Morrisons in Royal Wedding boost May 5, 2011 Supermarket chain said its sales have been boosted by the royal wedding. Total sales excluding fuel during the 13 weeks to 1 May were up by 4.2 per cent from the same period a year ago, or by 2.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis. The company said campaigns such as its “Fuel Britannia” and [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 2, 2011 ROYAL DUTCH SHELL RBS rates the oil group “buy” with a target price of £24 following the firm’s quarterly results last week. Shell’s net income was five per cent above the broker’s forecasts, mirroring BP’s strong performance earlier in the week. Only the upstream business fell short, coming in at two per cent below RBS [...]
Tesco Bank lags its parent supermarket brand April 26, 2011 WITH Tesco boss Phil Clarke saying that expanding its presence within the banking sector is one of his top priorities we’ve looked at BrandIndex data to make an assessment of the potential it has there. Tesco Bank itself does not fare especially well at the moment. On the index measure it is in 18th place [...]
Co-operative campaign sustaining momentum April 19, 2011 TWO months ago we looked at the impact of The Co-operative’s “good food within easy reach” advertising campaign that launched at the start of the year. We saw that it had had the effect of increasing perception scores for The Co-operative, taking it, almost overnight, from being below the average for the supermarket sector and [...]
Seeking out the resources to keep up with global demand April 18, 2011 GOLDMAN Sachs may have slowed the charge of the commodity bulls last week by suggesting that investors take profits on a basket trade of crude oil, cotton, copper, soybeans and platinum that it recommended in late 2010, but this week the markets have carried on regardless. But with political turmoil affecting the established commodity rich [...]
THE TIPSTER April 18, 2011 SHARES in supermarket Morrison have been on the rise since the end of March, as shoppers still favour promotions in an attempt to offset the squeeze on income from rising prices. Products on promotion account for 40 per cent of sales, which is now at a record high. They are really bringing the competition to [...]
All3Media to crack the US by trade sale April 10, 2011 THE TELEVISION production company behind Peep Show, Shameless and Midsomer Murders, All3Media, has called in UBS to undertake a strategic review of the firm as it eyes the US to fuel its global growth ambitions. Following reports at the weekend that ITV has rejected the idea of buying the TV production group, the most likely [...]
M&S poaches top man from Wm Morrison April 7, 2011 MARKS & Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland has poached one of his former Wm Morrison colleagues, Christopher Taylor, to take charge of his convenience stores . Taylor, who was leading Morrisons’ expansion into smaller convenience stores, is the first of Bolland’s former executives to be hired by M&S since Bolland was himself poached as chief [...]
M&S sales in surprise lift April 6, 2011 MARKS and Spencer yesterday lifted some of the gloom surrounding the retail sector with a slim sales rise – but the company warned that times will get tougher. The chain – which had been expected to report a sales slump – was given a boost from its food section. Overall its UK like-for-like sales rose [...]
FTSE nears seven-year high as M&S boosts retail sector April 6, 2011 BANKS helped drive Britain’s top shares to a near seven-week high yesterday following a Portuguese debt auction, while Marks & Spencer rose on better-than-expected sales, lifting sentiment in retailers. The FTSE 100 ended up 34.07 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 6,041.13, its highest closing level since 18 February. Lex van Dam, hedge fund manager [...]