Strong Christmas drives second profit upgrade in two months at Laura Ashley January 20, 2011 FASHION and homewares retailer Laura Ashley issued its second profit upgrade in two months yesterday. The company said it was confident that full-year profits would be better than City forecasts. It said a strong performance over Christmas and early January means that the results will be “significantly higher than earlier expectations”. Analysts on average were [...]
PROPERTY NEWS January 20, 2011 HYDE PARK PROPERTY FLOURISHING Over 55 per cent of the mega-luxe, much-hyped Hyde Park development the Lancasters (competing with the even-more hyped One Hyde Park), has been sold in advance of its opening in June, making developers Northacre the second best performing retail stock in Europe. Klas Nilsson, Northacre’s chairman, puts this down to “a [...]
Primark fuels AB Foods sales rise January 20, 2011 Primark-owner Associated British Foods reported a ten per cent rise in first-quarter sales led by its discount fashion retailer and saw further growth ahead despite the effect of higher commodity costs. The London-based group, which markets Silver Spoon sugar, Twining tea and Ovaltine drinks, said on Thursday its 214 Primark store chain had traded well [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 19, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES MOD FACES FRESH CRISIS OVER ITS FUNDING Senior figures in the Ministry of Defence are warning of a possible reopening of last October’s Strategic Defence and Security Review because the MoD lacks the funds needed to provide the military capability demanded by the government for 2020. The department has discovered that it needs [...]
FTSE 100 falls back as bank, mining and retail stocks slide January 19, 2011 BANKING and mining stocks weighed on London’s top share index yesterday as concerns over the global economic recovery resurfaced, while sentiment among retailers was dented after some disappointing updates. The FTSE 100 closed down 79.73 points, or 1.3 per cent lower at 5,976.70, ebbing away from Tuesday’s fresh 31-month high. “The market moved a long [...]
One Hyde Park opens its doors January 16, 2011 A LUXURY development backed by Chris Candy will open this week, with flats at the exclusive address One Hyde Park starting at around £6.5m. Three retail units at the site, located between Hyde Park and Knightsbridge, have already been snapped up by luxury car maker McLaren, watch designer Rolex and the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. [...]
WEST END FESTIVE HIGH DESPITE SNOW January 16, 2011 Christmas shoppers defied the December snow to boost December sales in London’s West End by 3.8 per cent year-on-year. New West End Company, which represents 600 retailers on Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street, said there was a huge sales increase in the final days before Christmas and in the end of year sales.
FTSE dampened by commodities and banks January 14, 2011 LONDON eased to a close just over the 6,000 mark after stronger Wall Street sentiment failed to shake off concerns over China’s monetary policy tightening. The FTSE 100 ended down 21.81 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 6002.07, having closed 0.4 per cent lower yesterday, pulled lower by commodity stocks and banks. China’s central bank [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 13, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BIG THREE JAPANESE CARMAKERS IN GREEN PUSH Japan’s three largest carmakers have joined forces to promote the adoption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, with a plan to build 100 filling stations in Japan for the next-generation “green” cars by 2015. Toyota, Honda and Nissan will be joined by 10 Japanese natural-gas refiners and [...]
Diamond: We have to stop saying sorry January 11, 2011 BARCLAYS boss Bob Diamond came out fighting at a high-profile public hearing yesterday, insisting it was time for banks to stop apologising for the financial crisis. Appearing before an influential group of MPs, Diamond said “the period of remorse and apology” that followed the banking meltdown needed to end. “The biggest issue is ‘How do [...]