Ocado share price dives on half-year results July 1, 2014 Online grocer Ocado has seen its share price drop 4.7 per cent after releasing half-year results for the 24 weeks ended 18 May. The fall comes as the company announced it was on track for its first ever annual pre-tax profit. The company swung back into the black with pre-tax profits reaching £7.5m compared to [...]
Ocado earnings jump 79pc after Morrisons tie-up July 1, 2014 Online grocer Ocado has reported a rise in gross sales of 15.6 per cent for the 24 weeks ended 18 May, broadly in line with what had been expected. Analysts at Deutsche Bank had forecast that Ocado would report that gross retail sales in the second quarter grew by 15.3 per cent, compared to 18 [...]
London Report: Mortgage lending down but price of houses still rising June 29, 2014 MORTGAGE approval numbers are expected to fall to a 10-month low of 62,000 for May, after the introduction of tough new rules in the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) in April. Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said: “This would be down from 62,918 in April, 66,563 in March and a 74-month high of 75,838 in [...]
Accelerating competition: How to level the playing field for challenger banks June 24, 2014 THERE is something that politicians and bankers both agree upon – we believe that greater competition improves the service and the products that customers get. We’ve heard ideas about increasing competition in banking from across the political spectrum. Today, the BBA is adding to that debate with some new ideas on promoting competition by levelling [...]
5 retailers who’ve suffered warehouse woes June 23, 2014 Retailers have had their fair share of misadventures with their warehouses in recent years. The fire at Asos’ distribution centre in Yorkshire is the second time the retailer has suffered damage to one of its warehouses. An explosion at the Buncefield oil depot near to its former site in Hemel Hempstead in 2005 [...]
Bottom Line: As the going gets tough, Justin King gets going June 11, 2014 There was a lot of back-slapping at Sainsbury’s yesterday, with Justin King talking up his successor, and his successor lavishing praise on the soon-to-depart chief executive. “When Justin started at the business we were serving 14m customers a week, and now we’re serving 24m a week. That’s a great achievement,” enthused Mike Coupe. King insists the [...]
Retailer share prices are crashing. Here’s what you need to know about the sell-off June 5, 2014 An unexpected profit warning from online retailer Asos has investors very worried about the health of the sector generally. Asos shares opened more than 40 per cent lower after it announced that it had been forced to slash its full-year profit margin guidance. The key paragraph comes from CEO Nick Robertson: The resultant higher mix [...]
Best of the Brokers for 03 June 2014 June 2, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com BELLWAY Numis has upgraded Bellway to “buy” from “add”, with the target price remaining 1,810p. The broker believes that the company will remain prudent with its balanced approach to growth and risk management, while being expected to be at the forefront of revenue [...]
Brand risk top fear for UK boards May 27, 2014 THREE-QUARTERS of UK board members see brand damage from scandals as the biggest risk they face, over direct financial costs or loss of business contacts, according to a new report released today. Twenty-one per cent of UK respondents placed shareholder activism among their top three concerns, almost twice the global average. A number of London-listed [...]
Shareholders revolt over pay at Reckitt and Ocado May 7, 2014 OCADO and Reckitt Benckiser have become the latest companies to suffer an investor backlash over pay for the most senior staff. About 20 per cent of investors in the online grocer voted against the remuneration report while 13 per cent opposed Ocado’s pay policy. A person familiar with the situation said Ocado’s board had consulted [...]