Shoppers rein in spending after splashing out in run up to Xmas January 23, 2014 SHOPPERS reined in their spending in the early weeks of January, a survey has suggested. Slightly more retailers said that they had experienced poor sales than good sales during the first two weeks of 2014, according to the CBI’s distributive trades survey. However, just 14 per cent more firms reported an expansion than a contraction [...]
FBI warns US retailers over cyber crime January 23, 2014 THE FBI has warned US retailers to prepare for more cyber attacks after discovering about 20 hacking cases in the past year that involved the same kind of malicious software used against Target in the holiday shopping season. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation distributed a confidential three-page report to retail companies last week describing [...]
Record sales lift Poundland float prospects January 23, 2014 POUNDLAND has boasted record sales over the key Christmas trading period, further paving the way for a potential initial public offering (IPO), expected to take place within the coming months. The bargain chain, which plans to double its UK presence over the next decade, said new shop openings helped sales rise more than 12.4 per [...]
Best of the Brokers for 24 January 2014 January 23, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com WH SMITH UBS keeps its neutral rating and nudged its target price 50p higher to 1,050p following the retailer’s Christmas trading update. The broker is cheered by WH Smith’s first like-for-like rise in travel sales since 2009 and thinks rising air traffic could boost [...]
Margins grow despite dip in WH Smith sales January 22, 2014 WH SMITH hailed a pick-up in trading across its travel outlets over Christmas and said it was confident of making further progress this year, despite a continued decline in likefor-like sales. In what has become a long-running theme, the retailer said like-for-like sales fell four per cent in the 20 weeks to 18 January but [...]
Bottom Line: No change is no cause for concern – for now January 22, 2014 FOR ALMOST the entire decade that Kate Swann ran WH Smith, Christmas sales at the stationery retailer fell. Yet over the same period, its share price has tripled – climbing from 2004 levels of around £3.50 to a close of £10.43 yesterday. Its most recent update proved that investors – who’ve long cheered its ability [...]
Quercus puts itself up for sale as losses mount January 22, 2014 QUERCUS, the independent publisher behind Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, yesterday unexpectedly announced that it is up for sale. In a surprise stock market announcement, the Baker Street-based firm said that it had appointed mergers and acquisitions specialists Livingstone Partners to advise on the sale process. The firm said it believed it was “in the [...]
Why Sainsbury’s is SocGen’s favourite supermarket January 22, 2014 When it came to supermarkets’ Christmas performance in the UK, the discounters claimed the victory. Aldi and Lidl saw sales leap, both increasing their market shares. It was good news for high-end store Waitrose, too, which also saw a bumper festive period. It’s the Big Four – or, at least, three of them (Tesco, Asda [...]
WH Smith misses out on Christmas cheer January 22, 2014 Stationery and book store WH Smith suffered a sad Christmas, with both overall and like-for-like sales sliding four per cent in the 20 weeks to 18 January. In line with what the company expected, its high street shops were the biggest drag on its performance, with total sales down seven per cent and like-for-likes down [...]
Woodford adds to sales line up at new venture January 21, 2014 NEIL Woodford, the UK’s most powerful fund manager, has poached his former salesman to come and work with him in a new role at Oakley Capital Management. The fund star, who leaves his current role at fund house Invesco Perpetual at the end of April, has recruited former Invesco head of equity products Nick Hamilton [...]