UNRESOLVED ISSUES CAUSE HEADACHES May 31, 2010 DAVID MORRISON CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT MOST investors will be relieved to see the back of May and hope that June will usher in greater market stability and lower volatility. The last month has been a shocker, with only the relief rally at the end of last week ensuring that major indices avoided a fall [...]
Asda May 27, 2010 GET ready to slap the change in your back-pocket and shout “that’s Asda Price”: Britain’s number two supermarket has been on a spending spree. At first glance, the £778m that Asda has shelled out for 193 Netto stores looks pricey. The Wal-Mart subsidiary is paying £504 per square foot, mostly for units that are in [...]
M&S sees 5pc profit jump as Rose moves on May 25, 2010 MARKS & Spencer yesterday reported a rise in profits as new chief executive Marc Bolland prepared to take over the reins at the high street giant. The figures were the last to be presented by outgoing chief Sir Stuart Rose, who said the handover was going “smoothly”. M&S recorded a pre-tax profit of £632m for [...]
FORK IN THE ROAD FOR THE PRICE OF OIL May 24, 2010 DAVID MORRISON CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT GLOBAL equities have taken a hammering over the past month. A whole host of issues which had been simmering on the back-burner have begun to boil over. The European sovereign debt crisis, concerns over the effects of tighter financial regulation and the continuing withdrawal of liquidity by the Chinese [...]
SEX AND THE CITY 2 SPECIAL May 24, 2010 SPECIAL EDITION SKYY BOTTLE What would Sex and the City be without vodka cocktails? With this in mind, Costume Designer Patricia Field has designed a limited edition SKYY Vodka Sex and the City 2 bottle, the first themed design change to the iconic cobalt blue SKYY bottle in the brand’s history. Bottles are £15.29 from?Waitrose, [...]
Blank on the long list for M&S chair May 16, 2010 HEADHUNTERS searching for a replacement to Sir Stuart Rose at Marks and Spencer have earmarked former Lloyds chairman Sir Victor Blank as a potential candidate to chair the board. JCA Group founder Jan Hall is currently putting together a long list of candidates ready for the board to whittle down. Other names that have been [...]
Clarke to become chief executive at Asda while Bond steps up to chairman May 11, 2010 CHIEF operating officer of Asda, Andy Clarke, has been appointed to the role of chief executive and president of the US-owned supermarket. His promotion follows last month’s announcement by Andy Bond that he would step up to become part-time chairman at the retailer. Clarke joined Asda in 1992 but left in 2001 for roles at [...]
Sainsbury’s expects to ring up profit rise May 9, 2010 J SAINSBURY is this week expected to say its pre-tax profits grew 15 per cent to £595m, but analysts believe it will avoid giving an update on sales amid tough conditions. Sainsbury’s, the third-largest supermarket chain in the UK by market share, is tipped to hand staff a bonus pool of £70m following a buoyant [...]
Andy Clarke set to land Asda chief executive role May 6, 2010 ASDA is tipped to promote its chief operating officer, Andy Clarke, to the top job next week following chief executive Andy Bond’s decision to step aside. Clarke is understood to have been selected ahead of several internal candidates including Darren Blackhurst, Asda’s punchy trading director. Blackhurst has now resigned after five years at the Wal-Mart [...]
Morrisons’ sales growth slows despite record number of customers in stores May 6, 2010 SUPERMARKET giant Morrisons has seen record numbers of customers in its stores but the new financial year has been hit by a slowdown, it said in a trading statement yesterday. The group has continued to grow market share in the first quarter with sales, excluding fuel, up 5.9 per cent in the 13 weeks to [...]