Quiz swings to £7m loss as it blames ‘very challenging’ UK high street December 4, 2019 Fast fashion brand Quiz has plunged into a loss due to expensive shop leases and a lack of footfall in the first half of its financial year, it revealed today. Shares sank 16 per cent in response to leave the embattled retailer’s stock valued at just 14.05p per share. Read more: Quiz has already issued [...]
Pets At Home profit jumps in first half as it eyes top-end full-year earnings November 26, 2019 Pets At Home’s share price surged in trading today after it posted a bumper profit increase and strong like-for-like sales growth for the first half of its financial year. Read more: Short sellers tail off at Pets At Home The figures The retailer enjoyed an 18.9 per cent year-on-year increase in underlying profit before tax [...]
Easyjet boss bullish about package holiday move, despite tumbling profit and ‘difficult’ aviation market November 19, 2019 Easyjet has unveiled a new-look package holiday business just months after the collapse of Thomas Cook, despite profit plunging more than a quarter over the last year. The budget flyer said the new business, Easyjet Holidays, will launch in the UK just in time for customers to pencil in a Christmas getaway, with bookings open [...]
Three reasons behind Mothercare’s fall into administration November 4, 2019 Mothercare’s UK retail business is set to collapse into administration, despite a rescue plan implemented last year, the retailer confirmed today. Mothercare has filed a notice of intent to appoint administrators to its 79 UK stores after determining they were “not capable of returning to a level of structural profitability”. So what exactly went wrong? [...]
Next sales beat guidance, but store performance worries investors October 30, 2019 Next sales beat guidance in the retailer’s third quarter with a two per cent rise, it revealed today. However, retail sales dropped 6.3 per cent in the three months to the end of October, saved by a 9.7 per cent increase in online revenue. Read more: Next defies retail gloom with rise in profits Warm [...]
Will the buyout of Thomas Cook’s 555 high street stores take off? October 9, 2019 At 11.53pm on Tuesday night, the directors of family-owned Sunderland-based holiday firm Hays Travel clinched what is surely the biggest coup of their careers: buying Thomas Cook’s entire collection of high street stores. They appear to have timed their move well. Although owners John and Irene Hays wouldn’t tell reporters the price yesterday, they have doubtless [...]
Thomas Cook goes bust: How did it end up like this? September 23, 2019 Britain’s 178-year-old travel firm Thomas Cook officially collapsed into administration in the early hours of this morning after last-ditch rescue talks with lenders failed. The UK’s aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), is now in the process of escorting back home hundreds of thousands British holidaymakers who are abroad after booking with Thomas Cook. [...]
Laura Ashley drops into the red amid tough retail conditions August 22, 2019 Furniture and fashion-seller Laura Ashley was hit by a rough retail sector, its chief executive said this morning, as the company fell into the red. Loss before tax and exceptional items hit £9.8m at in the full year to 30 June. Last year the company made a £5.6m profit. Read more: Laura Ashley shares hit [...]
Persimmon profit falls as it tries to tackle quality complaints August 20, 2019 Persimmon has reported a drop in profit for the first half of the year as it spent heavily on schemes to aimed to counter complaints over the quality and fire safety of its homes. The figures Britain’s second largest housebuilder reported a 1.4 per cent drop in pre-tax profit, which fell to £509.3m for the [...]
Number of UK firms in ‘significant distress’ rises July 30, 2019 The number of UK businesses facing “significant distress” has increased as consumer spending slumps due to ongoing uncertainty. In total, 14 per cent of all UK businesses – 484,000 – said they were experiencing significant distress at the end of June, with the leisure and retail industries hit the hardest. Read more: Consumer spending to [...]