B&M sales dip as discount retailer names new chief May 31, 2022 Discount retailer B&M has warned trading patterns are anticipated to “remain unpredictable” in the year ahead, while it feels ready to reap the rewards of shoppers hunting for bargains amid sky-high inflation. In results for the year to 26 March 2022, group revenue dipped 2.7 per cent on the prior year to £4.67bn. However, this [...]
Missguided collapses into administration as fast fashion brand seeks buyer May 30, 2022 Missguided has collapsed into administration, after being hammered by supply chain costs and weakening consumer confidence. Fast fashion rival Boohoo is interested in snapping up the beleaguered brand, CityA.M. understands. Administrators from Teneo said there was “a high level of interest from a number of strategic buyers.” The Manchester-based firm had fallen foul of an [...]
Car dealership profits up by sevenfold following post-Covid surge in demand May 30, 2022 Profits at the UK car dealerships rose by more than a sevenfold in 2021 following a post-Covid surge in demand. According to data from accountancy group UHY Hacker Young, profits went up 627 per cent, from £105m in 2019/2020 to £764m a year later. Following the end of lockdown, new car sales went up as [...]
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust: buying opportunity? May 27, 2022 Scottish Mortgage (LON: SMT) shares are still up 77% over the past five years, despite recent falls. And as central banks make increasingly hawkish noises, its share price is now trading at a 12.7% discount to net asset value. However, this could represent a FTSE 100 buying opportunity. Scottish Mortgage Manager Tom Slater recently told investors that ‘in retrospect, it [...]
Retail therapy gives markets a lift as battle to contain inflation genie starts in earnest May 27, 2022 European markets spent most of yesterday edging cautiously higher, with the FTSE100 shrugging off the UK government’s decision to impose a 25 per cent windfall tax on the oil and gas sector, while at the same time unveiling a fiscal stimulus package. The decision to impose the controversial tax appears to have prompted a review [...]
The City View: Victoria Scholar on Sunak’s windfall tax and Cowgill exit May 26, 2022 Today Andy Silvester talks to Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor. They go through Rishi Sunak’s unveiling of a windfall tax today, the Fed’s plans to hike rates by 50 basis points in June and July, Elon Musk’s painfully slow acquisition of Twitter, and JD Sports founder and CEO Peter Cowgill’s shock departure [...]
Ted Baker slashes losses as consumers splash cash on party and office-wear once more May 26, 2022 Ted Baker has narrowed its losses as the fashion brand edges closer to a private equity takeover. The London-listed retailer posted a loss before tax of £44.1m, an improvement of 59.1 per cent, in preliminary results for the year ended 29 January 2022. Ted Baker had suffered a £107.7m loss the year prior, after pandemic [...]
Wickes maintain pandemic momentum ahead of AGM May 26, 2022 Wickes Group has consolidated the pandemic-driven boom in sales and has maintained its full-year guidance ahead of its AGM today.
Sales drive AutoTrader to hefty profit amid pandemic rebound May 26, 2022 Revenues at AutoTrader have spiked 65 per cent this year to £432.7m, powered by a 72 per cent uplift in sales to £388.3m.
Energy firms recharge as windfall tax fears ease May 25, 2022 Investors today piled back into London-listed energy firms that were pummeled earlier this week by rumours they will be spiked by the government including them in a windfall tax on the energy sector. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index jumped 0.51 per cent to 7,522.75 points, while the mid-cap domestically-focused FTSE 250 index, which is [...]