BEST OF THE BROKERS September 6, 2010 HOME RETAIL GROUP Seymour Pierce has upgraded the owner of Argos to a “hold” ahead of its trading update on Thursday. The firm has lost 29.5 per cent of its value in a year, and the current share price of 221p is near fair value, it believes. The broker notes that the retailer’s strong balance [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 4, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES DIPLOMATS TO BECOME SALESMEN The job description for Britain’s ambassadors is to be rewritten to include tough targets for trade promotion and a requirement for the country’s top diplomats to tour the UK’s regions to showcase commercial opportunities abroad. As well as gliding through the corridors of foreign ministries and cultivating contacts with [...]
NICK BOOTHTECH TALK August 4, 2010 I’VE seen the future of British youth – it’s half man, half desk. Why? They can’t relate to anything unless it’s writ large on a glowing screen at chair level. But now the school PCs and whiteboards have been powered off, could we entice our next generation humans into the garden of real-life high definition? [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 21, 2010 BANK OF IRELAND The bank has appointed Bill Greaves to the position of head of corporate banking in the UK. Greaves previously led the bank’s technology, media and telecoms team, which he established in early 2005 upon joining the group. Prior to that, he led the media team at Barclays. In his new role, he [...]
Our nation of shoppers is not about to quit the habit yet July 14, 2010 SINCE the onset of the recession, the pressure has increased to turn the UK economy into a manufacturing centre of excellence and at the same time become a nation of savers. But has the nation really turned its back on its former favourite pastime, shopping? Well, the hard data would suggest no. According to the [...]
Rockhopper eyes second Falklands site July 11, 2010 ROCKHOPPER, the oil explorer which became an investors’ darling after striking black gold off the coast of the Falkland Islands, is eyeing a second big discovery in the region. Analysts believe the Aim-listed company will find up to 240m barrels of oil at its Ernest prospect to the north of the Falklands when it begins [...]
The bike and car parts retailer who wants to own Britain on the move June 20, 2010 Halfords and its chief executive David Wild are having a good recession. Earlier this month, the bikes and car maintenance retail chain posted a strong set of full-year figures: pre-tax profits rose 42 per cent to £110m, while sales rose three per cent to £832m. The FTSE 250 business said the trend for healthy living [...]
FTSE rises for fourth day in a row as miners offset a sharp decline for BP June 14, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday for a fourth straight day, led by miners buoyed by firmer metals prices and offsetting a sharp fall in BP. The FTSE 100 index closed up 38.45 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5,202.13, its highest close since 3 June. Mining stocks added the most points to the [...]
Home Retail is hit by slump at Argos June 10, 2010 HOME Retail Group posted a bigger-than-expected drop in first-quarter sales at its Argos stores, hit by a drop in demand for video games and televisions. The group, which also runs Homebase, said economic conditions were challenging and uncertain but that it was still aiming to deliver flat profits over the full financial year, in line [...]
No World Cup magic June 10, 2010 WITH the start of the World Cup just days away, fans have been splashing out on flat-screen TVs. It’s strange then that the bigger-than-expected slump in Argos revenues was driven by weak TV sales. If the catalogue retailer can’t shift tellys in the run up to the year’s biggest sporting event, when can it? This [...]