Eurozone service sector’s slowdown puts pressure on ECB to undertake quantitative easing September 3, 2014 The Eurozone’s services firms flagged a further slowdown in the troubled currency bloc’s growth yesterday, with surveys indicating that the region is growing at the slowest pace this year so far, putting pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB). The Eurozone’s composite purchasing managers’ index, collated by Markit, dropped to just 52.5 – the lowest [...]
Mike Ashley retains House of Fraser stake as Nanjing Xinjiekou sale goes through September 2, 2014 The sale of department store House of Fraser to Chinese conglomerate Nanjing Xinjiekou has gone through today – with Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley retaining his 11 per cent stake. The deal values the business at around £480m – probably more than it would have valued at, had chairman Don McCarthy gone through with [...]
Dave Lewis in plea to staff: Tell me how to fix Tesco September 1, 2014 New Tesco boss Dave Lewis parachuted into the supermarket giant yesterday by urging his half a million staff to email suggestions to help fix the troubled retailer. Marking his first day in charge, Lewis – who stepped up to take the reins from departing boss Phil Clarke a month earlier than planned – penned a [...]
Phones 4u loses key Vodafone contract in 2015 September 1, 2014 High street mobile retailer Phones 4u saw the value of its debt, listed on the Irish stock exchange, plummet over 50 percentage points yesterday after Vodafone announced it would not renew its contract with the group. Vodafone, which accounted for 27 per cent of Phones 4u’s contract sales and 16 per cent of its pay [...]
Barclays to make a £500m loss on its Spanish arm as it agrees sale to CaixaBank September 1, 2014 Barclays has agreed to sell its Spanish business to CaixaBank, Spain's third-largest lender, for €800m (£630m). The bank will make a £500m loss on the deal to sell its Spanish retail banking, wealth and investment management, and corporate banking businesses, but leverage exposure will be trimmed to the tune of £15bn. Shares in Barclays were [...]
EngageSciences CEO Richard Jones on the science of social media marketing August 31, 2014 Between 2011 and the end of 2013, social media ad spend in the UK rose from £265m to £585m, according to PwC and the IAB. Last year alone, it increased by 71 per cent. Amid the boom, however, marketers have voiced concerns that increased spending has not been accompanied by a commensurate rise in effectiveness. [...]
Alibaba to set IPO wheels in motion as soon as 8 September August 30, 2014 Alibaba's initial public offering to investors could be just over a week away, with the Chinese ecommerce giant expected to launch its IPO as early as the week of 8 September. In what many are predicting will be the largest IPO in history, Alibaba could raise over $20bn (£120bn) when it lists on the New York [...]
Japan’s economy stalls in July as spending falls August 29, 2014 Have Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "three arrows" have missed their target? Japan's economy stagnated in July, as household spending dropped and wages fell. According to official data released this morning, inflation remained unchanged compared to June, while the consumer price index rose by 3.3 per cent. The increase was largely the result [...]
Confident consumers to drive growth into autumn August 28, 2014 Confidence in the UK economy climbed again this month, with one major index hitting the highest level in nearly a decade, a positive signal for growth in the rest of 2014. GfK’s consumer confidence index rose back into positive territory this month, rising to one – the survey has only risen into positive territory once [...]
Ocado share price slumps as City analyst slashes forecast August 28, 2014 Shares in Ocado tumbled 19 per cent yesterday after equities broker Redburn Partners took a knife to its forecasts and claimed the online grocer’s technology was less valuable than previously thought. Redburn’s retail analyst James Tracey downgraded the company from “buy” to “sell” and cut its 2015 earnings forecast by 57 per cent to £17.1m [...]