Tesco hopes to win back sales with new items October 6, 2013 TESCO will today unveil a revamped version of its Finest range, which Britain’s biggest supermarket hopes will win over shoppers and shareholders following grim half-year results. The FTSE 100 firm, whose market share is dipping as the discount supermarkets grow, is expected to lay out 1,500 new or redesigned products ahead of the Christmas rush. [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 4 October 2013 October 3, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES China to invest £650m in Manchester China’s biggest bank will invest in a new £650m business district at Manchester airport in a deal the government believes will mark a fresh wave of investment by Beijing in UK infrastructure. The state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is to sign the deal when George [...]
New Weetabix owner milks strong growth October 3, 2013 WEETABIX, the iconic cereal brand which also owns Alpen as well as Ready Brek, defied one of the worst wheat harvests in over half a century to post a six per cent rise in sales last year. The company, which was forced to scale back production of some of its mini ranges after UK crops [...]
Energy innovation is stagnating and the implications for growth are stark October 3, 2013 EVERY day seems to bring better websites, cooler startups and niftier smartphones. But there’s one area where technological progress is barely crawling along. Unfortunately, it’s one race we cannot afford to lose. I’m talking, of course, about energy. To get an idea of the problem we face, consider two stories from last week: Ed Miliband’s [...]
…as Tesco plans China venture after profits fall October 2, 2013 BRITAIN’S biggest supermarket chain Tesco is pinning its hopes on a new joint venture in China after reporting a sharp slump in European profits and flat UK sales in the first half. Trading profits in Europe collapsed by 69 per cent, dragging Tesco’s overall profit before tax down by 24 per cent to £1.39bn. In [...]
London Report: FTSE slumps to a three-month low on US fears October 2, 2013 THE UK’S top share index slipped to a three-month low yesterday, with retailers bruised by a weak trading update from Tesco while broader sentiment was weighed down by concerns over a US government shutdown. The FTSE 100 index fell as low as 6,386.18 points, its lowest since July, as investors fretted about the continued partial [...]
Tesco to swell presence in China but profits are sliding October 2, 2013 Tesco has announced it's to join forces with China Resources Enterprise (CRE) to create the leading multi-format retailer in China. (Release) The companies have entered into definitive agreements to combine their Chinese retail operations. The joint venture will see Tesco's 134 Chinese stores – as well as its Chinese shopping mall business – combine with [...]
London Report: FTSE is knocked by jitters in US, China and Italy September 30, 2013 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday, with miners hit by weak data from top metals consumer China and with political jitters in Italy and the United States hurting broad investor sentiment. Fresnillo and Glencore Xstrata lost over two per cent after Chinese data unexpectedly pointed to a near-stagnation of private sector factory activity. Yesterday’s market [...]
Daily FX: Analyst picks September 30, 2013 CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Looking short dollar-yen, long Kiwi-dollar Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: A few hours to a few weeks I remain long on Kiwi-dollar from $0.8165, though I will cut the trade indiscriminately should US and Italian political issues boil over. The pair suffered mightily in [...]
Bottom Line: The UK needs more of China’s tourists – but not at any price September 29, 2013 CHINA’S booming tourism market is an opportunity Britain can ill-afford to miss out on. China overtook Germany and the US to become the world’s largest outbound tourism market in 2012, with 83m overseas trips by its citizens. That will reach 200m by 2020, with growth of 16 per cent in the first quarter of 2013 [...]