Retailers go head to head with results October 3, 2010 SUPERMARKETS are set for a showdown this week as Tesco, J Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer post interim results. Smaller retailers Ted Baker, Halfords and Greggs are also due results, in a week that will indicate how the High Street has fared since the general election. Tesco is expected to post a 10 per cent [...]
ITV offloads 50pc stake in Screenvision September 28, 2010 ITV has offloaded its 50 per cent stake in cinema advertiser Screenvision to US private equity fund Shamrock Capital for $80m (£50m). ITV chief executive Adam Crozier called the deal an “important step” for the firm as it works to consolidate its broadcasting empire. He said the deal fits into ITV’s “transformation plan to focus [...]
Asda is given go-ahead for Netto deal September 23, 2010 ASDA will sell around a quarter of its newly-acquired Netto supermarkets, the Office of Fair Trading said yesterday, in a blow to the grocer’s expansion into smaller city-centre outlets. Asda paid £778m for Netto in May, but said yesterday it will find buyers for 47 shops after the OFT raised competition concerns. The supermarket is [...]
Tesco wins ad battle v Asda September 22, 2010 Supermarket giant Tesco has won a battle to get a campaign run by rival Asda banned after complaining to the ad watchdog that claims in the ad that it offers lower prices than rivals were misleading. Tesco lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority challenging three claims made by Asda as part of its [...]
Asda unveils £100m brand make-over September 21, 2010 THE unveiling of Asda’s Chosen By You range saw chief executive Andy Clarke take centre stage as he claimed the £100m project would be “game changing” because it was the first time a supermarket had put so much time and money into updating its mid-range products. More than 40,000 consumers across the UK took part [...]
Robert Wiseman warns on profit as price war hits September 16, 2010 Robert Wiseman Dairies yesterday said it expected stiff competition to hurt its operating profits for the second half and next year, sending the shares down by nearly a third. The company that procures, processes and delivers milk to customers across the UK forecast second-half operating profit falling by around £7m and by £16m in 2012. [...]
Margins too tight to bear September 16, 2010 THE British dairy market is notoriously competitive, but investors were not prepared for yesterday’s shock profit warning from Robert Wiseman. Although its first-half numbers are in line, the second half is going to turn sour. Full-year profits are now forecast to be £7m lower than thought. A crushing round of price negotiations with Tesco is [...]
The rise of the “he-vage” September 2, 2010 IT’s one thing for Jude Law to do it. But when bankers at Goldman Sachs in New York (and Russell Brand) start flaunting their “man cleavage” or “he-vage”, it truly is time to become concerned. Throughout the month of August, some Goldman staff were permitted to pay $25 to a designated charity in return for [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 30, 2010 Wiggle Andy Bond, the chairman and former chief executive of Asda, has joined the board of the online sports and cycling retailer as a non-executive director. Bond, who is a keen cyclist, joined Asda in 1994 as a marketing manager. He held various positions including chief operating officer and marketing director before winning the top [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 18, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES EXXON ABANDONS ITS $4BN BID FOR GHANA OIL STAKE Following months of battle with Accra, ExxonMobil, the world’s biggest western oil company, has given up trying to acquire a share of Ghana’s giant Jubilee oil field from Kosmos, the American oil company. The $4bn deal was heavily opposed by Ghana’s government and its [...]