Prices tumble at UK’s stores November 8, 2011 PRICE wars between supermarkets are driving down the cost of food and other items, as stores fight for the attention of increasingly squeezed shoppers. Food was half a per cent cheaper last month than in September, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed this morning. Tesco has been pushing its “Big Price Drop”, while Asda’s “Price [...]
Here is the Next step for Marks & Spencer to take November 8, 2011 TWENTY years ago, the UK was in recession and Marks & Spencer had just changed its boss: some things never change. Under Rick Greenbury, M&S went on to have a good 1990s, before over-expansion led to the inevitable and painful correction, under a new management team. Twenty years on, the competition is much tougher and [...]
M&S profits fall by 10pc November 8, 2011 Marks & Spencer posted a 10 per cent drop in first-half profit after second-quarter underlying sales fell for the first time in two years, underscoring the pressure on UK consumers. The 127-year-old group, Britain’s biggest clothing retailer which also sells homewares and upmarket food, said on Tuesday it made a profit before tax and one-off [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD November 6, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● Today, Rentokil Initial announces. The global business services company – which is active in Europe, America, Africa and Asia – will be looking for results that aren’t a pest. ● Tomorrow, Vodafone and Marks & Spencer both announce. The former is the world’s largest mobile telecommunications company, and the latter is the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 2, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES LENOVO FOUNDER LIU STEPS DOWN AS CHAIRMAN The man who founded Lenovo and built it into the world’s second-biggest PC maker by sales has retired as chairman, handing over to his chief executive, in a sign of confidence that its recent turnround is on track. The retirement of Liu Chuanzhi came as Lenovo’s [...]
All this pub firm needs is some stability October 27, 2011 TO BE honest, my eight-year old nephew could become executive chairman of Mitchells & Butlers and the pubs firm would enjoy more stability than it has in recent years. This is the ninth change in either chief executive or chairman in the last four years. Hopefully Bob Ivell will stick around for longer than his [...]
Economic fears stalling US recovery: Beige Book October 20, 2011 THE US economic outlook grew dimmer in September, leading businesses to be wary of spending and of building up inventories ahead of the holiday sales season, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book revealed last night. US stocks fell after the Beige Book was released, while Treasury debt prices rose on its glum economic outlook. In more positive [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 19, 2011 WPP UBS rates the advertising giant as “neutral” with a target price of 620p, after this week’s digital investor day gave a positive outlook on the company’s longer-term strategy. The broker says the revenue opportunities for providing a wider variety of higher value services are very clear, but could come at a cost through staff [...]
US inflation up but home building increases October 19, 2011 Inflation in the US has risen to an annual 3.9 per cent in September with little sign of slowing, data has shown, as energy and food prices jumped over the past month. Consumer price inflation rose at 0.3 per cent, its lowest pace since June, but that masked a two per cent increase in energy [...]
Fastest price rises since CPI began in 1996 October 18, 2011 CONSUMER prices increased at a record rate in the year to September, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said yesterday. The consumer price index (CPI) rose to 5.2 per cent – the highest since it was introduced in 1996, and equal to the peak in September 2008. The figure was 4.5 per cent in the [...]