Soaring Tesco helps FTSE but Serco plummets – London Report November 10, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index yesterday advanced to a five-week high as investors bought into the consumer staples and retail sectors, with ailing supermarket group Tesco leading the gainers. The stand-out mover of the day, however, was mid-cap services outsourcer Serco, whose shares fell 32.2 per cent to 215p after saying it planned a rights issue [...]
John Lewis, M&S, Debenhams – the best Christmas TV adverts of 2014 November 7, 2014 Alright, so there's still a month and a half until the big day – but settle in, because Christmas ads have begun to grace our screens, and they're going to be around for the next 47 evenings in. You might as well become acquainted. First up, we had the big one: John Lewis' much-awaited Christmas [...]
John Lewis Christmas advert 2014: Monty the Penguin is likely to sell out and Tom Odell’s cover of John Lennon’s Real Love is a contender to top the festive charts November 6, 2014 Monty the penguin has been released into the wild… but it looks like he won’t be there for long. The cute character and star of John Lewis’ highly anticipated Christmas ad, which will either bring a tear to your eye or make you feel nauseous depending on your disposition, is proving popular already. Merchandise featuring [...]
Marks & Spencer sees food sales spark share price rally November 5, 2014 Marks and Spencer shocked markets yesterday with unexpectedly strong sales, driven by its food business and – until the warm weather in September hit sales – robust clothes results. Investors had been worried that the group would follow Next and Tesco with poor results, but instead flooded back into the stock. The share [...]
Is today a turning point for Marks & Spencer’s share price? November 5, 2014 Marks & Spencer's share price has soared 8.3 per cent this morning, suggesting that investors were pleasantly surprised by its better-than-expected results. Although it marked its 13th quarter of declines, the 3.4 per cent drop in clothing was lower than consensus. Analysts this morning are suggesting this could be, if not the beginning of [...]
Marks & Spencer share price leaps, despite 13th consecutive fall in clothing sales November 5, 2014 Shares in Marks & Spencer opened more than eight per cent higher this morning, after it posted expectation-beating half-year results – even though group profits before tax fell 0.4 per cent on the same period last year. In the the 26 weeks to 27 September, like-for-likes in clothing and general merchandise fell 2.2 per cent [...]
Marks & Spencer’s half year results – here’s what to look out for November 4, 2014 Marks & Spencer is due to report its first half results tomorrow morning, and the consensus is that it will be another gloomy one for the venerable British retailer. Analysts are saying the 770-store retailer will have racked up a 3.7 per cent decline in general merchandising like-for-likes during its second quarter. If [...]
Marks and Spencer likely to join Next and Tesco in slump as like-for-like sales decline November 3, 2014 The slump in British retail is set to hit Marks and Spencer hard this week, after poor financial results from rival Next and supermarket Tesco. Weak sales figures will pile increasing pressure on chief executive Marc Bolland – like-for-like sales have already fallen for the past 13 quarters, despite the growing economic recovery. The consensus [...]
GlaxoSmithKline considers £17bn HIV wonder drugs split with Viiv Healthcare IPO October 22, 2014 Pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is considering floating its HIV drugs business in a move that would see Viiv Healthcare among the top 40 companies in the FTSE 100 with a market valuation of up to £17bn. Chief executive Andrew Witty told reporters yesterday: “In line with our commitment to identifying ways to realise shareholder value, [...]
Banks lead the pack as FTSE bounces back – London Report October 6, 2014 GAINS in major bank stocks led Britain’s benchmark equity index higher yesterday, and troubled supermarket group Tesco rose after new board appointments. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index, which fell to its lowest closing level in nearly a year last week, closed up by 0.6 per cent, or 35.74 points, at 6,563.65 points. Among the financials, [...]