US investor gives Home Retail a boost April 5, 2011 HOME Retail Group saw its shares jump yesterday after US private equity firm Madison Dearborn Capital Partners upped its stake. The Argos and Homebase owner issued a profit warning last month but was buoyed by the move from across the Atlantic. Tradewinds Global Investors, controlled by Chicago-based Madison, held 4.25 per cent of Home Retail’s [...]
SocialGO swings into profit March 30, 2011 UK social network SocialGO saw its revenues rise 183 per cent year-on-year after adding a number of high profile clients including Hilton Hotels, Texas Instruments, Asda and Levi’s. The firm said its profits were £238,000, compared to a loss of £24,000 the previous year. SocialGO focuses on providing personalised social networks for schools, sports clubs, [...]
TESCO CAPS ITS PRICE CHECK OFFER March 27, 2011 TESCO has been forced to cap its offer to refund double the difference on products that can be bought for less at Asda. The supermarket giant has introduced a £20 maximum refund on its Price Check offer after canny shoppers researched Asda deals and made sizeable claims. Tesco claims they profited by finding Asda promotions.
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 27, 2011 HDG Mansur The real estate fund and asset management firm has appointed Jeremy Thorman as sales liaison manager for its mixed-use development in Finzels Reach, Bristol. Thorman will manage the link between sales and construction for the £255m development, working with senior managing director Michael Baker. Thorman joins from European Land and has also held [...]
Sainsbury’s misses quarter four target as times get tough March 23, 2011 J Sainsbury, the third-biggest supermarket group, missed fourth-quarter sales forecasts and said trading was likely to remain tough as shoppers face rising fuel prices and government spending cuts. The group, which trails Wal-Mart’s Asda and industry leader Tesco by annual sales, said on sales at stores open over a year rose one per cent, excluding [...]
Morrisons profit up as it unveils share buyback March 10, 2011 Supermarket group Morrisons has reported a rise in annual profit and issued details o f a share buyback plan. The company announced a pre-tax profit of £874m for the 12 months to the end of January, up from the £858m it made in the same period a year ago. Like-for-like sales, excluding fuel and VAT, [...]
Supermarket sales slowing as shoppers rein in spending March 1, 2011 SALES growth at grocers slowed in February, despite higher prices, according to market research published yesterday, adding to signs of growing caution among consumers since the start of the year. Kantar Worldpanel said grocery sales rose 3.9 per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 20 February, down from 4.2 per cent growth for the [...]
Tesco targets Asda in new price scheme February 27, 2011 TESCO will today start a new supermarket price war by introducing £200m worth of reductions. The retailer plans to lower prices on more than 1,000 everyday products including bread, meat, vegetables and fruits, and medicines across all of its UK stores. The key target in Tesco’s latest promotion is rival Asda – owned by US supermarket giant [...]
Wal-Mart sales still slide February 22, 2011 WAL-MART yesterday posted its seventh consecutive quarterly drop in sales at established US stores and said it will take some time to turn things around in its biggest market. The world’s largest retailer, whose shares closed down 3.1 per cent, has struggled with pricing as it has lost customers to cheaper stores while recovering from [...]
Asda sales bounce back triggering staff bonus February 22, 2011 Asda sales bounced back at the end of last year it had lost ground to some of its rivals. The grocery giant, second in size only to Tesco, saw its market share slip last year. But sales in the fourth quarter rose 1.6 per cent. It said it had been boosted by its Chosen by [...]