ROSE MULLS EARLY EXIT March 3, 2010 MARKS & Spencer executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose yesterday said he was likely to leave the company before his expected departure date of July 2011 – although he has no plans for an exit this year. Rose, who will be succeeded as chief executive on 1 May by Marc Bolland, the former chief executive of [...]
WAITING FOR OBAMA TO CALL THE TOP March 1, 2010 DAVID MORRISON CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT ON 3 March 2009, US President Obama became a stock market guru when he delivered the following to investors: “What you’re now seeing is profit and earnings ratios starting to get to the point where buying stocks is a potentially good deal if you’ve got a long-term perspective on [...]
M&S boss in new pressure to cut salary February 28, 2010 MARKS & Spencer’s (M&S’s) joint chief executive and chairman Sir Stuart Rose has seen renewed investor demands to reduce his pay in the latest shareholder salvo against executive pay deals. Rose, who assumed the joint title of chairman and chief executive last year, could see his £1.13m salary reduced by investors after an ongoing and [...]
London’s top shares tumble as oil and mining companies slip February 25, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading shares fell 1.2 per cent yesterday, sliding back in the afternoon in tandem with New York stocks, with miners and oils the main drag as commodity prices fell back pressured by a firmer US dollar. By the close, the FTSE 100 index was 64.69 points lower at 5,278.23, reversing again after Wednesday’s 0.5 [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 17, 2010 MORRISON Barclays says Morrison has continued to take market share, has seen profit growth accelerate and has sharply increased its dividend. Yet it was the worst-performing stock in the sector during 2009. To some extent Morrison is seen as a “consensus Buy”, a worthy story but one which lacks triggers which might lead to a [...]
Rose: We had to pay Bolland his £15m golden handshake February 7, 2010 THE outgoing head of Marks & Spencer has defended the £15m “golden hello” offered to his successor Marc Bolland. Sir Stuart Rose, who will be replaced by Bolland in May, said M&S needed to pay the sum in order to remain competitive. He told a Sunday newspaper: “At the end of the day, if you’re [...]
Waitrose sales jump by 15 per cent February 5, 2010 WAITROSE sales jumped by 15 per cent in the second half of last year. The figures mean Waitrose is fastest growing supermarket chain in Britain and come as Ocado – the online grocer that delivers Waitrose products – set a new record for the number of deliveries in a single day, of 17,500. New M&S [...]
Who can conquer Ireland to land the greatest prize? February 4, 2010 England Manager: Martin Johnson Captain: Steve Borthwick Last season: Italy (h) won 36-11; Wales (a) lost 15-23; Ireland (a) lost 13-14; France (h) won 34-10; Scotland (h) won 26-12 = 2nd. Where they stand: Endured a disappointing autumn international campaign when they lost to Australia and New Zealand and looked unconvincing in their narrow victory [...]
Flight to quality in stores February 2, 2010 Intense competition among Britain’s top grocers has hit sales growth at smaller hard discounters Aldi and Lidl, while Asda has suffered most from recent severe weather, market researchers said yesterday. Kantar Worldpanel, the new name for TNS Worldpanel, said sales at Britain’s grocers rose 5.2 per cent in the 12 weeks to 24 January, helped [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 2, 2010 WM MORRISON JP Morgan upgrades Morrison’s to “overweight” ahead of its results on 11 March. Calculates that Morrison’s has grown three-fold over the past seven years, helped by its Safeway purchase. Says its sales densities are up by around 30 per cent, and reckons it has the “strongest topline momentum in the UK,” as well [...]