JD Sports enters the New Year with steady sales growth January 10, 2014 JD Sports has reported like-for-like sales for the group's core Fascia stores are now marginally ahead of the 5.8 per cent rise seen in the for the forty two weeks to 23 November. The group believes the most recent six weeks trading has given the company hope for further progress over the course of 2014. [...]
A two-speed high street January 9, 2014 A CLEAR split between Britain’s winners and losers in the battle for consumers’ cash this Christmas emerged yesterday, as three of the biggest retail chains revealed worse-than-expected trading. Poor results from Tesco, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer added to dreary updates from Sainsbury’s and Mothercare, with heavy discounting, weak consumer spending and the rising discount [...]
Morrisons share price slides as it warns on profit January 9, 2014 WM MORRISON boss Dalton Philips said it missed out on the usual seasonal surge in footfall over Christmas because of competition from discounters and the lack of an online presence, as the supermarket chain was forced to issue a profit warning. The UK’s fourth largest grocer brought forward its trading update by 11 days to deliver [...]
Tesco downgrades forecasts as Christmas trading disappoints January 9, 2014 TESCO admitted yesterday that full year profits could be as much as £150m below expectations as Britain’s biggest supermarket retailer reported another heavy decline in like-for-like sales over the Christmas trading period. The group, which is 21 months into a turnaround plan, said like-for-like sales fell 2.4 per cent in the six weeks to 4 [...]
M&S boss Marc Bolland defends Xmas discounts January 9, 2014 MARKS & SPENCER chief executive Marc Bolland yesterday denied that the retailer had sparked this Christmas’s frenzied discounting as the chain’s clothing sales fell for a 10th consecutive quarter. The high street bellwether said like-for-like general merchandise sales, which include homeware and clothing, dropped by 2.1 per cent in the 13 weeks to 28 December. [...]
Festive boost for Ted Baker January 9, 2014 BRITISH designer clothing brand Ted Baker said it will meet annual profit forecasts after posting an 18.3 per cent rise in eight-week festive sales, helped in part by a 10.9 per cent increase in new space. Unlike many under-pressure retailers during the festive period, Ted Baker said it had not undertaken any significant promotional activity [...]
Foyles narrowly grows at Christmas January 9, 2014 Bookshop chain Foyles reported a 0.4 per cent increase in December like-for-like sales, helped by Morrissey’s new autobiography and sales of Alice Munro’s collections after her Nobel Prize for literature. The firm said its Westfield Stratford branch was doing particularly well, though the Crossrail construction work is continuing to hit footfall at Charing Cross Road.
Shine comes off jeweller Signet January 9, 2014 Shares in H Samuel operator Signet Jewelers fell over seven per cent on the US market yesterday after the retailer trimmed its profit forecast for the quarter. Like-for-like sales in the UK were up five per cent in the eight weeks leading up to Christmas.
Inside Track: Reflections on Standard Chartered’s boardroom turmoil January 9, 2014 WHEN there’s as much background noise coming out of a boardroom as there has been from Standard Chartered’s in recent weeks, it’s a fair bet that changes are on the horizon. Yesterday the emerging markets bank dropped the bombshell that its finance director for the past seven years, Richard Meddings, was leaving. Meddings, so chief [...]
US growth cuts number of new jobless claims January 9, 2014 THE NUMBER of new claims for US unemployment benefits dipped last week, as the American labour market continues to strengthen. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 330,000 in the week ending on 4 January, according to official statistics released yesterday. Economists had expected them to fall to just 335,000. The [...]