Emerging bonds are a good bet this year May 11, 2010 LOW interest rates have been one of the less attractive aspects of holding developed market debt in recent years. But after recent events in Europe you can now add sovereign risk to that list. Investors who want a safer fixed income alternative should look at bond funds in emerging markets. It’s not that long ago [...]
Easter timing hits retailers May 10, 2010 THE timing of Easter, combined with consumers’ ongoing uncertainty, caused UK retail sales to fall 2.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis last month compared to April 2009, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) will say today in its monthly retail sales monitor. This year, only two days over Easter fell in April compared to all [...]
Sainsbury’s expects to ring up profit rise May 9, 2010 J SAINSBURY is this week expected to say its pre-tax profits grew 15 per cent to £595m, but analysts believe it will avoid giving an update on sales amid tough conditions. Sainsbury’s, the third-largest supermarket chain in the UK by market share, is tipped to hand staff a bonus pool of £70m following a buoyant [...]
Morrisons’ sales growth slows despite record number of customers in stores May 6, 2010 SUPERMARKET giant Morrisons has seen record numbers of customers in its stores but the new financial year has been hit by a slowdown, it said in a trading statement yesterday. The group has continued to grow market share in the first quarter with sales, excluding fuel, up 5.9 per cent in the 13 weeks to [...]
Shop prices rose last month but stability forecast May 4, 2010 SHOP price inflation rose to two per cent in April on a year earlier compared to 1.2 per cent in March, according the latest survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Rising costs as a result of higher commodity prices were the main reason behind the increase. The BRC’s director-general Stephen Robertson said: “With commodity [...]
US data confirms steady recovery April 22, 2010 The number of US workers filing new claims for jobless aid fell last week as the labour market gradually heals and producer price data showed inflation remained muted, despite a surge in food costs last month. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 456,000, the Labor Department said yesterday, resuming [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 20, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES TRAFIGURA LIFTS VEIL TO REVEAL $1BN PROFIT Trafigura, one of the world’s leading oil and metals traders, has told bond investors it earned almost $1bn last year, revealing the extraordinary profitability of the publicity-shy Swiss-based trading houses which dominate commodities markets. The company raised €400m ($438m) recently on its first Eurobond issue after [...]
Tesco beats volcano with record profits April 20, 2010 TESCO yesterday reported record pre-tax profits of £3.2bn – while escaping the impact of the volcanic ash crisis because so little of its produce is imported by plane. The company saw its net profit up 10.4 per cent up on the previous 12 months. The supermarket giant said the reason for the gains included an [...]
CITY BOSS JOINS BEAR GRYLLS ON ARCTIC TRIP April 11, 2010 IT ISN’T every day that a financier gets to ditch his day job for a few weeks and sail off into the sunset for the adventure of a lifetime with a self-confessed adrenaline junkie. Then again, how many City financiers can count Bear Grylls – the skydiving, creepy crawly-munching, elephant piss-drinking star of Channel 4’s [...]
BRC: Food price inflation slumps in March to its lowest level in three years April 6, 2010 FOOD price inflation fell to its lowest level in three years last month, according to the latest data published by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) today. The BRC said that food price inflation was just 1.2 per cent in the year to March – down from 1.3 per cent in the year to February, despite [...]