Supermarkets vie to promote value for money November 1, 2011 WITH the economic outlook still looking bleak and consumers (as shown by YouGov’s Household Economic Activity Tracker) increasingly price conscious it is not surprising that a number of big supermarkets are keen to emphasise their value. Sainsbury’s launched its “live well for less” advertisements on 15 September and Tesco’s “Big Price Drop” campaign came out [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 1, 2011 XCHANGING Panmure Gordon has upgraded the outsourcing company from “sell” to “hold” with a target price of 70p, seeing long-term value in the business, whose shares have lost more than 30 per cent in the last three months. The broker says good progress has been made this year since the appointment of Ken Lever as [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 31, 2011 INVESTEC Goldman Sachs rates Investec “buy” with a 533p target price as it believes the wealth management group has been unjustifiably hurt by risk aversion, despite shifting its business model towards asset and wealth management, which give it more stable income streams and now constitute about half its revenues. About 70 per cent of its [...]
Weaker mining and energy prices drag the FTSE down October 31, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index fellback yesterday, led by weaker miners and energy issues, as commodity prices retreated under the influence of a firmer dollar and worries over demand from China, with banks also under pressure after recent gains. Miners and integrated oil stocks took over 30 points off the UK blue chip index, as they [...]
Owen responds to United’s ‘kick in the teeth’ October 25, 2011 ALDERSHOT 0 vs MAN UNITED 3 MANCHESTER UNITED striker Michael Owen admitted his side were still coming to terms with the 6-1 mauling they suffered at the hands of Manchester City on Sunday after he contributed to the first step on the road to recovery with a goal in last night’s Carling Cup win at [...]
All souped up in Soho: yet another super-cool food bar enters the fray October 24, 2011 DUCK SOUP 41 Dean Street, Soho, W1D 4PY www.ducksoupsoho.co.uk FOOD *** SERVICE *** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost per person without wine: £30 IT’s all part of the Soho experience – the perch at the bar, the swiveling stool, getting up close and personal with the waitress pushing past you. Duck Soup, which is staffed by alumni [...]
Five bidders circle Iceland October 20, 2011 AT LEAST five private equity firms were poised to submit first-round non-binding offers for a 77 per cent stake in frozen food retailer Iceland Foods by yesterday’s deadline, four people familiar with the matter said. Iceland Foods’ chief executive and key investor Malcolm Walker is thinking about bidding for the company later in the process, [...]
Aldi market share lifts in tough climate October 11, 2011 BUDGET supermarket groups are growing sales faster than rivals in Britain’s grocery sector as cash-strapped shoppers battle to preserve their income by trading down, market research showed yesterday. Kantar Worldpanel said grocery sales rose 5.1 per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 3 October, up from 4.5 per cent in the previous 12 week [...]
RBS and Lloyds asked to explain cash machine restriction plans October 10, 2011 THE Treasury select committee has called for an explanation from banks planning to restrict which cash machines basic bank account holders have access to. Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie wrote to RBS and Lloyds about their schemes after consumer groups said the they could affect some of the most vulnerable in society. A million RBS customers [...]
Sainsbury’s sales edge up October 5, 2011 Sainsbury’s posted an expected rise in second-quarter underlying sales as store extensions and growth in convenience stores, online and non-food ranges helped it to overcome tough trading conditions. The group, which trails Wal-Mart’s Asda and market leader Tesco by annual sales, said on Wednesday sales at stores open over a year rose 1.9 per cent [...]