BEST OF THE BROKERS June 12, 2011 TESCO Evolution Securities rates the supermarket “sell” with a target price of 375p. The broker expects to see 7.5 per cent growth in group turnover when Tesco reports first quarter figures on Tuesday, with international gains making up for flat underlying UK like-for-like sales. Evo thinks Tesco is underperforming the UK market and has concerns [...]
THE TIPSTER June 12, 2011 SAINSBURY is due to report its quarterly figures this week. The share price of the supermarket has had a torrid start to the month. Despite the fall in share price, expectations for the results are good, due to the hot bank holidays and the royal wedding. Interestingly enough, it is now also the seventh largest [...]
Argos slump adds to Home Retail’s woes June 9, 2011 SHARES in Argos owner Home Retail Group fell 13.3 per cent yesterday after it said the catalogue retailer’s sales fell more than expected in the past quarter. Argos was hit hard by customers’ reluctance to buy expensive electronics and big-ticket household goods, causing its sales to slump 9.6 per cent to £817m in the past [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW BAD WAS THE PERFORMANCE OF ARGOS? June 9, 2011 TOM GADSBY | MATRIX GROUP These are pretty dire figures. We expected another tricky quarter for Argos, but the like-for-like sales fall is well below the expected range. While the decline in profits over the past two years is cyclical rather than structural, a clear upturn in consumer demand would be needed for the shares [...]
Mining shares rebound and oil stocks rise on supply fears June 9, 2011 MINERS rebounded from the previous day’s sharp sell-off to help push Britain’s top share index higher yesterday, while oil stocks tracked crude higher on supply fears. The FTSE 100 closed up 47.45 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 5,856.34, having bounced well clear of the session low of 5,795.00, although thin volumes exaggerated the index’s [...]
FTSE falters as retailers slide June 9, 2011 Stocks defied downbeat expectations to post gains this morning but have since downhill after a number of UK retailers said sales were falling. Heavyweight banking stocks are also down following yesterday’s Treasury Select Committee debate over whether to ringfence their operations, and Vince Cable’s attack on their lending levels on Tuesday. State-backed Lloyds Bank is [...]
Sales slide at Argos as shoppers stay home June 9, 2011 Sales of home goods from Argos fell more than expected in the past three months as shoppers cut back on expensive electronics, its owner Home Retail Group has said. Home Retail, which also owns home and garden DIY chain Homebase, said Argos like-for-like sales slumped by 9.6 per cent to £817m in its first quarter, [...]
Home Retail execs in line for pay hikes despite profit drop June 1, 2011 HOME Retail Group executives are in line for pay rises despite a tough year in which the company issued a profit warning. The owner of Homebase and Argos proposed in its annual report that chief executive Terry Duddy and finance director Richard Ashton should receive raises. Under the remuneration proposal, to be presented to shareholders [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 12, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES LLOYDS’ BISCHOFF COUNTERS CALLS FOR CHANGE The chairman of Lloyds Banking Group has countered suggestions from some investors that he should step down ahead of the bank’s reprivatisation. “In one or two years I suspect I’ll still be here,” Sir Win Bischoff told the Financial Times. The government is expected to begin selling [...]
Losses up at Argos Resources April 26, 2011 Falkland-focused oil discovery company Argos Resources yesterday reported pre-tax losses of $309,000 (£187,600) for the year to the end of December – up from $175,000 at the same time last year. The firm also said that it has cash and cash equivalents of $32.1m compared with $447,000 last time. It said that it expects to [...]