Chinese consumers are changing their habits rapidly as luxury has suffered a slow death and online takes off April 24, 2016 Beijing is awash with restaurants, but locals Cherry and Andy Ho haven’t bothered going out to eat for months. The proliferation of Groupon-style coupons and deals means it’s easier to have food delivered. It’s half the cost, with no delivery charge – great for consumers, but not so good for some traditional businesses. Indeed, this was among [...]
Charles Tyrwhitt founder Nick Wheeler receives £16m payout April 24, 2016 Nick Wheeler, founder of luxury shirtmaker Charles Tyrwhitt, has received a £16m payout after his company reported stellar profits. The firm’s latest results show that in the year ending 1 August 2015, Charles Tyrwhitt’s sales were up from £145m to £173m and profits rose from £17.5m to £18.6m. In his notes to the accounts, Wheeler said [...]
Deadline set for Austin Reed to find a buyer April 24, 2016 The owner of cash-strapped retailer Austin Reed is in a race against time to find a new owner after it filed a notice to appoint administrators last Friday. The filing of the notice gives the retailer 10 days of breathing space by placing a moratorium on claims by creditors. During this time it is understood that [...]
More proof business had a terrible start to 2016 as profit warnings remain “remarkably high”, EY research finds April 24, 2016 The year did not get off to a great start and now their's more proof that for business 2016 is hardly a vintage year. Global economic worries and weak oil prices are among the reasons why the number of profit warnings issued by the UK's listed companies remains "remarkably high" according to the latest research from [...]
Disposing of Royal Bank of Scotland: It’s the only way the chancellor can cut borrowing April 22, 2016 Whilst George Osborne was sipping some Chateau Lynch Bages 2000 as HM Government was entertaining President Obama, he surely must have been ruminating as to how he can get the UK'S borrowing requirement down from the unacceptable level of 83.5 per cent of GDP. He has tried desperately hard in recent years to achieve this goal, [...]
General Motors doubles profit in the first quarter, turbo charged by cheap petrol and easy access to credit April 21, 2016 General Motors (GM) has reported profit more than doubled to $2bn (£1.4bn), or $1.24 a share, in the first quarter of 2016. Revenue for the first three months of the year climbed by 4.5 per cent to $37.3bn. The bottom line figures easily beat out analyst estimates of $1.01 per share on revenue of $35.4bn. Cheap petrol and consumers' [...]
Retail prices drop for 21st consecutive month, but we’re still cutting back, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) April 21, 2016 Poor retail figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning have compounded fears of a slowdown in the UK economy during the first quarter of the year. Sales dropped by 1.3 per cent in March, a much steeper fall than the 0.1 per cent which had been pencilled in by analysts. Prices in [...]
Lloyds Banking Group reveals hundreds more job cuts in “dangerous race to bottom” April 21, 2016 Lloyds Banking Group is making a further 625 people redundant as part of a restructure that will result in a 10 per cent reduction in headcount. Around 80 of the jobs being cut will come from the IT department, which the bank is planning to offshore to India in what union Unite has dubbed "a dangerous race to the [...]
At the open: FTSE 100 clinging on, as markets look ahead to European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate and quantitative easing decision April 21, 2016 The FTSE 100 popped, dropped then levelled off this morning, to stand down 0.06 per cent at 6,406 in the first minutes of Thursday trading. Miners started on the up after Brent Crude smashed through the $45 a barrel mark last night and held on this morning to clock in for the day at $45.84 [...]
What to expect from TSB’s latest results tomorrow morning, one year on from Sabadell’s takeover April 20, 2016 TSB, the challenger bank snapped up last year by Spain's Banco Sabadell for £1.7bn after being carved out of Lloyds Banking Group in 2014, will report its first quarter results tomorrow morning. Earlier this year TSB boasted that more than 1,000 new customers were joining it each day, and that it was beating its own target for customers switching [...]