John Lewis sales suffer post-Black Friday hangover but sales are still up year-on-year December 11, 2015 After reporting record-breaking numbers over Black Friday, John Lewis today said that it saw a double-digit drop in sales last week. Sales fell 11.8 per cent to £165.6m compared with the last week of November, although the number is still up 13.6 per cent on the same week last year. This is in stark contrast [...]
Asda drops petrol prices below £1 a litre as oil price hits seven year low but how long will it last? December 10, 2015 Asda's done it. From tomorrow its petrol will be cheaper than £1 a litre, but only for a couple of days. As oil prices continue to languish around seven year lows, Asda has announced it will cut the price of its unleaded petrol to 99.7p a litre, and diesel to 103.7p per litre. The reduction will only [...]
Best of the Brokers for 10 December 2015 December 10, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ROLLS-ROYCE Analysts at Jefferies described the profit headwind of £100m to £150m in wide-body jet engines announced by the engineering giant as “a worrying development”. Around £50m to £80m of that related to the large engine aftermarket. However, they said the announcement did [...]
Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tesco and Morrisons will all cut petrol prices as oil falls below $40 a barrel December 9, 2015 Oil prices plunging below $40 a barrel for the first time since February 2009 may have thrown the markets, but it’s good news for consumers, as the price of petrol may fall to £1 a litre for Christmas. The RAC estimates that the average price of unleaded petrol will fall by 3p in the next [...]
UK retail sales: Online Black Friday bonanza steals limelight away from the high street December 8, 2015 High street retailers lost out in November, with sales falling into the red, as online retailers enticing shoppers with Black Friday bargains stole the show. Like-for-like retail sales fell by 0.4 per cent last month compared with November last year, when they had increased 0.9 per cent from the preceding year, according to figures released [...]
UK consumer spending slows in November despite Black Friday sales boom December 7, 2015 Consumer spending edged higher in November as feverish demand for televisions and other bargains online over the Black Friday weekend helped to offset a decline on the high street. Figures released today based on credit and debit card transactions from Visa Europe show consumer spending rose by 1.1 per cent on the year, albeit at [...]
John Lewis hails record-breaking Black Friday week December 4, 2015 John Lewis has reported the best week of trading in its 151-year history, as frenzied demand for the latest wearable technology, toys and televisions over the Black Friday helped the retailer smash last year’s record. The department store group said it racked up £187.7m of sales in the week ending 28 November, which was up [...]
Growing personal debt is a ticking time bomb and trouble will come when rates and inflation start to creep up December 3, 2015 It’s no surprise that we’re borrowing like there’s no tomorrow; prices are low, credit is cheap and coupled with wage growth you could say there’s a feeling of positivity in the air. Make the most of this sweet spot now; we’re watching a ticking time bomb and trouble is likely to be on the horizon. [...]
Shop prices fall in November as retailers gear up for Black Friday frenzy December 2, 2015 Shop prices fell by 2.1 per cent in November, with clothing and electricals leading the way as competition intensified ahead of Black Friday. Non-food prices fell by 3.3 per cent year-on-year, according data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen, which was an acceleration on the 2.7 per cent decline recorded in October. November [...]
Good health cheers Dow at month’s start – New York Report December 1, 2015 Health and consumer shares bounced back yesterday while car sales suggested upbeat growth in November, giving the markets a positive start to December. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 168.43 points, or 0.95 per cent, to 17,888.35, the S&P 500 gained 22.22 points, or 1.07 per cent, to 2,102.63 and the Nasdaq Composite added 47.64 [...]