The week ahead, 11-15 January: FTSE housebuilders, Asos, Tesco and UK GDP January 10, 2021 London’s markets started the new year in a frenzy last week, picking up over five per cent and closing the gap on their counterparts around the world. This week is set to be a busy one for the FTSE, with a raft of companies due to provide updates, as well as key economic data in [...]
M&S sales fall over Christmas quarter as lockdown hammers clothing division January 8, 2021 Marks and Spencer (M&S) saw their sales slip over the quarter leading up to Christmas as new lockdown restrictions cast a shadow over the normally lucrative season. The high street stalwart said that total sales fell 8.2 per cent to £2.5bn in the three months to 26 December. Shares in the retailer fell 1.9 per [...]
UK supermarkets secure best Christmas on record as online sales double January 6, 2021 Online share of UK grocery sales doubled in December, helping to drive supermarkets to their biggest Christmas on record. A total of 8.5m households shopped for their Christmas groceries online this year, up almost 3m compared to last year and equating to roughly a third of all UK households. This pushed total spend at UK [...]
UK supermarket sales soar to record-breaking £11.7bn in December January 5, 2021 UK supermarkets recorded their busiest ever month in December as grocery sales soared to £11.7bn amid bar and restaurant closures during the festive period. Morrisons was the strongest performer of the Big Four UK supermarkets, with sales jumping 13.1 per cent, followed by Tesco, which toasted a 11.1 per cent rise in sales. Sainsbury’s recorded [...]
Morrisons posts sales growth but warns of higher Covid-19 costs January 5, 2021 Morrisons has reported a rise in sales during the second half of the year, but warned that tougher new Covid-19 lockdown measures would increase its costs. The supermarket chain posted an 8.1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales excluding fuel in the 22 weeks to the 3 January. Including fuel, like-for-like sales rose 1.9 per [...]
This Week: PMIs, Morrisons, Next, US unemployment, Fed, M&S January 4, 2021 City A.M. looks at the first business week of 2021 with Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK. Monday: UK PMIs for December Flash numbers in the middle of December were surprisingly encouraging, with manufacturing rising to 57.3. “No doubt due to some pre-Brexit stockpiling. services also managed to rebound a touch, coming [...]
Naughty or nice: Which businesses pleased or peeved Santa in 2020? December 21, 2020 Which businesses stood out this year for going above and beyond for customers and staff, and which will be remembered less favourably for their pandemic policies? The last year has certainly been one that will not be forgotten. The last 12 months have been widely been touted “the worst ever” by people around the world, [...]
The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 8 – S2E8 finale is pure Star Wars brilliance December 18, 2020 *** SPOILERS AHEAD: If you haven’t watched the most recent episodes of The Mandalorian Season 2, look away now*** So here we are at the end of season two, with The Mandalorian having been largely successful in its second season efforts. The show has managed to raise the stakes while not losing the episodic nature [...]
Tesco completes £8bn Malaysia and Thailand business sale prompting £5bn shareholder windfall December 18, 2020 Tesco has completed the £8bn sale of its Thailand and Malaysia businesses and is gearing up to pay a £5bn special dividend to shareholders. The supermarket announced this morning that the division’s have been acquired by C.P. Retail Development Company, which is backed by Charoen Pokphand Group, CP All Public Company and Charoen Pokphand Foods. [...]
FTSE 100 slips but global markets hit fresh highs on vaccines and stimulus December 17, 2020 The FTSE 100 slipped, weighed down by a rising pound, as global markets hit a new all-time high amid optimism about vaccines and fiscal and monetary stimulus. Despite the rise in global stocks, the FTSE 100 lagged behind as the pound rose 0.8 per cent to $1.360, a 32-month high. A higher pound weighs on [...]