High street electricals: a mug’s game November 9, 2011 IN the end, they couldn’t even give it away. As well as taking on Comet’s pension scheme, which is in deficit to the tune of €45.9m, Kesa is having to pay a £50m dowry to buyer OpCapita to offload its ailing electricals chain. Buried deep in the terms and conditions of the contract is a [...]
Selfridges to buck the high street gloom November 6, 2011 SELFRIDGES, the British chain of high-end department stores, will this week report a surge in profits thanks to the resilience of the luxury goods market. The company, which is owned by Canadian billionaire Galen Weston, is expected to report a 19 per cent jump in profits later this week, after sales at is stories in [...]
Well-run companies profit even in hard times October 23, 2011 YOU could be forgiven for not noticing, but it is earnings season again. Once you finish trawling through the endless speculation about the next phase of Eurozone debt crisis in the papers and on TV, you’ll eventually find some good old-fashioned company news reporting. Let me summarise. Well-run companies with good products are holding up [...]
Home Retail hit by Argos sales decline October 20, 2011 HOME Retail Group chief executive Terry Duddy yesterday called for the chancellor to do more to help cash-strapped families as falling sales at the company’s Argos chain took their toll on the share price. Denying the company’s business model was “broken”, Duddy fired a broadside at George Osborne, challenging him to increase tax relief for [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW SERIOUS IS THE SALES BLOW AT HRG? October 20, 2011 KEITH BOWMAN | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN For now, investor concern continues to be fully vindicated. Profits have missed already lowered forecasts, with Argos suffering. The company remains in a very difficult place, with downbeat management outlook comments likely to foster further profit downgrades. Consensus opinion is a sell. PHILIP DORGAN | PANMURE GORDON We find it [...]
Retail sales up with gadgets boost October 20, 2011 Retail sales grew more than expected in September after a surprise increase in sales of laptops and video games, the Office for National Statistics said. The ONS said sales volumes including automotive fuel rose by 0.6 per cent on the month after a fall of 0.4 per cent in August, giving an annual rise of [...]
Home Retail profits slump October 19, 2011 Home Retail posted a 70 percent slump in first-half profit, with profitability at its Argos business collapsing. The firm, which also owns Homebase, the second largest do-it-yourself chain, said on market conditions were “weak and volatile.” “In these early weeks of the second half we have not seen the improvement in sales that we had [...]
THE TIPSTER October 17, 2011 OVER the course of September, gold saw its price drop 11 per cent, which was its biggest slump in three years. However, with renewed fears that European leaders have bitten off more than they can chew regarding the debt crisis, we could see traders return to the trusty safe haven. The yellow metal is also [...]
Home Retail chief snubs calls for shop closures September 28, 2011 HOME Retail Group bosss Terry Duddy is rejecting City pressure to cut back on stores as sales at its Argos outlets struggle. He said he will not be closing stores following a market research report into the company’s performance, claiming the wider economy was to blame rather than his strategy for the company. “There were [...]
Foster’s shareholders set to give SABMiller bud the go-ahead September 22, 2011 SABMiller’s £6bn bid for Australian brewer Foster’s Group looks set for success as key shareholders backed the sweetened deal on Thursday with only an outside chance of a rival offer now posing a threat. Foster’s agreed to accept SABMiller’s A$5.10 a share offer, a 20 cent-a-share increase on a previous offer, after a three-month battle [...]