In The Style sales soar 130 per cent in first financial update since retailer’s AIM listing April 29, 2021 Fast fashion firm In the Style, which collaborates with reality TV stars and online influencers, toasted booming sales over the last 12 months in its first financial results since it went public last month. The ecommerce retailer said turnover for the year ended 31 March is expected to be around £44.5m, a 130 per cent [...]
Man’s best friend: Brits put a premium on pets even as household spend slips April 29, 2021 Not even lockdown could put an end to the old adage ‘Dogs are a man’s best friend’. In the last three months spending on pets surged as Brits prioritised emotional connections. Nationwide’s latest quarterly spending report reveals the biggest increases in spending between January and March have been on dating sites, gardening and pet-related costs. [...]
Dixons Carphone to close all Dixons Travel airport stores as it repays £73m furlough cash April 28, 2021 Dixons Carphone will close all of its Dixons Travel stores, having made the decision to shut down the business after the government removed airside tax free sales for most retailers. All 35 stores, found in airports around the UK including at Heathrow and Gatwick, as well as two concessions on P&O Cruises, will close, after [...]
What is the post-pandemic outlook for Asian shares? April 28, 2021 Despite the global turmoil caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, stock markets were generally strong in 2020 and the Asia ex Japan region was no exception. Indeed, in many ways the region was first into the pandemic and first out, with successful containment of the virus in many countries enabling economic activity to resume more quickly [...]
Business rates relief snub costs Sainsbury’s £400m as profit slumps despite lockdown sales boost April 28, 2021 The last year saw most Brits spend up large at the supermarket, but despite a sales boom Sainsbury’s first quarter profit has slumped because it chose to say no to business rates relief. Sainsbury’s, the UK’s second largest grocer after Tesco , said it made an underlying pretax profit of £356m in the year to [...]
Shakespeare: Primark at the heart of the reopening fun April 28, 2021 The easing of lockdown restrictions on April 12 allowed non-essential retail stores to reopen nationwide – and data from YouGov BrandIndex UK suggests that Primark has been a particular beneficiary. The budget fashion chain recently returned £121m to the Treasury, following record sales in the week after the lockdown restrictions were relaxed. In the days [...]
French Connection revenue plummets as Covid closures hit high street sales April 28, 2021 High street retailer French Connection saw group revenue fall by more than 40 per cent for the year ended 31 January as store closures battered trading. The firm reported an underlying loss of £11.7m, compared to a £2.9m loss in 2020, driven by a significant decline in sales. Retail revenues fell by more than 51 [...]
Food prices drop for first time in four years due to anti-stockpiling measures in 2020 lockdown April 28, 2021 Food prices fell this month for the first time in four years in comparison to last year, when retailers paused discounting to reduce stockpiling at the beginning of the pandemic. Prices fell 0.6 per cent in April, down from a rise of 0.3 per cent in March, marking the first time food prices have been [...]
Home buyer demand doubles property sales to £149bn this year April 27, 2021 A surge in home buyer demand has resulted in £149bn worth of properties being sold so far this year, double the value in the same period in 2020 and 2019. According to the latest research, one in every 50 homes was sold between 1 January and 15 April, up from one in every 100 homes [...]
HSBC profits surge to $5.8bn on Covid-19 recovery hopes April 27, 2021 Banking giant HSBC this morning announced a surging pre-tax profit of $5.78bn (£4.16bn) for the first quarter, up from $3.21bn a year ago and well above an average analyst forecast of $3.35bn. Revenue, however, fell five per cent to $13bn in the three months to 30 March as low interest rates in its main markets [...]