M&S posts slide in profits November 6, 2012 Retailer Marks & Spencer posted falling profit in the six months to September, hurt by low consumer confidence. Pre-tax profit came in at £290m for the group, down from £307m over the same period last year. Britain’s biggest clothing retailer said this morning that recent trading had been “volatile”, making it cautious about the outlook [...]
M&S chief to report drop in half-year profit November 4, 2012 MARKS & Spencer’s chief executive Marc Bolland is expected to come under renewed pressure this week as the retailer admits to falling first half profits for the second time in two years. Bolland, who has been at the helm of the FTSE 100 retailer for two years, is expected to announce interim pre-tax profits of [...]
M&S to launch four overseas sites October 30, 2012 ■ Marks & Spencer is to step up its international growth plans with the launch of four new foreign language websites next month. The retailer revealed that it will expand online in Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium on 19 November after opening its first two overseas sites in France and Ireland in the past year. [...]
Bosideng London founder Mr Gao is a man with a plan October 21, 2012 THE LAST time you walked on South Molton Street you would have gone past The Hog in the Pound, a not especially enticing-looking pub that sat at the top of the famous road where it meets with Oxford Street. Walk there today and it looks completely different. Let’s just say it’s had an upgrade; £25m [...]
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 [...]