Debenhams finance chief Simon Herrick quits January 2, 2014 Debenhams is on the hunt for a new chief financial officer (CFO), after it issued a second profit warning in under a year earlier in the week, on the back of poor Christmas sales. Britain's second-largest department store said this morning that Simon Herrick will resign with immediate effect, leaving the company on 7 February. [...]
Here’s what economists and central bankers would make of Christmas December 23, 2013 Lombard Street Research's daily note has taken a turn for festive today. Below is their (excellent) guide to the macroeconomics of Christmas. The Schools Keynesians Place a lot of emphasis on the "macro stabilisation" properties of Christmas. Ideally, they would vary the number of Christmases each year according to the state of the economy. This [...]
Royal Mail shares drop on FTSE 100 debut December 23, 2013 On its first day in the FTSE 100, Royal Mail shares are failing to deliver. After hitting a fresh record high of 605p on Friday, Royal Mail is today the FTSE 100's biggest faller. Sunny Dhanjal, senior trader at Accendo Markets, says that "could be the result of profit taking ahead of the Christmas break." [...]
Italian consumer confidence is slipping this Christmas December 23, 2013 Italian consumer confidence has fallen from 98.2 (revised from 98.3) to 96.2 in December, according to Istat. Analysts had forecast a slight increase to 98.8. Statisticians said that the decreased can be explained by personal and current components that decreased from 101.1 to 97.3 and from 99.2 to 95.0 respectively. "@minefornothing: Italian Consumer Confidence drops [...]
What you need to know before the open – 23/12 December 23, 2013 The FTSE 100 is expected to open higher on the last full day of trading before Christmas. Volumes will however be thinner than usual with many investors enjoying the festive season and limited news releases to trade on. Last Friday saw the best week for European stocks in eight months. They're now expected to get [...]
It’s a Christmas miracle: UK’s annual GDP growth hits 1.9pc December 20, 2013 Some Christmas cheer from our statisticians. The UK's economy grew by 1.9 per cent in the year to the third quarter, smashing analyst estimates of 1.5 per cent growth. Not one of the 31 economists polled by Reuters expected growth that high. Economic activity as measured by GDP is now just two per cent below [...]
2013 Christmas quiz – The Answers December 20, 2013 1. Between spring and autumn 2013, which of these countries received the largest upgrade to its 2013 GDP growth forecast from the IMF? a. Indiab. United Statesc. United Kingdom ANSWER – United Kingdom. In April, the IMF forecast the UK would grow by 0.7 per cent in 2013. By October, the IMF had raised this [...]
UK holds on to AAA rating while EU suffers downgrade December 20, 2013 The UK economy received an early Christmas present on Friday. Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has maintained the UK's credit rating at AAA. S&P believes the UK will experience higher growth and rising productivity in the coming years. Average annual real GDP growth is expected to reach more than two per cent between 2013 and [...]
What you need to know before the open – 20/12 December 20, 2013 With Christmas drawing ever nearer, today's the last day of the final full week of trading, but we've still got a fair amount of data coming in. Disappointing numbers over in the US yesterday saw markets slip, finishing the day mixed. But Europe moved up, meaning we could see the FTSE 100 finish higher for [...]
High Street champion Bill Grimsey accuses Debenhams of bully-boy demands December 19, 2013 RETAIL veteran and former Wickes boss Bill Grimsey has hit out at Debenhams, accusing the department store group of “bully-boy tactics” after it demanded discounts from its suppliers just days before Christmas. The small business champion, who launched an independent review into the high street this autumn, said the demands made on suppliers were “unacceptable”. [...]