SSP share price rises as travel giant delivers jump in sales following IPO August 8, 2014 Food concessions giant SSP posted a 3.5 per cent rise in quarterly sales yesterday in its first set of results since floating last month. The group, which owns Upper Crust and also runs travel outlets for retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Starbucks, said like-for-like sales rose by 3.3 per cent in the three [...]
Co-op shelves plans for online grocery service August 8, 2014 THE CO-OPERATIVE Group has shelved plans to join its rivals and launch an online grocery service just months after unveiling a plan to turn around its embattled food business. The mutual began trialling click-and-collect service – where customers can pick up groceries ordered online – at a store in Stockport in November, but has now [...]
Commerzbank bounces back as economic recovery cuts bad loans August 8, 2014 PROFITS more than doubled at Commerzbank in the second quarter, the German lender said yesterday. The improving economic picture slashed its bad loan volumes, improving its earnings overall. And the bank accelerated the sale of its crisis-era toxic assets, again cutting its bad loan provisions. Profits came in at €100m (£79.3m) for the second quarter, [...]
UK buyers top EU rankings for online shopping August 8, 2014 The UK is the most active country in Europe for shopping online, with the sector becoming increasingly important to Britain’s retailers, according to official figures released yesterday. More than three quarters of UK residents said that they had bought items online in 2013. Britain was tied only with Denmark, with the joint-highest rates of internet [...]
Tesco’s credit rating downgraded by S&P amid profit fears August 8, 2014 Tesco suffered a fresh blow yesterday after Standard and Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the troubled supermarket’s credit rating over concerns of rising competition in its home market and its recent profit warning. S&P said it had cut its long-term rating on Tesco to “BBB” from “BBB+”, but reiterated its “A-2” short-term corporate credit rating on the [...]
Life not so sweet for Cadbury’s owner Mondelez as its growth target is slashed August 6, 2014 Cadbury’s owner Mondelez yesterday cut its 2014 sales target, after price hikes to cover commodity costs sparked a backlash by consumers and retailers in some European markets. The company said it was reducing its 2014 net organic revenue growth target to a range of two per cent to 2.5 per cent. In May, it forecast [...]
Woe woe for retail investors as watchdog says no-no to cocos August 5, 2014 BANKS will be banned from marketing contingent convertible (coco) bonds to retail investors, the City watchdog said yesterday. It deemed the bonds too complex for normal investors, limiting their sale to institutions and sophisticated buyers only. The bonds act as debt when banks are performing strongly, paying interest as a return to investors. But if a [...]
Retailers record fifth month of growth in a row August 5, 2014 HIGH street sales picked up again in July, with a 1.7 per cent boost in like-for-like spending, making for nearly half a year of rising retail spending. The figures, released by accountancy giant BDO today, are the fifth consecutive increase, driven upwards by homeware sales, which have risen by more than a tenth since the [...]
Co-operative Group sells off farming arm to Wellcome Trust for £249m August 4, 2014 The Co-operative Group continued offloading its non-core assets yesterday with the sale of nearly 16,000 hectares of British farmland, 15 farms and over 100 residential properties to health charity the Wellcome Trust for £249m. The sale comes just three weeks after The Co-op sold its 774-chain pharmacy business for £620m, as the group looks to [...]
Strong growth at Bonmarche July 31, 2014 WOMEN’S clothing retailer Bonmarche yesterday posted strong growth in the first quarter of its financial year, as the UK business continued to be driven by growth in its online business and market share. The retailer, which aims at the over-50s, said sales in the 13 weeks to 28 June grew by almost 16 per cent [...]