Debenhams and M&S sales enjoy Christmas boost January 10, 2012 SHARES in Marks & Spencer and Debenhams rallied yesterday after the two British retailers revealed strong December trading, despite economic and consumer headwinds. Debenhams rose more than 10 per cent after the department store group posted flat like-for-like sales in the 18 weeks to 7 January, or 6.5 per cent growth including VAT, slightly above [...]
Commodities spur FTSE 100 gains as banks bounce bank January 10, 2012 COMMODITY stocks led the FTSE 100 top share index higher yesterday, after Alcoa kicked off the US earnings season with an upbeat outlook and data from China lifted sentiment, while retailers rallied after some encouraging updates. London’s blue chip index rose 84.44 points, or 1.5 per cent to 5,696.70, making up for the 1.5 pe [...]
M&S sales rise fuelled by discounts January 10, 2012 Marks & Spencer posted a slim rise in underlying Christmas sales as deep discounts helped to lure cash-strapped shoppers, and said it expected trading conditions to stay challenging. Britain’s biggest clothing retailer said it was making additional cost savings to offset a fall in profit margins due to the discounting. Sales at British stores open [...]
Tesco set to unveil bleak Christmas January 8, 2012 TESCO is set to deliver its worst Christmas trading performance for decades this week after the supermarket’s £500m price cutting campaign failed to gather pace in the fierce battle for supermarket sales. Deutsche Bank, a house broker to Tesco, is forecasting a two per cent decline in like-for-like sales from UK stores in the six [...]
Hedge funds short M&S shares amid retail gloom January 3, 2012 MARKS & Spencer has become the latest high street retailer to be targeted by hedge funds betting that its share price will fall, new figures from Data Explorers show. M&S has seen demand to borrow its shares – a sign that hedge funds are taking short positions on it – rise from 3.9 per cent [...]
Ten of the top givers in the City December 21, 2011 AS we now know from the tremendous response to this newspaper’s first ever Christmas charity appeal, the City is full of givers. Despite the tougher times many of our readers have experienced, as a group this year they dug in to support a charity that helps people help themselves. This page is a tribute to [...]
Delivery pioneer lacks capacity to grow December 19, 2011 EIGHTEEN months post float, and those distinctive delivery vans just aren’t looking so special anymore. Yesterday’s profit warning from chief executive Tim Steiner may have been expected at some point, but analysts clearly thought the company had some breathing room – now it’s going to be more under scrutiny than ever. And it’s not as [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 14, 2011 Bargate Murray The City law firm has appointed Jonathan Lea as a senior associate in the corporate department. He will focus on developing relationships with the technology and digital media companies establishing themselves around the Silicon Roundabout area, as well as traditional corporate advisory work. Lea trained at Clyde & Co and has spent his [...]
Michael Spencer raises a glass to wine investment December 6, 2011 ICAP chief executive Michael Spencer took his self-confessed “irrational passion” for wine way beyond the odd bottle of his much-loved Petrus yesterday, becoming a shareholder in and chairman of fine wine merchant the Bordeaux Index. Spencer has made a seven-figure investment in the online trading exchange, which was set up 15 years ago by former [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 27, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES PLEA TO BRUSSELS OVER AUDIT SHAKE-UP The heads of several midsized audit networks have issued a last-ditch appeal to the European Commssion not to dilute sweeping proposals aimed at reducing the dominance of the four biggest accountants and improving audit quality. In a joint interview with the Financial Times, the chief executives called [...]