Another activist hedgie hovers over Morrisons January 19, 2014 BILLIONAIRE hedge fund boss Tom Sandell has revealed a small stake in beleaguered supermarket Morrisons, the latest activist investor to pursue an investment in the struggling chain. Sandell, who runs Sandell Asset Management, owns a tiny proportion of the firm’s shares, thought to be well below the three per cent threshold required for public disclosure. [...]
Mothercare is said to be in the sights of retailing giant Tesco January 19, 2014 TESCO considered a bid for mother and baby products retailer Mothercare to help reinvigorate its supermarkets, the Sunday Times reported. Citing retail sources, the newspaper said Tesco examined a bid six months ago but has put the plan on hold. However, the recent fall in Mothercare’s share price could rekindle Tesco’s plan according to the [...]
Hays bullish after increase in UK hires January 19, 2014 Alistair Cox sees plenty of growth to come for British jobs, but skills shortages are a worry AFTER a torrid few years for the jobs market, the boss of the country’s biggest white-collar recruiter is feeling optimistic enough about the growing signs of recovery that he’s even planning to add some staff to his own [...]
Springbok spicing up the wine market January 19, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks to Rowan Gormley, the South African taking on wine’s giants with venture Naked Wines THE DAYS of the wine snob – so brilliantly caricatured by Richard E Grant’s the Hon Simon Marchmont in the BBC’s Posh Nosh – could be coming to an end. It’s an industry long characterised by an assumption [...]
UK retail sales increase at strongest rate since February 2010 in December January 17, 2014 Christmas was a pretty mixed bag for some retailers, but figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest that the squeeze on consumers is easing, and they were able to make the most of bargain and discount shopping. December retail sales jumped 5.3 per cent from a year earlier, up 2.6 per cent in the [...]
Nintendo slashes dividend forecast on expected full year loss January 17, 2014 Christmas shoppers did little to revive the languishing sales of Nintendo's Wii U. Lower-than-expected console and games sales brought a very disappointing Christmas for the world's largest video-game machine maker, which has cut its forecast for the financial year to a net loss of 25bn yen (£147m). The company had been expecting full-year net profit [...]
What you need to know before the open – 17/01 January 17, 2014 European markets are set to move higher today after marginal gains in US equity futures and Asian stocks. We've got UK retail sales for December this morning, which'll reveal more about shopping over Christmas. And in Asia, the Nikkei dropped in trading today, after US corporate earnings damaged investor sentiment. ETX Capital #MorningCall FTSE [...]
Home Retail names Argos boss Walden as next chief executive January 16, 2014 HOME RETAIL GROUP yesterday announced that it has appointed the head of its Argos business to take over from outgoing chief executive Terry Duddy. John Walden, a former Best Buy executive who joined Argos last April, was a clear favourite to take over the post from Duddy, who will step down in March. The news [...]
Ocado delivers Christmas cheer January 16, 2014 OCADO said its online grocery service for Morrisons launched “on time and on budget” last week as it reported bumper Christmas sales. Sales rose 21.3 per cent to £111.1m for the six weeks to 5 January as it benefited from extra capacity at its new fulfillment centre in Warwickshire. Ocado boss Tim Steiner said the [...]
Halfords sales pedal forward January 16, 2014 HALFORDS said sales kept up a strong pace over Christmas thanks to “sparkling” performance from its cycling business. The FTSE 250 group, which is eight months into a £100m three-year turnaround plan, said that sales at stores open more than a year increased by 5.2 per cent in the 15 weeks to 10 January. Bikes [...]