Mobile shoppers boost demand at Shop Direct January 13, 2014 SHOP Direct said sales from smartphone and tablets “exploded” over Christmas, boosting the group’s efforts to shift away from its roots as a traditional catalogue business. The online and catalogue retailer, which owns brands such as Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com and isme.com, said total sales rose five per cent in the six weeks to 27 December compared [...]
Retailer Jaeger is back in fashion as online revamp pushes up sales January 13, 2014 JAEGER said efforts to turn itself around were starting to pay off as the 130-year-old fashion retailer said that sales over Christmas jumped by almost a third. Like-for-like sales rose 23 per cent in the 13 weeks to 28 December thanks to changes to its website, which helped boost online sales by 57 per cent. [...]
Mountain Warehouse scales new heights after bumper Christmas January 13, 2014 MOUNTAIN Warehouse was celebrating yesterday after the bleak Christmas weather prompted Britons to splash out on outdoor clothing. Like-for-like sales were up 10.7 per cent at the outdoor retailer over the six weeks to 5 January, the retailer said yesterday, benefiting from the wet and windy weather around Christmas. Its performance was also boosted by [...]
Fortnum’s feasts on a hamper-full of sales January 13, 2014 FORTNUM & Mason said yesterday that record demand for its famous hampers over Christmas helped drive a 13.4 per cent jump in like-for-like sales in the five weeks to 5 January. The group posted a five-fold rise in profits to £1.8m in the year to July on sales up 10 per cent to £65m.
Chinese holidaymakers lead the charge over Christmas period January 13, 2014 WEALTHY foreign visitors helped keep Britain’s tills ringing over Christmas with spending up a record 40 per cent on the previous year. Chinese tourists led the charge, with spending up 52 per cent to around £741 per transaction in December, according to figures out yesterday by tax-free shopping specialist Global Blue. China accounted for the [...]
Sales soar over festive season at Greene King January 13, 2014 BREWER and pub group Greene King yesterday reported a 3.8 per cent jump in its like-for-like sales during the first 36 weeks of its financial year, boosted by bumper food sales on Christmas Day. The results were helped by the two trading weeks covering Christmas and the New Year, during which Greene King reported sales [...]
Analyst Views: What did you make of Greene King’s trading update yesterday? January 13, 2014 DOUGLAS JACK | NUMIS SECURITIES Trading has strengthened slightly over the latest six weeks (to 5 January), with managed pub like-for-like sales increasing to 3.8 per cent from 3.5 per cent, aided by an improved trading backdrop. Total sales are up 8.2 per cent. We believe the risk to forecasts remains firmly on the upside. [...]
Festive getaway boosts airports and Le Shuttle January 13, 2014 HEATHROW and Gatwick ended their busiest ever years on a high, with rising passenger numbers in December, while the Eurotunnel also enjoyed a bumper Christmas. Heathrow, Europe’s biggest airport by passenger numbers, yesterday said traffic was up 2.8 per cent to 5.8m passengers in December, taking its total growth for the year to 3.4 per [...]
London Report: Banks lift FTSE as new leverage rules welcomed January 13, 2014 ARALLY in banking shares helped the FTSE 100 rise to a two-month closing high yesterday as investors welcomed the prospect of lighter rules on leverage for the sector. Supermarket WM Morrison was the top FTSE gainer on speculation it may sell some property and return some of the proceeds to shareholders, while oil and gas [...]
Golf Comment: Super Swede the man to beat as Euro stars begin Gulf Swing January 13, 2014 ALL eyes will be on 2013’s indisputable star Henrik Stenson this weekend as the European Tour begins its Gulf Swing with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. The golf world will be fascinated to see whether the Swede can maintain the form that saw him win both the European and US tours last term in his [...]