Dixons Carphone reports “good start” but mobile sales drop September 9, 2014 Dixons Carphone will breeze into the FTSE 100 on 22 September, the newly formed company announced today. The £3.6bn merger of Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse was completed on 7 August, and the company says it has made a "good start" in the period since. Dixons Retail recorded a four per cent increase in like-for-like [...]
Biggest bank IPO of the year, as RBS values US bank Citizens at up to $14bn September 8, 2014 RBS hopes to raise $3.5bn (£2.2bn) by selling the first chunk of its US retail bank Citizens, the bailed-out bank announced yesterday. It will be the biggest banking sale of the year, and reflects the renewed confidence markets have in newly-floated stocks. RBS is selling Citizens as part of its wider plan to cut back foreign [...]
Associated British Foods nears deal for first Primark warehouse in the US September 8, 2014 ASSOCIATED British Foods said yesterday its clothing giant Primark was close to striking a deal for a warehouse in the US to support its first foray in the country. Primark is set to open a 70,000 square foot store in Boston in 2015, and it is also in talks to open a further nine shops [...]
Retailers cheer as sales recover September 8, 2014 RETAIL sales picked up again in August, with the high street enjoying its strongest growth since January this year. Like-for-like sales rose by 1.3 per cent in August compared with same time last year and a 0.3 per cent dip in July, according to the latest data from KPMG and the British Retail Consortium (BRC). [...]
Amazon’s Fire launches in the UK September 8, 2014 AMAZON’S Fire smartphone, the online retailer’s first foray into the crowded smartphone market, will go on sale in the UK on 30 September following its US launch in June. Amazon yesterday announced it has partnered exclusively with O2 to launch the phone which will be free on a £33 a month contract. The Fire features [...]
Virgin on ridiculous: Four businesses showing how Richard Branson likes to “fail fast” September 8, 2014 It was only a year ago that Richard Branson was prancing around in a red kilt during the opening of Little Red, his domestic airline for the UK, which was designed to provide competition after British Airways owner International Airline Group acquired BMI. Since its launch, though, Little Red has been dogged by rumours [...]
Amazon Fire smartphone now available in Europe with O2 tie-up in the UK September 8, 2014 Amazon Fire phone, the internet retailer’s first smartphone, will go on sale in the UK on 30 September after launching in the US in June. Amazon has partnered with O2 to offer the phone exclusively on the network. It will also launch in Germany exclusively on Deutsche Telekom network. The handset is available to pre-order from [...]
Even Primark sales aren’t sweet enough to save Associated British Foods from a 4pc share price slump September 8, 2014 Associated British Foods (ABF) went on the offensive in a trading update this morning, saying it expects strong Primark sales to contribute to an increase in adjusted earnings per share for the year ending September 13 – but that wasn't enough to stop shares falling 4.4 per cent in early trading as investors worried about [...]
Phones 4U eyes sale after conscious uncoupling with Vodafone September 7, 2014 All options are being considered at struggling high street mobile retailer Phones 4U after the firm was dropped by its key partner Vodafone in favour of a deeper contract with rival retailer Carphone Warehouse. During a call with the firm’s investors last Monday chief executive David Kassler said deep cost-cutting or a sale or merger [...]
Fashion chain Hobbs winds up sister label NW3 after £1.9m loss September 7, 2014 Hobbs’ trendy NW3 fashion line is to disappear by the end of the year as part of chairman Phil Wrigley’s turnaround plan for the loss-making group. The former New Look boss, who joined Hobbs in January, is leading a restructuring of the retailer after it suffered a £1.9m loss last year and saw sales slump [...]