Back to the office helps City of London’s tallest tower to full capacity January 20, 2025 The City’s tallest tower, 22 Bishopsgate, has been fully let after four years as the financial district continues to prove its ability to command premiums for best-in-class sustainable spaces. There’s little sign of the gloom pervading other areas of the commercial office sector in the City, with rents at 22 Bishopsgate the highest ever achieved [...]
Ocado shares surge after online grocer reports record-breaking year January 14, 2025 Ocado Retail’s sales boomed in the weeks leading up to Christmas, vastly outperforming the broader market with double-digit revenue and customer growth. In a trading update issued today, the company, a 50:50 joint venture between Ocado and Marks and Spencer, reported revenue growth of 17.5 per cent in the 13 weeks to 1 December. Ocado [...]
M&S: City broker slashes share price target on lower profit prospects January 10, 2025 Berenberg has downgraded its share price target for Marks and Spencer following lower estimates of long-term growth for the high street darling. The broker downgraded its price target from 410p to 384p, a cut of six per cent, due to a decrease in its profit estimate. “The potential for upside surprise now looks more limited [...]
M&S, Greggs and Sainsbury’s shares slide on shaky outlook for UK economy January 9, 2025 Marks & Spencer (M&S), Greggs, Sainsbury’s and B&M shares have all slumped today after investors took fright at warnings of a slowdown in consumer spending over the next year. Aside from Sainbury’s, whose results will be announced on Friday morning, all the firms released solid earnings updates this morning, with M&S reporting an 8.7 per [...]
Marks and Spencer shares plunge despite bumper results January 9, 2025 Marks and Spencer shares plunged by eight per cent in early deals this morning as investors digested the company’s Christmas trading update. The food and clothing retailer told markets this morning that food sales increased 8.7 in the 13 weeks to December 28, and sales of its new Christmas products grew 14 per cent. This [...]
Next: FTSE 100 retailer hikes profit guidance but warns on costs January 7, 2025 Retail industry bellwether Next has upgraded its profit outlook for the year after sales and growth exceeded expectations during the Golden Quarter. The FTSE 100 company hiked its expected profit by five per cent as sales jumped six per cent in the nine weeks to 28 December, nearly double its previous guidance of 3.5 per cent. [...]
Mark Kleinman: Boots’ dealmaker tries to formulate new potion December 19, 2024 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and is the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column. This week, he tackles buyouts at Boots, big bonuses at Natwest and Reeves’ China charm offensive Boots’ octogenarian dealmaker tries to formulate new potion If life begins at 80, then Stefano Pessina, the octogenarian pharmaceuticals [...]
Thatchers’ cloudy lemonade trademark row with Aldi back in court December 17, 2024 British cider brand Thatchers is back in court today as it seeks to overturn a ruling that said Aldi did not infringe its trademark over its cloudy lemon cider
Labour’s business backers – where are they now? December 10, 2024 Labour won the public backing of over 120 business chiefs in a letter before the election – but the enthusiasm of those executives appears to have dimmed since then. City AM tried to track them down. It was a letter that seemed to signal a tectonic shift in British politics when it landed in newspapers [...]
Currys could reveal Black Friday boost or Budget hit in interim results December 7, 2024 Electronics retailer Currys will reveal how much impact the recent Budget is likely to have on its sales next week. Investors will hope the chain has carried on a recent financial recovery into the autumn when it announces its interim results on 12 December. The company is expected to post a profit of £137m for [...]