Dubai’s Landmark Group dumps Trump home range from shops across Middle-East December 9, 2015 A Dubai-based retailer has dumped a range of Donald Trump's products from its shelves in shops across the Middle East after the Presidential hopeful said all Muslims should be banned from entering the US. "In light of the recent statements made by the presidential candidate in the US media, we have suspended sale of all products [...]
Property tech sector is battling inertia to shake up Britain’s housing industry December 8, 2015 The UK property technology sector has undeniably seen substantial growth over the past 18 months. In June last year, the property portal Zoopla listed for approximately £1bn. Since then we have seen the launch of a startup accelerator dedicated to early stage property businesses and a large amount of capital invested into young companies which [...]
Homewares and fashion retailer The White Company rockets ahead with an almost doubling of profits December 8, 2015 Furniture, clothing and homewares retailer The White Company yesterday reported an almost doubling of profits for the full year ended 28 March. Operating profits rose to £12.8m from £6.5m in the same period the previous year – an increase of 97 per cent. Total sales were up 13.8 per cent to £163.6m, from £143.8m previously. [...]
Your new must-have gadget is already in your attic – CNBC Comment December 8, 2015 It’s finally happened. As well as my ever-expanding waistline and retreating hairline, there’s been an important development in my life. In the last few weeks, a sizeable chunk of wall space in my living room has been taken up by a collection of 12-inch LPs, and a rather weighty hi-fidelity music system complete with a [...]
UK retail sales: Online Black Friday bonanza steals limelight away from the high street December 8, 2015 High street retailers lost out in November, with sales falling into the red, as online retailers enticing shoppers with Black Friday bargains stole the show. Like-for-like retail sales fell by 0.4 per cent last month compared with November last year, when they had increased 0.9 per cent from the preceding year, according to figures released [...]
Islamic State earns $80m a month from oil sales and taxes but funds may be weakening, IHS says December 7, 2015 The Islamic State collects around $80m a month from oil sales and tax on activities in areas under its control in Iraq and Syria, according new research released yesterday by IHS. The information and analytics firm said Isis relies on six main sources of revenue, with more than 50 per cent coming from tax on all [...]
Home Retail Group’s DIY chain Homebase eyed up by French suitor for takeover bid December 6, 2015 Takeover interest in Home Retail Group’s Homebase is heating up amid reports that a French rival is eyeing a bid for the DIY chain. Leroy Merlin, the French home-improvement and gardening retailer with stores in 13 countries, is said to have examined a bid for the group. It is unclear whether the Family-owned group is [...]
George Osborne admits the Treasury could hold Lloyds Banking Group shares until June 2016 December 4, 2015 The government has admitted it won't finish its trading plan to sell off Lloyds shares until June 2016 – after it originally said it will finish by the end of this month. In a statement this morning, chancellor George Osborne said the government will extend its trading plan until the end of June. Back in October [...]
Best of the Brokers for 4 December 2015 December 4, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com SKY Nomura has reaffirmed its “buy” investment rating on telecoms giant Sky and raised its price target to 1,400p, from 1,300p. Analysts said the structure of media in Europe is different from that in the US in vital ways, and that Sky can [...]
John Lewis hails record-breaking Black Friday week December 4, 2015 John Lewis has reported the best week of trading in its 151-year history, as frenzied demand for the latest wearable technology, toys and televisions over the Black Friday helped the retailer smash last year’s record. The department store group said it racked up £187.7m of sales in the week ending 28 November, which was up [...]