Dixons sales fall gathers pace January 17, 2012 Dixons Retail said sales declines accelerated over the key Christmas period, though the firm maintained gross margins and claimed it outperformed competitors in Britain. The electricals chain, home to Currys and PC World in Britain, said group sales at stores open over a year fell five per cent in the 12 weeks to 7 January. [...]
Ebooks lead to growth at Bloomsbury January 16, 2012 THE CHRISTMAS boost in e-reader sales led to a strong quarter for Bloomsbury, the London-based publisher, which reported significant growth in its digital department. For the September to December period inclusive, Bloomsbury saw a 38 per cent increase in ebook sales compared to the same quarter the previous year. Over a million electronic reading devices [...]
Alliance Boots helped by strong German takings January 16, 2012 CHEMIST chain Alliance Boots yesterday announced 14.1 per cent growth in revenue for the third quarter compared to last year, driven largely by its sales at German wholesaler ANZAG, which it bought in 2010. Most of the 21.3 per cent revenue growth in its wholesale division was attributed to ANZAG, with sales up just 1.6 [...]
THE TIPSTER January 16, 2012 WHEN Rio Tinto becomes the first of the big miners to update the market this year with its full-year report, there will be plenty of informative nuggets for investors to dig through in the update. The memory of Alcoa’s update and bullish forecast last week is still fresh in everyone’s mind. Traders will be hoping [...]
Alliance Boots revenue up 14pc January 16, 2012 Alliance Boots has announced 14.1 per cent growth in revenue for the third quarter compared to last year, driven by expansion in the firm’s pharmaceutical wholesale division. The company’s high street Boots stores also enjoyed a strong end to the year with like for like revenue up 4.1 per cent in the five weeks to [...]
680 jobs cut as Barratts finds buyers January 15, 2012 BARRATTS PRICELESS, the collapsed shoe chain, is set to make another 680 people redundant after its founder and chief executive Michael Ziff agreed to rescue the majority of its stores. Administrators Deloitte said the existing management team had bought 89 Barratts and Priceless stores for an undisclosed sum, safeguarding 1,184 jobs. However, 39 shops and [...]
Founder Walker moving ahead in race for Iceland January 15, 2012 RISING concerns over competition laws could clear the way for Iceland Foods founder Malcolm Walker to take control of the supermarket once again. Walker, the chief executive, has moved ahead in the race because Iceland is believed to be worried that a deal with another retailer would not be approved by the Competition Commission. Last [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 15, 2012 TED BAKER Numis rates the fashion retailer as a “hold” with a target price of 700p, after a strong performance from the brand over Christmas trading. The broker says this was achieved despite no significant pre-Christmas discounting, but will not be chasing the stock due to a share price of 15x earnings. EROS INTERNATIONAL Investec [...]
Banks lead FTSE up after bond auctions boost January 13, 2012 Banks led the FTSE 100 up this morning as they were buoyed by tentative signs of recovery in the Eurozone. European shares and the single currency rose after positive comments on the region’s outlook from the European Central Bank and the success of Spain’s bond auction yesterday. Meanwhile Italy launched a €4.75bn bond auction today. [...]
Ted Baker reports strong Christmas January 13, 2012 British designer brand Ted Baker said it would meet forecasts for year profit after a sharp rise in sales over the Christmas period put it firmly in the festive winners’ camp. The group said on Friday its retail sales increased 15.7 per cent in the eight weeks to 7 January driven by a 7.3 per [...]