Retail sales sunk back in August in a “U-turn” of fortunes for the sector September 6, 2016 Retail sales slowed in August, representing a "U-turn in retail fortunes" compared to figures from July. Overall sales fell by 0.3 per cent – the biggest month-on-month decline since September 2014, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG. Like-for-like sales were down 0.9 per cent as compared to August last year; on [...]
City Moves for 6 September 2016 | Who’s switching jobs September 6, 2016 CBRE Sir Edward Lister has been appointed as a consultant to CBRE, the global real estate advisor. Sir Edward was most recently the mayor of London’s chief of staff and deputy mayor for policy and planning. In his new role, he will work with CBRE’s One London team in advising its clients on public sector engagement [...]
Sainsbury’s to install 20 Argos outlets in time for Christmas September 5, 2016 Sainsbury's is set to install another 20 Argos outlets inside its supermarkets in the latest move to integrate the two stores following Sainsbury's acquisition of Argos-owner Home Retail Group (HRG). The supermarket giant completed the £1.4bn takeover of HRG, which also owned Homebase until earlier this year, at the end of last week, after being given the green light [...]
Extension of quantitative easing “close call” for ECB September 5, 2016 The European Central Bank (ECB) faces a tough decision this week as it decides whether to unleash a new bout of monetary stimulus to support the Eurozone. ECB ratesetters will gather in Frankfurt on Thursday, with markets divided as to when president Mario Draghi will announce a hotly-anticipated extension to the Bank's €80bn (£67bn) a month [...]
Vera Bradley shares climb on expectation beating earnings and licensing agreements September 1, 2016 US luxury handbag and accessories maker Vera Bradley has posted a solid performance, despite the strong dollar causing problems for other high-end retailers. Shares climbed by more than three per cent following the US market open in New York, though are down some five per cent in the year to date. Net revenues totalled $119.2m (£89.8m) for the second quarter [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open September 1, 2016 The pound has leapt against the dollar after the UK's manufacturing sector smashed expectations and China's manufacturing sector has also bounced back. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. Pre-market futures are looking mixed ahead of the open. The S&P is off by 0.1 per cent, while the Nasdaq is [...]
City Moves for 1 September 2016 | Who’s switching jobs September 1, 2016 Knight Frank Knight Frank residential development has appointed Tom Hawkins as partner in its new homes team. Tom joins the firm from Hamptons International, where he worked for 10 years and latterly ran the new homes sales team. Tom previously led the sales of Portobello Square, W10, Aberfeldy Village, E14, and Rathbone Market, E16 – the [...]
Crisis, what crisis? You can see Brexit everywhere but in the economic statistics August 31, 2016 The American Nobel Laureate economist, Robert Solow, famously said that “you can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics”. We might want to update that quote to, “you can see Brexit everywhere but in the statistics.” UK broad money supply M4ex rose by 6.9 per cent (year-on-year) in July, up from 6.0 [...]
Waitrose’s sales were boosted by the summer sun last week – but John Lewis stayed in the shade August 31, 2016 The warm weather boosted Waitrose's sales last week – but sister shop John Lewis failed to cash in on the summer sun. Excluding fuel, total sales at Waitrose were up 8.2 per cent on last year. The retailer said both the good weather and generous promotions were responsible for the sales lift – barbeque product [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open August 31, 2016 Global economic headwinds are increasing and Eurozone inflation data has proven a disappointment. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US market futures are more-or-less flat ahead of the open. The S&P is down by 0.02 per cent, the Nasdaq is flat, and the Dow is 0.04 per [...]