Lookers in the red after £504m take-private deal October 28, 2024 Car dealership giant Lookers slumped into the red in the year it was taken private in a deal worth more than £500m. The Cheshire-headquartered business has reported a pre-tax loss of £5m for 2023, having posted a pre-tax profit of £73.9m in 2022. The loss comes as newly-filed accounts with Companies House show Lookers’ revenue [...]
Fatface counts the cost of takeover by Next as fashion retailer enters the red October 28, 2024 Fatface slumped into the red in the aftermath of its takeover by FTSE 100 giant Next last year, it has been revealed. The Hampshire-headquartered business was acquired by the Leicester-based giant for £115.2m in October 2023. Newly-filed accounts with Companies House show that Fatface fell to a pre-tax loss of £3.2m in the 35 weeks [...]
John Lewis set for Black Friday and Christmas hiring spree October 28, 2024 The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) is gearing up for a hiring offensive in the coming months as the retail group looks to bring in thousands of temporary staff for the festive season. Some 12,500 new workers are set to join its John Lewis department store and Waitrose grocery arm, up 4,100 on the same period [...]
Revolut: US investor tried to scoop up cheap shares with Budget tax warning October 27, 2024 A US private equity firm tried to leverage fears of a capital gains tax raid in the Budget as it sought to grow its Revolut stake at a heavy discount, City AM can reveal, in a move foiled by the City regulator.
The five REITs primed to be bought next October 26, 2024 Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have been dropping like flies this year, as competitors increasingly pursue mergers to grow their size, and many have begun to speculate about which one might be next to go. The largest merger of the year was LXI REIT, which was bought out by Londonmetric Property at the start of [...]
Can the government tax its way to a building boom? October 26, 2024 Labour have big plans for house building and infrastructure so what can we expect on property taxes in the Budget? Tim Sarson has the answers Cut through the post-election chatter about black holes and freebies and there is one theme that keeps coming up as a top political priority. Building things. I can’t remember a [...]
Consumers ‘despondent’ ahead of tax-hiking autumn Budget October 25, 2024 Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, placed the blame for the decrease squarely on the Budget.
How American Express UK is looking to crack Gen Z October 24, 2024 American Express’s UK boss, Hannah Lewis, sits down with City AM to talk breaking into a younger markets and shaking up its image. “Do you take Amex?” It’s a question that has slipped so far into the cultural lexicon there are even memes about it. Scroll through a dedicated Reddit page on American Express and [...]
Dunelm: Consumer demand for sofas boosts group October 24, 2024 Dunelm, the UK’s leading homewares retailer, has reported an uptick in revenue for the 13-week period ending 28 September as consumers continued to spend money on home updates. The company reported sales of £403m for the period, up 3.5 per cent compared to the same period last year. The company reported digital sales, as a [...]
Analysts split over US listing for Watches of Switzerland following activist investor campaign October 23, 2024 London-listed Watches of Switzerland has come under pressure from activist investor Gatemore Capital Management to ditch its UK listing for the US, with analysts split over whether the decision would be beneficial for the firm. The UK’s biggest Rolex seller, which runs 221 stores globally, listed in London in 2019 and is currently a member [...]