M&S agrees to £800m pension scheme injection May 12, 2010 RETAILER Marks & Spencer will pump £800m into its final salary pension after a review found the scheme was deeply in the red, it said yesterday. The clothing and food group said the scheme, which has about 123,000 members, had a deficit of £1.3bn at 31 March 2009, although that is likely to have since [...]
M&S finance boss quits for Punch Taverns May 5, 2010 MARKS & Spencer’s incoming chief executive Mark Bolland received an unwanted welcome gift after his first day at the firm – the resignation of its finance director. Ian Dyson yesterday made the shock announcement that he will leave the firm to become chief executive of Punch Taverns, the UK’s biggest pub chain. Dyson was passed [...]
Bolland takes the helm as M&S chief May 4, 2010 A NEW era was ushered in at Marks & Spencer yesterday as former Morrisons chief Marc Bolland took the hot seat at the retailer. The Dutch executive faces the pressure of living up to a £15m remuneration package as he takes on the challenges of shaking up the company’s clothing range. Modernising the stock while [...]
Debenhams profits up but refit hits sales April 13, 2010 DEBENHAMS posted a profits rise yesterday but sales only rose slightly – as a massive store revamp scheme took its toll.? The store posted half-year profits before tax and exceptional items of £123.6m – a rise of 18.6 per cent. The chain is refurbishing stores as part of its move away from concessions towards more [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 13, 2010 AIR FRANCE-KLM The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has upgraded its recommendation of Air France-KLM from “hold” to “buy” after brightening revenue trends in both passenger and cargo numbers. RBS has raised its forecasts, reflecting the stronger demand environment offset by higher fuel costs. It raises its target price to €14. MARKS & SPENCER Marks [...]
Debenhams profits jump after own brands boost April 13, 2010 DEBENHAMS has posted half-year profits before tax and exceptional items of £123.6m – a rise of 18.6 per cent. Higher group sales helped to fuel the rise as well as a focus on own-brand ranges – which have bigger margins than designer labels – in the 26 weeks to 27 February. The group’s net debt [...]
M&S sales up as staff given £80m bonus April 8, 2010 STAFF at Marks & Spencer will be handed an £80m bonus pot after the retailer ended the year with better-than-expected same store sales of 5.1 per cent in the UK. The figures were fuelled by the unseasonally cold weather which saw a massive jump in the sake of woollens. M&S said that total like-for-like sales [...]
M&S staff to get £80m bonus pot after sales rise April 8, 2010 MARKS & SPENCER sales rose by 5.1 percent in the 13 weeks to 27. The hike was driven by sales of formalwear and knitwear and the figures outstripped analysts’ forecasts of a 1.7 per cent rise M&S said full-year pre-tax profit would be around £630m, in its trading statement. The first day of the Christmas [...]
M&S bonus spree for shop staff April 7, 2010 Marks & Spencer is to resume bonus payments to around 77,000 workers after sales continued to improve in the first three months of the year. Shop staff will receive between £500 and £1,000 each as analysts expect M&S to deliver a 1.7 per cent rise in earnings for the 13 weeks to 27 March. The [...]
Top bosses hit out at Labour over jobs tax April 7, 2010 THERE was anger among business leaders yesterday, after the Prime Minister said they had been “deceived” into supporting Tory plans to scrap the hike in National Insurance. A further 30 business leaders added their name to a letter supporting the Conservative position on the “tax on jobs” yesterday, taking the total number of signatories to [...]