Rapid responses October 18, 2012 Greek reform [Re: Greece must stop hitting snooze and wake up to economic reform, yesterday] Although Matthew Melchiorre is right to criticise Greece’s politicians for failing to reform their state, he misses a bigger issue. Politicians aren’t operating in a vacuum. Much of the Greek public – quite unlike the Estonians or Irish – doesn’t accept [...]
Analysts give mixed welcome as Bostock joins Asos board October 10, 2012 ANALYSTS yesterday welcomed the long-anticipated announcement that Asos has hired Kate Bostock to join its ranks but questioned whether the former Marks & Spencer executive would fit into the online retailer’s culture. Asos confirmed that Bostock, would join its board in January as executive director, product and trading. Bostock stepped down from her role as [...]
M&S clothing head joins Asos October 10, 2012 AIM-listed fashion retailer Asos this morning confirmed the appointment of ex-Marks & Spencer executive Kate Bostock. Bostock, former head of general merchandise at M&S, will join Asos in January as executive director for product and trading. Bostock announced her departure from M&S in July after a period of poor trading, although she did not officially [...]
What the other papers say this Morning October 9, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Channel Islands unite over deficits Guernsey and Jersey are setting aside centuries of rivalry to defeat a common foe: the budget deficit. Senior politicians on the two islands, which have struggled to balance their books since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008, are considering radical moves to combine public services, including [...]
Icap profit view sapped by low trading volume September 26, 2012 ICAP, the world’s largest inter dealer broker, lowered its forecast for annual profit yesterday as it revealed revenues for the first half of the year are expected to plunge 14 per cent. Lacklustre trading over the summer, with volumes in capital markets seeing double-digit drops, forced the firm to cut its pre-tax profit forecast from [...]
M&S bigwig Bostock sells more shares September 17, 2012 THE OUTGOING head of Marks & Spencers’ non-food business sold off almost a quarter of a million shares in the firm on Friday, regulatory filings showed yesterday. Kate Bostock, who is leaving the firm on 1 October by mutual consent, exercised options granted in 2004 to acquire and then sell 249,627 shares, making a net [...]
FTSE dwindles as defensive stocks drop ahead of Fed and euro news September 10, 2012 BRITISH blue chip shares dipped yesterday as weakness in defensive stocks outweighed strength in risk-sensitive cyclicals, such as miners, and investors positioned for more newsflow out of Europe and the United States. The FTSE 100 closed down 1.60 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 5,793.20, with the index yo-yoing in a tight range around the [...]
Marks & Spencer shakes up its general merchandising team September 4, 2012 MARKS & SPENCER yesterday said it has hired Stephanie Chen, a senior director at House of Fraser, to be its new director of kidswear and home, as it revealed a shake-up of its general merchandising team. The retailer said John Dixon had made changes to the team as he prepares to take up his new [...]
The Tipster | WM Morrison may get shopped September 3, 2012 THIS week, supermarket chain WM Morrison will announce its latest half-year numbers for 2012. Expectations are for a decline as a result of fiercer competition in its northern heartland. CMC Market’s price on WM Morrison is 276.97-277.63p. Transport firm Go-Ahead reports full-year figures on Thursday, and the general expectation is that the trains and buses [...]
Best of the Brokers August 28, 2012 MAX PETROLEUM Merchant Securities has changed its recommendation on the Kazakh-focused oil & gas company to “sell” from “hold” and lowered its targetr price on the stock from 4.8p to 3.1p following a writedown of 2.7m barrel reserves and knock-on effect of the reduction on half-year resevre figures. The broker is also concerned that there [...]