Beware fake hoverboards: Counterfeit goods are no longer cheap imitations confined to the black market December 16, 2015 Only a few months ago, hoverboard hysteria swept the nation. Endorsements by celebrities from Lily Allen to Usain Bolt led to a massive rush of pre-orders and John Lewis swiftly ran out of stock. However, there is also a dark side to all of this excitement: the seizure of more than 15,000 hoverboards imported into [...]
SuperGroup shares jump 12 per cent as profits beat expectations December 16, 2015 Shares in fashion retailer SuperGroup, the maker of Superdry clothing, have soared by nearly nine per cent after unveiling a better-than-expected 54.4 per cent rise in profits. The group made an underlying pre-tax profit of £19.3m in the 26 weeks to 24 October, with revenue up 22.3 per cent to £254.7m. Excluding its ailing North [...]
Dixons Carphone hails bigger than ever Black Friday as profits beat forecasts December 16, 2015 Dixons Carphone shares climbed three per cent higher this morning after the high street electricals giant beat City expectations with a 23 per cent jump in first-half profits. The FTSE 100 company, which trades as Currys, PC World and Carphone Warehouse in the UK and Ireland, said strong performance in the UK helped it outperform the [...]
Christmas gifts 2015: Sales of BBQS, board games and prosecco gummy bears are on the up at John Lewis, but the halls will be decked in more muted colour themes December 16, 2015 One of our favourite tipples has proven popular in a more unusual format, with sales of prosecco flavoured gummy bears bouncing 106 per cent week-on-week at John Lewis, the retail giant said today. Meanwhile, post-Christmas lunch entertainment might be a low-tech affair, with sales of board games rolling in 183 per cent higher year-on-year. And December this year has [...]
Amazon warns hoverboard buyers to throw them away over safety fears December 16, 2015 Amazon has warned shoppers who have purchased hoverboards to throw them away, a day after it pulled them from sale over safety concerns. The devices, which are in fact self-balancing scooters, had been pegged as one of the most popular gifts to give this Christmas. However, many of the devices do not adhere to safety [...]
Supergroup and Serco: Best of the Brokers for 16 December 2015 December 16, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com SUPERGROUP Fashion retailer Supergroup saw shares plummet after a note from Liberum downgrading its rating from “buy” to “hold” with a target price of 1,500p. The broker cited concerns over competition and excess inventory for the company’s label Superdry, which had led to [...]
Americans bring Thanksgiving to UK retailers as spending soars December 16, 2015 Black Friday’s online bargain frenzy may have dampened sales on the high street. But international shoppers helped to keep tills ringing, with spending up by 10 per cent in the year to November. The biggest jump in spending came from US tourists, up 55 per cent, despite still accounting for just five per cent of [...]
We’ve reached peak Christmas jumper: How to predict 2016’s must-have fashion December 15, 2015 What would you buy Jeremy Corbyn for Christmas? Printable answers only, please. But somehow a Christmas jumper seems appropriate. First, it would match the 1980s-style shell suit he wore the other day. Second, he might like one featuring a portrait of Stalin and the slogan “Teacher, Leader, Friend”, a phrase in widespread use in the [...]
Walt Disney, Hasbro and Cineworld: These Star Wars stocks will benefit from the force December 15, 2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the seventh movie from George Lucas’s Star Wars franchise will hit cinema screens this week. It is almost 40 years since the original movie was released in 1977. The film is out in the UK on 17 December, then a day later in the US and in China in early [...]
Carpetright shares rally as half-year profits jump by a third December 15, 2015 Shares in Carpetright leapt this morning as the floorings and beds specialist revealed a 34 per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profits in the first half of the year. The retailer said efforts to win over my customers through its revamped website, stores and better product ranges were bearing fruit, with group revenue rising by 1.4 per cent to £231.2m, and [...]