeks to 31 December means the group now expects [...]
FTSE ends lower as retailers reveal a miserable Christmas January 12, 2012 BRITAIN’S leading shares fell yesterday after a profit warning from Tesco triggered sharp falls in retailers and eclipsed a lift for banks from a successful Spanish debt auction and restructuring at RBS. The FTSE 100 index closed down 8.40 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,662.42, once again missing out in a tilt at the [...]