Santa rally in sight as FTSE jumps again – London Report December 18, 2014 THE FTSE 100 enjoyed one of its best days of 2014 yesterday, as the US Federal Reserve’s pledge for a “patient approach” to any interest rate increase lifted stock markets around the world. Financial services company Old Mutual and British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) were among the best performers on the blue-chip [...]
Putin: Effects of the rouble crisis will “last two years under the most unfavourable circumstances” December 18, 2014 Buoyed, presumably, by the triumph of being named Russia’s man of the year for the 15th year in a row just hours ago, this morning Vladimir Putin climbed on to the podium to give a press conference to 1,300-odd journalists in what has become known as his answer to a “state of the nation address”. [...]
General Motors pulls out of Russia amid rouble volatility December 18, 2014 General Motors is the latest business to have stopped selling its products in Russia amidst the rouble's erratic movements. A spokesman for the car business told City A.M that GM Russia had “decided to temporaraily suspend wholesaling of vehicles to dealers in Russia” as of Tuesday this week (December 16). This decision had [...]
MySale share price rallies as founder Carl Jackson eyes £3m share-buy December 17, 2014 MySale shares recovered some lost ground yesterday after one of the founders of the flash sales website pledged to buy £3m shares following a profit warning which wiped £150m off its market value. Chief executive Carl Jackson, who started the company with his brother James, said he was considering acquiring shares equivalent to around three [...]
Tuesday to be UK’s busiest shopping day December 17, 2014 THE UK high street will have its busiest shopping day of the year two days before Christmas, with Visa Europe predicting spending to peak at £1.3bn for the day. Spending is forecast to rise six per cent and transactions seven per cent from last year. Tuesday 23 December is predicted to see 34m transactions in [...]
Black Friday has eclipsed Boxing Day, says Dixons Carphone boss Sebastian James December 17, 2014 Dixons Carphone boss Sebastian James said Black Friday was the new Boxing Day, after feverish demand for cut-price televisions and gadgets turned the American-made sales event into its busiest shopping day ever. The group said at its peak on 28 November, the retailer had five times the web traffic of an average day and put [...]
Exclusive: Britain’s small businesses are being held back by “digital immaturity” December 17, 2014 Britain's small businesses are missing huge opportunities by failing to adapt adequately to the digital age, according to research published today. The UK's embrace of the American retail tradition of Black Friday has served to highlight how businesses are falling behind their customers. Mobile has become a key part of the consumer experience. On Black [...]
Rouble takes a beating as Apple halts sales in Russia December 16, 2014 Russia’s economic situation spiralled out of control yesterday as its central bank’s shock decision to raise interest rates to 17 per cent failed to prevent a further collapse in the rouble. The currency’s extreme volatility was reflected in a decision late last night by Apple – the world’s largest company – to suspend online sales [...]
Lastminute.com sold for £76m to Swiss travel firm December 16, 2014 TRAVEL site Lastminute.com, founded at the height of the dot.com boom in 1998, has been sold to Bravofly Rumbo Group in a £76m deal. The sale will see current owner, US-based Sabre, swallow a big loss, having bought the holiday site for £577m in 2005. Swiss company Bravofly made the winning bid yesterday, following a [...]
Tesco quarterly sales show sign of turn around following profit warning December 16, 2014 Tesco has enjoyed its best quarterly sales performance since June, according to the latest industry data, giving investors in the troubled supermarket chain some reason to cheer following last week’s profit warning. Sales fell by 2.7 per cent in the 12 weeks to 7 December, a slowdown on the 3.7 per cent decline recorded in [...]