Bottom Line: Everyone loves a sale – and Asos shares are in middle of a big one June 5, 2014 ALMOST every other day, Asos customers are sent promo emails alerting them to the latest offer on the retailer’s vast fashion website: 25 per cent off dresses; save on festival fashion; free delivery on men’s hats. Yesterday, the tables were turned. Investors hit the sell button on Asos shares, sending them into freefall to end [...]
Tesco market share sinks to a 20-year low June 3, 2014 TESCO boss Philip Clarke is under renewed pressure after figures out yesterday showed that customers abandoning its stores have caused the chain to suffer its worst loss in market share in 20 years. Analysts lashed out as data from Kantar WorldPanel revealed that Tesco’s sales slipped by 3.1 per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks [...]
Bottom Line: It’s crunch time for Clarke and Philips June 3, 2014 THE NUMBERS are dire. Despite splashing out more than £3bn over the past year, the UK’s three biggest listed firms – Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrisons – are all shedding market share, with the former showing its weakest growth in 11 years. Analysts are slashing the sector left, right and centre, and with Tesco expected to reveal another [...]
Supermarkets are getting a quiet boost as entertainment spend booms online May 29, 2014 In the UK, one third of our spend on entertainment – so on CDs, DVDs and games – is now done online. Data from Kantar Worldpanel, covering the first part of this year, show that one in every three pounds people spend on physical entertainment objects is online. Interestingly, 20 per cent of all online [...]
Mothercare share price jumps as profits beat expectations May 22, 2014 Shares in baby goods retailer Mothercare have surged by 15 per cent after the company reported earnings above expectations. Mothercare's lenders, HSBC and Barclays, also agreed to enlarge the company's debt facility to £100m – an increase of £10m. Profit before tax jumped 61 per cent to £9.5m for the year ended 29 March. 35 [...]
Best of the Brokers for 22 May 2014 May 21, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com MORRISONS Deutsche Bank has cut the supermarket to a “sell” rating and lowered its target from 200p to 190p, following the stock’s rally in recent weeks. The broker expects no improvement for now in Morrisons’ dwindling like-for-like sales and does not expect imminent takeover [...]
London Report: Glimmer of light for pharma deal brightens FTSE May 21, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index edged up yesterday as shares in drug-maker Astrazeneca rebounded on the view that what appeared to have been an unsuccessful £69bn bid for the company may still have a chance of going through. Pharma giant Astrazeneca rose 2.6 per cent, adding the most points to the blue-chip FTSE 100 index, which [...]
Bell Pottinger pulls the crowds at its annual summertime soiree May 20, 2014 HOT ON the heels of the Chelsea preview night, Bell Pottinger yesterday threw another City shindig, pulling Centrica’s Sam Laidlaw and hedge fund legend Sir Michael Hintze back onto the tiles for the second night in a row (although they both shot off early to catch up on beauty sleep). Communications coach to the great [...]
London Report: Vodafone and Marks weigh down on FTSE May 20, 2014 SELL-OFFS in mobile operator Vodafone and retailer Marks & Spencer dragged down Britain’s blue-chip equity index yesterday, after disappointing forecasts from both companies. The benchmark FTSE 100 index closed down by 0.6 per cent, or 42.55 points, at 6,802.00 points. Vodafone took the most points off the FTSE as it fell by 5.5 per cent [...]
Flotation frenzy adds new faces to 2014 Rich List May 19, 2014 THIS year’s swathe of initial public offerings (IPOs) has brought some fresh meat to the Sunday Times Rich List, with the founders of Boohoo.com, AO.com and King all joining the monied pack. AO.com founder John Roberts enters the list at 246th, with a wealth stack of £410m. Boohoo.com founder Mahmud Kamani is a new entry [...]