Wall Street edges higher as FTSE 100 falls flat despite recovery hopes May 21, 2021 Wall Street opened higher this afternoon as investors turned their attention to key business surveys at the end of a volatile week of trading. The Dow Jones rose 0.11 per cent on open and the S&P 500 gained 0.23 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq pushed 0.59 per cent higher. It came after the London’s [...]
Lockdown DIY: B&Q owner Kingfisher nails sturdy sales May 20, 2021 Kingfisher, which owns B&Q and Screwfix, has reported sturdy sales of £3.4bn this morning as lockdown measures pushed people to get creative with DIY and home renovations. Total sales soared 61.9 per cent in the group’s first-quarter results to 30 April today, which reflected the DIY fever that caught many during the last lockdown. Shares [...]
Mixer company Fever-Tree enjoys sales bump as lockdown drinks continue May 20, 2021 Beverage company Fever-Tree has seen a 10.1 per cent year-on-year sales bump as people continue to indulge in more alcoholic drinks throughout lockdown measures. Fever-Tree, which sells carbonated mixers, enjoyed a sales boost in the first four months of the year ending 18 April, thanks to strong levels of ‘at-home consumption’, the group said. Demand [...]
Wall Street rallies on tech rebound as FTSE closes in the green March 22, 2021 Wall Street closed in the green on Monday as technology stocks rebounded from a recent selloff sparked by surging bond yields. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index closed up 1.2 per cent, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones inched up 0.7 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively. A sharp run-up in Treasury yields since mid-February [...]
Cadbury-owner Mondelez to buy UK protein bar brand Grenade for £200m March 22, 2021 Mondelez, the US owner of Cadbury, is preparing to announce a £200m deal to buy British protein bar brand Grenade. It has secured a deal with Grenade’s majority shareholder to buy the sports nutrition firm, Sky News reported. The deal – which would be Mondelez’s most significant UK takeover since it acquired Cadbury in 2009 [...]
B&Q owner Kingfisher toasts click & collect success as sales surge March 22, 2021 Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q and Screwfix, this morning announced that sales and profit surged last year, boosted by its click and collect offer, as consumers began DIY projects during lockdown. Sales were up 7.2 per cent to £12.3bn and profit after tax was £592m, up from £8m in the previous year. Adjusted post-tax profit [...]
Kingfisher shares jump on plans to launch B&Q stores in Saudi Arabia March 9, 2021 Shares in Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q, jumped this morning after it announced plans to expand the DIY chain into the Middle East. Kingfisher said this morning that it has signed a franchise agreement with the Al-Futtaim Group, with the first Middle East stores to launch in Saudi Arabia. It marks a progression in the [...]
B&Q owner Kingfisher acquires trade services platform to roll out to UK stores November 25, 2020 B&Q owner Kingfisher has acquired home improvement services firm Needhelp for €10m, with plans to roll the platform out in the UK. The company said today that it has taken an 80 per cent stake in the company as it seeks to ramp up its mobile and digital services. Needhelp founder Guillaume de Kergariou will [...]
B&Q owner Kingfisher expects £175m profit boost due to Covid-19 support and cost savings November 19, 2020 B&Q owner Kingfisher expects to report an extra £175m profit for the year due to temporary cost savings, including government Covid-19 support measures. The London-listed DIY firm said today that sales soared 17.6 per cent to £3.5bn in the third quarter due to a surge in people beginning home improvement projects during the pandemic. Kingfisher [...]
Pfizer vaccine: ‘A good news day’ for markets, say analysts November 9, 2020 Global stock markets catapulted this afternoon on news that Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine saw a 90 per cent success rate in clinical trials, as analysts welcomed the announcement as a “boost for hopes of a return to normality”. The prospect of a vaccine electrified world markets, with S&P 500 futures hitting a record high and tourism [...]