Snow to blame as top US retail results miss targets January 6, 2011 A FLURRY of US retail results released yesterday failed to meet market projections, despite gains in same-store sales for several companies. After heavy snowfall hit the Eastern seaboard just after Christmas, some companies blamed the blizzard for their shortfall, with retailers ranging from department store operator Macy’s and discounter Target to teen clothing store American [...]
Business sentiment boost for Eurozone driven by Germany January 6, 2011 CONFIDENCE in the Eurozone economy shot up to a 38-month high in December, official figures revealed yesterday. The European Commission’s economic sentiment index rose from November’s 105.1 to record 106.2 last month – its highest level since October 2007. The results were driven by strong increases in industrial and retail confidence, a relief for European [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 6, 2011 TRAVIS PERKINS RBS rates the building materials firm “buy” with a raised target price of £12.95. The broker sees the firm’s purchase of BSS Group last month as an attractive earnings driver over the next two years until the underlying market recovery takes over in 2013. It adds that the acquisition gives the company significant [...]
Mothercare issues profit warning January 6, 2011 Mothercare has issued a profit warning after the snow hit its UK business. Like-for-like sales in the last three months of 2010 dropped four per cent as the freezing conditions caused “widespread disruption”. Toy sales were hardest hit after the firm cut off Christmas online orders early to ensure delivery. Chief executive Ben Gordon said: [...]
Grant remaining positive despite Toon horror show January 5, 2011 NEWCASTLE 5 vs WESTHAM 0 BELEAGUERED West Ham manager Avram Grant blamed a “bad day at the office” after a debut hat-trick from Leon Best plunged the Israeli’s tenure to a new low. Grant (right) looks destined to be sacked after the Hammers sank back to the foot of the Premier League table, thanks to [...]
HMV shares dive as profit warning hits January 5, 2011 SHARES in HMV Group plunged by more than a fifth at one stage yesterday as it issued a profit warning while admitting that it was struggling to meet the terms of a loan covenant. The music and DVD retailer – which also owns Waterstone’s bookshops and a string of live venues – plans to close [...]
Next sees snow knock £22m off Xmas sales January 5, 2011 NEXT posted a slightly-worse-than-expected fall in underlying store sales at Christmas, blaming the hit to trade from snow in December. It said that even though it lost an estimated £22m of sales because of the snow it was still in line to hit forecasts. The group, which runs over 500 stores in Britain and Ireland, [...]
John Lewis boosted by Christmas sales surge January 5, 2011 JOHN Lewis Partnership reported bumper Christmas sales, despite the snowy conditions that robbed other retailers of a seasonal boost. Sales at its John Lewis department stores in the five weeks to 1 January were £545m, up 8.9 per cent from a year before. The strong performance was driven by its electrical and home technology department, [...]
CITY VIEWS: CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF BUYING GOODS OR SERVICES THROUGH YOUR SMARTPHONE? January 5, 2011 ADRIAN MILNE | ACCENTURE “Yes. I really like the idea of purchasing food – and especially pizza – through my smartphone” ANDREW HIBBARD | TRANSATLANTIC REINSURANCE I’m on the fence. I could see myself buying from Amazon but with items like clothes, I’d much rather try them on” KEIR MCCARTHY | BULLHORN “Definitely. In fact, [...]
FTSE 100 rebounds as banks rally and miners pare losses January 5, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares rallied yesterday after employment data from the US showed the economic recovery was picking up steam, which helped miners and oil stocks pare losses and banks rally. The FTSE 100 closed up 29.99 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 6,043.86, bouncing off a session low of 5,964.43. Miners pared losses and oil [...]