Bargain Booze owner reports better trading since flotation November 4, 2013 BARGAIN Booze owner Conviviality Retail, which raised £64m in an Aim listing earlier this year, said yesterday its first half like-for-likes sales had crept up by 0.6 per cent. The firm said the increase was mainly due to reducing the number of underperforming stores in its portfolio, and that it expected to continue to perform [...]
CNBC Comment: Vanilla trading for the end of 2013 November 4, 2013 IT ALL got a bit catty behind the scenes on the set of SquawkBox this week. During one of our daily market open strategy debates, one of my guests told the audience that his big idea for the rest of the year was to “buy the winners of 2013 and sell the losers”. At this [...]
Warning for retail as shoppers hold back on winter fashions November 3, 2013 ACCOUNTANCY firm BDO is calling for retailers to “hold their nerve” in the build-up to Christmas, despite an unusual dip in fashion sales for the season. BDO said that although consumers traditionally make purchases for winter at this time of year, there is little sign that shoppers are doing so at the moment: in the [...]
Lidl launches first television Christmas ad October 30, 2013 LIDL has launched its very first UK national TV campaign promoting its luxury range as the first-growing discount chain looks to win more middle-class shoppers from its larger rivals in the Christmas rush. The adverts, which go live today, will feature products from Lidl’s deluxe range, including mulled wine, whole cooked lobster and Serrano ham. [...]
Royal Mail strike called off October 30, 2013 A Royal Mail worker strike planned for Monday has been called off by the Communication Workers Union (CWU). Progress was made following talks between the union and the company. There have been warnings of Royal Mail strikes all the way up to Christmas. Staff had already been offered an 8.6 per cent pay rise over [...]
CNBC Comment: Caution reigns over Fed taper decision October 28, 2013 WITH Christmas just around the corner (according to one retail analyst, seasonal merchandise has been on the shelves since early August – a new record), markets are now focusing on the final quarter of the year. The Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting tomorrow will be closely watched for hints about how far away the Fed’s [...]
UK retail sales disappoint in October but retailers say it’s just a blip October 28, 2013 High street sales disappointed in October as the CBI distributive trades survey number comes in at 2 – the lowest number since June – missing expectations it'd fall slightly to 33 from last month's 34. Sales were flat in the year to October, too, dashing hopes of another solid rise. Robust growth is expected to return next [...]
BBC iPlayer growing as viewers turn to mobile October 24, 2013 BBC IPLAYER viewers are increasingly turning to smartphones and tablets to use the service, with its mobile apps having been downloaded 20m times. The service, which has long been seen as a bellwether of online video streaming trends, saw mobile devices overtake computers for the first time in September, according to the BBC’s figures. “20m [...]
Q & A October 24, 2013 DIRECTOR, DOUGLAS & GORDON Figures in the press give me the impression I’ve missed the buying boat. Have I? The trouble with statistics is they can be interpreted in different ways. The only sure-fire stat is offered by the Land Registry, which values a range of properties and tells us that, while UK average house [...]
Orange revenue hit as Iliad price war takes a toll October 23, 2013 ORANGE, the largest mobile operator in France, reported a four per cent drop in revenues during its third quarter to 30 September yesterday, as sales in its key home market slid amid a price war with low-cost mobile rival Iliad. The operator – which partially owns UK network EE along with Deutsche Telekom – reported [...]