Majestic toasts sparkling profits January 10, 2012 Majestic Wine raised its glass to a 20 per cent rise in half-year profits yesterday, helped by its shift to a six-bottle minimum in-store purchase and the return to fashion of sparkling wine. The company, which runs 160 UK stores, said it enjoyed a strong performance over the Christmas period, with like-for-like sales in the [...]
Flybe shares in a tailspin after warning January 10, 2012 FLYBE’S shares tumbled 20 per cent yesterday after it warned its revenues would fall short of targets. The regional airline, which makes 70 per cent of its revenues on UK domestic flights, said conditions in Britain had deteriorated, leading to an eight per cent sales drop in its third quarter. Flybe’s board spent the day [...]
Smiths News on track for strong growth in 2012 January 10, 2012 MAGAZINE, book and newspaper distributor Smiths News said yesterday it was on track for strong profit growth in 2012, despite sales of print books disappointing over Christmas. Revenue at the group have increased 1.9 per cent year-on-year since September, with sales boosted by the recent acquisition of Dawson Books, Dawson Media Direct and Dawson Marketing [...]
HMV is finding it hard to match online value January 10, 2012 ON Monday, media store HMV reported a fall in sales over the Christmas period, and said it remains concerned about its ability to continue trading in its current form. A look at YouGov’s BrandIndex tells an interesting story about the problems the retailer faces. What we often see with companies that have financial difficulties is [...]
Commodities spur FTSE 100 gains as banks bounce bank January 10, 2012 COMMODITY stocks led the FTSE 100 top share index higher yesterday, after Alcoa kicked off the US earnings season with an upbeat outlook and data from China lifted sentiment, while retailers rallied after some encouraging updates. London’s blue chip index rose 84.44 points, or 1.5 per cent to 5,696.70, making up for the 1.5 pe [...]
The i40: great for visiting the in-laws January 10, 2012 There are a number of criteria that make up the ideal family car. First of all, it needs to be big enough to carry gifts from the opposing sides of the family you’re obliged to visit, plus any bulky items you manage to raid from what’s left of the January sales. It’s also got to [...]
EPISODE 41 – WHAT DID YOU GET FOR XMAS, DAVID? January 10, 2012 Daddy, isn’t it that Santa’s too fat to get down chimneys these days? Daddy, can I have a Millennium Falcon for Christmas? David, what time are your parents coming for lunch on Boxing Day? David? Oh, hello, it’s Juliette. Sorry to trouble you at home. I’m afraid I didn’t get around to sending cards this [...]
Tesco loses market share in run-up to Xmas January 10, 2012 Britain’s biggest retailer, lost grocery market share in the run-up to Christmas as rivals fought back against its price-cutting campaign and cash-strapped shoppers flocked to discount stores, according to new data. Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said grocery sales rose 4.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to 25 December. That lagged a 5.9 per cent [...]
Debenhams trading nudges over forecasts January 10, 2012 Debenhams posted a better than expected performance in underlying sales in the last 18 weeks, proving it could trade well through even the most difficult of conditions. Shares in the department store group lifted by eight per cent after it said it had enjoyed record sales in the final week before Christmas, as its diverse [...]
M&S sales rise fuelled by discounts January 10, 2012 Marks & Spencer posted a slim rise in underlying Christmas sales as deep discounts helped to lure cash-strapped shoppers, and said it expected trading conditions to stay challenging. Britain’s biggest clothing retailer said it was making additional cost savings to offset a fall in profit margins due to the discounting. Sales at British stores open [...]