Retail failures fell last quarter but fail to improve from 2011 September 30, 2012 THE NUMBER of UK retail failures showed no sign of abating in the first nine months of the year, as retailers continued to struggle against a tough economic backdrop and weak consumer spending. Figures from accountancy firm Deloitte show that although retail administrations fell in the third quarter – from 33 last year to just [...]
Finsbury Foods reports great bake-off as sales top £200m September 24, 2012 FINSBURY Food Group, the cake and bread maker, yesterday posted a surge in full-year profits across all of its divisions after sales exceeded £200m for the first time. The Aim-listed company, which supplies retailers including Waitrose, Tesco and Thorntons, said adjusted profits before tax rose 11.6 per cent to £6.5m for the year to 30 [...]
Bank of England warns inflation could fall less rapidly than expected September 19, 2012 The Bank of England sees a worsening outlook for inflation, minutes from its September meeting showed this morning, as the members voted unanimously to keep the base rate at 0.5 per cent. The central bank said increased oil prices, which rose eight per cent on the month, and the threat of higher food and utility [...]
Wages crushed as inflation set to rocket again September 18, 2012 HARD-PRESSED workers took another blow in August as inflation stayed persistently above wage rises for the 27th consecutive month. Economists fear inflation will jump yet again towards the end of this year and could even hit three per cent again in 2013, increasing the pressure on household budgets even further. Consumer price inflation came in [...]
Twenty-four carat case for gold September 18, 2012 AS WARREN Buffett famously said: “You can’t eat gold.” But US dollars are not particularly nutritious either and neither are pounds sterling. However, the amount of food you can buy with your gold is steadily increasing, and has been for the last decade; whereas what you can buy with a wallet full of fiat currency [...]
Inflation drops to 2.5 per cent in August September 18, 2012 Inflation fell to 2.5 per cent in August, spurred by a fall in the price of gas, household equipment and clothing, according to official data out this morning from the Office for National Statistics. The Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation, fell to from 2.6 per cent in July. It was partially offset by a [...]
Shoppers face more costly food but cheaper non-food products September 4, 2012 SHOP PRICE inflation edged up in August, as non-food prices declined less than in July, according to an index released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) yesterday. The overall index crept up to 1.1 per cent last month, up slightly from July’s one per cent – but well below the trend in the official consumer [...]
Inflation across OECD countries edges down to below 2pc mark September 4, 2012 INFLATION across the OECD bloc of rich countries fell slightly in the year to July, according to data released by the Paris-based organisation today. Prices increases were 1.9 per cent higher in July than they were a year previously, but the pace of growth was slightly down on the two per cent recorded in June. [...]
Something for everyone in forecasting equity markets August 27, 2012 FOR such a highly paid group of professionals the great and the good of the financial markets have been behaving in somewhat lemming-like fashion once again. Rather than judging important allocation decisions based on economic and stock fundamentals, it’s been more about “will they or won’t they”. There we were, for example, in the early [...]
Asda says disposable income is up for first time in two years August 21, 2012 BRITISH households were £1 a week better off in July compared to the same month a year earlier, the largest annual increase in more than two years, according to the latest figures from Asda’s income tracker. Families had £151 a week left over last month after paying bills, up 0.6 per cent on the previous [...]