Sainsbury’s suffers Christmas sales slowdown as Black Friday hurts the supermarket January 9, 2019 Like-for-like sales at Sainsbury’s fell by 1.1 per cent over the Christmas period, the supermarket said today. Total sales excluding fuel dropped by 0.4 per cent in the 15 weeks to 5 January, while general merchandise sales fell by 2.3 per cent and clothing by 0.2 per cent. Read more: Aldi sales hit £1bn in record Christmas [...]
City Moves for 9 January – who’s switching jobs at Novidea, Unily and Hunton Andrews Kurth? January 8, 2019 Who’s switching jobs? Novidea Novidea, the data-driven platform provider for the insurance industry, has announced that Ben Potts has joined the company as UK managing director, to spearhead the company's growth and expansion across the UK and EMEA region. Previously, Ben held various leadership and revenue-focused executive roles with Majesco, Xchanging and Jardine Lloyd Thompson [...]
John Lewis enjoys sales boost after strong Christmas performance January 8, 2019 John Lewis has doubled down on a positive festive period after reporting double-figure sales growth over the last week. The department store chain said total sales for the week to 5 January were up 11.2 per cent on the same period last year, thanks to its post-Christmas clearance. The figures were driven by soaring menswear [...]
FTSE 100 hits monthly high after retail boost and fresh hopes of US-China trade deal January 8, 2019 The FTSE 100 has risen to monthly highs as investors return to retailers and US-China trade deal talks resume. The blue chip index has climbed one per cent today after US stocks bounced last night on fresh hopes of a resolution to the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur [...]
Joules records strong Christmas trading thanks to online sales surge January 8, 2019 Fashion retailer Joules today reported a double-figure sales rise over the Christmas period as online success crushed retail fears. Joules said like-for-like sales rose 11.7 per cent in the seven weeks to 6 January compared to the same period the year before. The company said the strong festive performance was driven by online trading, which [...]
Eurozone sentiment falls markedly and German industrial output suffers biggest fall in two years January 8, 2019 Economic sentiment in the eurozone decreased “markedly” in December, the European Commission said, and poor German industrial data added to the currency bloc’s woes. The commission’s economic sentiment indicator fell to 107.3 points in December from 109.5 the previous month, dropping in all twelve months of 2018. German industrial output also suffered its biggest decline [...]
Discounters win war of the supermarkets amid sluggish Christmas growth January 8, 2019 Aldi led the way during a record-breaking Christmas for groceries, even as sales growth slowed across the sector. The supermarket increased sales by 10.4 per cent, narrowly beating fellow discounter Lidl to the top spot, figures from Kantar Worldpanel show. “The discounters have continued to make their mark over Christmas: two-thirds of all households shopped [...]
Greene King toasts record Christmas trading amid cost-cutting plans January 8, 2019 Pub chain Greene King today recorded strong sales growth over Christmas and the New Year as it cashed in on festive drinking. Greene King said like-for-sale sales over the last two weeks rose 10.9 per cent, while Christmas day sales hit a record £7.7m. The chain, which operates almost 3,000 pubs, restaurants and hotels across [...]
Footasylum shares slide as it warns discounting will squeeze profit margin January 8, 2019 Shares in Footasylum slumped 15 per cent this morning after the shoe shop warned that its full-year profit margin will be squeezed due to increased discounting across the retail sector. The share price slipped to 27.6p from yesterday's closing price of 32.5p on the news that the retailer will also implement a cost-cutting measures across the business that could result in [...]
Morrisons increases sales for a fourth consecutive Christmas but shares fall as it loses market share January 8, 2019 Morrisons posted its fourth consecutive Christmas of growth today, crediting competitive pricing of key festive foods and customer service for its strong performance. Excluding fuel, total sales at the supermarket rose by four per cent in the nine weeks to 6 January, while like-for-like sales grew by 3.6 per cent, with retail contributing 0.6 per [...]