Debenhams prepares to ask lenders for extra £50m lifeline July 18, 2019 Debenhams is preparing to ask lenders for an additional £50m lifeline as it approaches the critical Christmas trading period. The department store, which was taken over by its lenders after it fell into administration three months ago, could require access to additional borrowing facilities as soon as this autumn, Sky News reported. Read more: Debenhams [...]
Asos profit warning: Three factors behind online retailer’s fall from grace July 18, 2019 Shares in fast fashion retailer Asos plummeted this morning as the online marketplace warned that profits will be lower than expected this year. The company blamed this morning’s profit warning – its second in just over six months – on operational issues at new warehouse facilities in Europe and the US. Operational issues plague retail [...]
Growing pains: Asos share price plunges after fresh profit warning July 18, 2019 Online fashion giant Asos suffered a double-digit drop in its share price this morning after warning that profits will be lower than expected this year, citing new troubles in its international warehouse facilities. In its second profit warning in just over six months, the firm said today that it was reducing its forecasts as it [...]
Sweet like chocolate: Hotel Chocolat credits ‘relentless’ innovation for sales boost July 17, 2019 Hotel Chocolat hailed its “relentless” innovation for a bumper rise in revenue for the 12 months to the end of June, it said in a trading update today. Read more: Hotel Chocolat tastes success after Christmas sales surge Sales soared 14 per cent to £132m for its financial year, while it expects profits to hit [...]
ii view: Citigroup beats forecasts July 16, 2019 By Keith Bowman from interactive investor. Investors have been cautious regarding US banks. Has anything changed with these results? Second-quarter results to the end of June 2019 Revenue up 2 per cent to $18.8 billion Net income of $4.8 Billion, up 7 per cent Earnings per share up 20 per cent to $1.95 Operating expenses down 2 per [...]
Vodafone rings cynical tone with token gesture on executive pay July 12, 2019 Talk about a late call. By the time Vodafone signalled a concession this week over long-term share awards granted to its top executives, the damage had already been done. The “voluntary request” (a phrase underlining the City’s talent for tortured tautology) made by Nick Read and Margherita Della Valle has stuck in the craw of [...]
Eddie Jones’s Rugby World Cup checklist: What’s on England head coach’s agenda as countdown to tournament gathers pace July 7, 2019 Starting today, the players selected for England’s Rugby World Cup training squad have five weeks to show head coach Eddie Jones why they deserve a place on the plane to Japan. Last Thursday Jones announced a list of 35, plus three injured players receiving treatment, that he says will be whittled down to the final [...]
Asos prepares job cuts as sales slump July 7, 2019 Around 100 jobs are at risk at Asos’s London headquarters as the online retailer battles with slumping sales. The fast-fashion brand is consulting on a round of redundancies, which will mainly affect the marketing department, the Sunday Times reported. Read more: Eurozone retail sales see suprise fall in May Asos issued a warning in December, [...]
Fintech champions face an uphill climb if they want to expand into America July 4, 2019 When did you last pay with a cheque? I’d be willing to bet that many of you don’t even know where your cheque book is, and if you do, that it’s probably gathering dust. If you’re living and working in a UK city, you’re totally accustomed to new ways of banking – from Apple Pay [...]
What’s gone wrong at Sainsbury’s? Three problems the supermarket must address July 3, 2019 It has been several months now since the Mike Coupe’s dreams of a merger with Asda were dealt a lethal blow from Britain’s competition watchdog, but how much has changed? Directors at the supermarket chain have been setting out a plan to cut costs, slash debt and refurbish 400 stores. Yet investors will likely have [...]