Short sellers aim for Next and Glencore on FTSE 100 October 3, 2011 FASHION retailer Next was the most shorted stock on the FTSE 100 in September as investors bet its share price would be dented by further pain on the high street, data from Data Explorers yesterday showed. Investors, primarily hedge funds, borrowed close to eight per cent of Next’s shares to take short positions as retail [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 27, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES ANADARKO SOUNDS OUT BRAZILIAN BUYERS Anadarko Petroleum has asked advisers to sound out potential buyers for a collection of its Brazilian oil assets in a deal that could be worth up to $5bn, in the latest attempt by oil and gas explorers in the region to attract investment. The US independent oil and [...]
High Street boosts discounts September 25, 2011 HIGH street retailers stepped up the battle to win over cash-strapped shoppers this weekend by slashing prices and launching promotions, days after Britain’s supermarkets announced fresh price cutting campaigns. Top fashion retailers including Next and Gap launched a two day “flash sale” over the weekend, with items discounted at 50 and 30 per cent respectively [...]
Look East to the new destination for pilgrims who shop September 13, 2011 BORIS Johnson reached for the cultural high notes at the opening of Westfield Stratford City: boasting that the new shopping centre would trigger regeneration not seen in East London since the Middle Ages, he quoted Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, in which Madam Eglantine the Prioress spoke French “after the school of Stratford-at-Bow, for French of Paris [...]
M&S unveils £600m store revamp as Bolland looks to put his stamp on retailer after Rose September 12, 2011 MARKS & Spencer boss Marc Bolland yesterday laid out detailed plans for a £600m stores revamp. Bolland said at a presentation at the retailer’s High Street Kensington branch that M&S will open 14 pilot stores in October incorporating refurbished designs and new store layouts with deli and bakery counters for its food section. M&S today [...]
More misery August 17, 2011 STUBBORNLY high inflation and unemployment have pushed Britain’s misery index to record levels, according to official data released yesterday. The misery index – used by economists to estimate the unhappiness spread by joblessness and the rising cost of living – almost certainly jumped to a fresh high last month, as an extra 37,100 people joined [...]
Next sales hold up with home shipping boost August 3, 2011 Retailer Next posted first-half sales towards the top end of company guidance, boosted by its online and home shopping business and showing resilience against a tough consumer backdrop. The firm maintained its full-year profit forecast on and predicted pressure from rising costs, like higher cotton prices, would ease next year. Britain’s retailers are mostly struggling [...]
Asos in sales jump July 14, 2011 Online fashion firm ASOS posted a leap in first quarter sales and said it was confident about the outlook, showing there are still winners in the retail sector, even in straitened times. ASOS, which targets internet-savvy 16 to 34-year-old women looking to emulate the designer looks of celebrities such as Kate Moss, Sienna Miller and [...]
M&S gloomy on outlook for retailers July 13, 2011 MARKS and Spencer is seeing its market share grow with sales nudging up but warned of a tough road ahead for the retail sector. Chief executive Marc Bolland said that the freshening up of product lines had fuelled sales growth, with healthy eating ranges proving particularly successful in its food halls. Like-for-like UK sales excluding [...]
Commodities boost FTSE rise as China data elevates miners July 13, 2011 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 bounced yesterday, led by commodity stocks as economic data from China and soothing words from the US Federal Reserve raised hopes that stagnation in the global economic recovery might prove short-lived. Having fallen near five per cent over the previous three days, the mining sector rallied 1.8 per cent after China’s GDP [...]