Sugar sales and weak pound sweeten revenues at Associated British Foods July 7, 2016 Revenue growth at Associated British Foods (ABF) has been sweetened by the retail giant's sugar business and a weakened pound has created favourable trading conditions across the board. The figures Group revenue at the Twinings Tea, Ovaltine and Primark owner was up one per cent year-on-year in the 40 weeks to June 18, the company said [...]
M&S is “starting to look terminal” – analysts react to the British brand’s results July 7, 2016 M&S reported a "painfully weak" set of results this morning, according to analysts – so what is the future of the British brand that can't seem to get customers beyond the sandwich section? Is Rowe the right fit? Analysts on M&S' clothing struggles James McGregor, partner at consultancy Retail Remedy, said M&S need to stop blaming [...]
Sports Direct share price jumps as it calls its financial year “disappointing” as pre-tax profit plummets July 7, 2016 Sports Direct delivered, in its own words, a disappointing year, pushing its sales up by just 0.6 per cent Its share price jumped over 11 per cent in early morning trade on the results, which were actually better than many expected. The figures Sports Direct posted group revenue of £2.9bn for the year ended 24 [...]
Marks & Spencer reports 1.1 per cent dip in UK revenue, driven by 8.3 per cent decline in clothing and home sales July 7, 2016 Marks & Spencer has reported a 1.1 per cent reduction in UK sales for the first quarter of its financial year, as the retailer continues to try and turn around its struggling clothing & home division – but guidance for its full year results remains the same. A four per cent increase in UK food sales [...]
Amazon is going on a pre-Christmas hiring spree as it gears up for another bumper festive period July 6, 2016 Amazon, the US online retailer that has been ruffling feathers with its aggressive expansion plans, is upping its UK staff head count by a further 1,000 this year. It today announced plans to add 1,000 permanent jobs across the UK, on top of 2,500 permanent roles previously announced in January. The latest increase means it will [...]
Columbia Threadneedle’s property funds become the latest to suspend trading July 6, 2016 Columbia Threadneedle has become the latest firm to suspend trading on property funds. Both the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Investment Fund (Threadneedle PAIF) and the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Trust suspended at 12pm on Wednesday. It follows Aviva, M&G, Henderson, Standard Life and Canada Life in suspending trading on UK property funds. Read more: Fourth property fund suspension announced [...]
Walgreens Boots Alliance posts a 15 per cent slide in net earnings, sending its share price lower despite beating expectations July 6, 2016 Walgreens Boots Alliance, the company that has controlled UK high street pharmacy chain Boots since 2014, has reported analyst estimate beating results but has failed to stop a share sell off. Shares were down by over three per cent in New York following the results announcement. For the third quarter the company reported earnings per share [...]
UBS says Burberry could get a Brexit boost due to the fall in sterling July 6, 2016 Burberry may have been struggling with weak sales recently, but UBS reckons the luxury retailer could be set to benefit from the sharp fall in sterling following the Brexit vote. UBS upgraded Burberry's target price to 1,700p from a previous 1,550p and re-stated its "Buy" rating for the luxury brand, saying the "weak pound more than offsets [...]
Supermarket sell-off: grocers’ share prices fall as HSBC analysts predict Asda will cut prices July 6, 2016 The big grocers' share prices fell today after analysts said Asda may cut its prices, trimming the industry's profits and intensifying the supermarket price war. HSBC analyst David McCarthy said: "We believe there are signs that Asda may be about to fundamentally reposition on price, bringing down sector profits. Read more: Traders betting against troubled supermarkets "Asda has been [...]
Aviva and M&G become the latest property funds to suspend trading as investors flee the Brexit-battered industry July 5, 2016 Two more property funds have suspended trading today as investors pull their money out of UK commercial property. M&G announced this afternoon that it was temporarily suspending trading in the shares of the M&G Property Portfolio. And earlier today Aviva suspended trading in its property fund, just after the Bank of England said this morning that it was [...]