TESCO TO BET £500M ON UK FIGHTBACK January 12, 2012 A RATTLED Tesco is set to splash around £500m on revamping its UK store network and recruiting new staff after it stunned the City with its first profit warning in twenty years. Chief executive Philip Clarke is ready to sanction an investment of “hundreds of millions” of pounds in Britain after the supermarket yesterday posted [...]
Home Retail to slash divi January 12, 2012 HOME RETAIL GROUP warned it was set to slash its dividend after a declining electronic goods market caused Christmas sales at Argos to slump by more than £150m. The near-nine per cent fall in sales at Argos stores open more than a year in the 18 weeks to 31 December means the group now expects [...]
Festive gloom leaves Tesco’s stock sinking January 12, 2012 NEARLY £5bn was wiped off the value of Tesco yesterday after it issued a profit warning on the back of its worst Christmas in decades. Shares in Britain’s biggest retailer fell by 16 per cent before closing down 15.99 per cent at 323.45p. The firm shocked analysts when it said sales at British shops open [...]
Thorntons hit by discounting January 12, 2012 Chocolatier Thorntons said sales over the Christmas period had been below its expectations and its profitability would be hit by heavy discounting, in a retail environment it called “extremely tough”. Derbyshire-based Thorntons, which operates around 600 stores across the UK and employs more than 4,000 staff, said sales in its own stores declined in the [...]
Bump in the road at Halfords January 12, 2012 Bicycle and car parts retailer Halfords reported a drop in sales in the run-up to Christmas, as mild weather made Britons even less inclined to spend money on maintaining vehicles. Halfords said sales at stores open more than a year in Britain and Ireland fell by 4.8 per cent in the 13 weeks to 30 [...]
Theo Fennell loses its sparkle January 12, 2012 Celebrity jeweller Theo Fennell said yesterday it was expecting to report a loss for the year to the end of March 2012, after reporting weak trading over Christmas. Sales in the five weeks over the festive period were 11 per cent below 2010.
New Look gets Christmas cheer January 12, 2012 New Look, the value fashion retailer owned by private equity groups Apax and Permira, has reported a 3.6 per cent jump in sales over the festive period despite “challenging” trading conditions. The retailer said multi-channel shopping initiatives such as the launch of its “click and collect” service had helped boost its sales in the five [...]
Christmas lift strengthens Ocado shares January 12, 2012 OCADO’s shares enjoyed a 33 per cent lift yesterday after the online grocer said the absence of 2010’s snow and increased delivery slots helped boost sales by 23.8 per cent in the week before Christmas. The company, founded by three former Goldman Sachs bankers in 2000, reported gross sales of £59m in the four weeks [...]
A momentary triumph for Tim’s vans January 12, 2012 SO a glimmer of light for Ocado. We’ve long taken a sceptical view on the delivery firm, but its festive trading figures might just win it some breathing space, among all the other doom and gloom. Ocado — run by ex-Goldman banker Tim Steiner — lucked out by making two savvy decisions this winter. First, it [...]
A happy Christmas for UK Mail January 12, 2012 Internet shoppers wanting home delivery over Christmas contributed to a successful third quarter for UK Mail Group, whose parcel division grew by ten per cent over the period. In line with expectations, UK Mail said reported group revenues increased six per cent compared to the previous year, while revenues on an underlying basis sank four [...]