Marks & Spencer shares slip as clothing underperformance weighs on Christmas trading January 9, 2020 Marks & Spencer’s Christmas performance was weakened by poor sales in its menswear business, after the retailer ordered too many skinny jeans in the wrong sizes. The high street chain said it over ordered skinny and slim-fit mens’ trousers, under-bought regular fit jeans and had too many small sizes and not enough medium and large. [...]
Credit card giant Newday set to buy finance platform Deko January 9, 2020 Credit card issuer Newday has reportedly agreed to purchase retail finance platform Deko in a bid to boost its tech credentials. Newday has reached a deal to acquire Deko for up to £40m, depending on the tech provider’s performance, Sky News reported. Read more: ‘Worst year on record’ for retailers in 2019 If the purchase [...]
Dunelm boosts sales despite shunning Black Friday January 9, 2020 Homeware brand Dunelm reported a jump in sales in the run-up to Christmas despite deciding not to take part in Black Friday discounting. Like-for-like sales increased five per cent in the second quarter while total growth, including the benefit of new stores, was 6.2 per cent following the launch of its new digital platform. Read [...]
Four challenges Sharon White must address at John Lewis January 9, 2020 Incoming John Lewis Partnership boss Sharon White will have a big job on her hands when she joins the retailer next month, as this morning’s trading update showed. The department store issued a profit warning today and made the surprise announcement that John Lewis managing director Paula Nickolds will leave the partnership in February. It [...]
John Lewis issues profit warning as MD steps down January 9, 2020 John Lewis & Partners issued a profit warning today and said its managing director will leave the struggling business next month after underwhelming Christmas sales. The retail partnership warned full-year profits will be “substantially down” on last year as it revealed significant drops in both John Lewis and Waitrose revenue. Read more: Four problems new [...]
Tesco sees Christmas sales rise for fifth year in a row January 9, 2020 Tesco delivered its fifth consecutive Christmas period of growth last year, outperforming its competitors in a tough retail environment. The grocer’s UK and Ireland division, which includes its wholesale business Booker, increased like-for-like sales by 0.4 per cent in the 19 weeks to 4 January due to a strong operational performance and competitive deals. Read [...]
All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers posts ‘good, not great’ Christmas sales January 9, 2020 Pub chain Mitchells & Butlers enjoyed a solid rise in like-for-like sales over Christmas, but suffered from strong comparative sales the year before. The core three-week festive period saw the firm’s pub chains – which include All Bar One, Ember Inns and Harvester – enjoy comparable sales growth of 5.6 per cent. Read more: Wetherspoon [...]
Card Factory shares dive as retailer warns on profit January 9, 2020 Shares in Card Factory plunged more than 19 per cent this morning after the retailer warned that profits will be lower than expected following a challenging Christmas trading period. The high street chain said full-year adjusted underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) will be in the range of £81m to £83m, reflecting [...]
BBC commercial arm ‘has more to do’ as streaming competition heats up January 9, 2020 The BBC’s commercial division must up its game if it is to fend off fierce competition from deep-pocketed streaming rivals, according to the public spending watchdog. In 2018 the broadcaster created BBC Studios by bringing together its commercial production and distribution arms into one distinct body. Read more: BBC ‘may not be sustainable’ in current [...]
Iran plane crash: Ukraine U-turns on engine failure as cause of Boeing 737 crash January 8, 2020 Ukraine’s embassy in Iran has dropped a reference to engine failure as a cause of the Boeing 737 plane crash that killed 176 people earlier today. Iranian state media had initially reported that “technical issues” were behind the disaster after the Boeing 737-800 crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran’s international airport. Read more: Iran [...]