Sports Direct profit soars July 19, 2012 Sports Direct posted a strong rise in full year profit boosted by buoyant online sales, which helped it win market share from rivals. The sports retailer, controlled by billionaire Newcastle United soccer club owner Mike Ashley, on Thursday said its underlying pretax profit rose 17.3 per cent to £162.1m in the 53 weeks to 29 [...]
BEST of the BROKERS July 15, 2012 BOOKER Peel Hunt rates the wholesale retailer “buy” with a target price of 100p ahead of an interim management statement on Wednesday. The broker is expecting to see a two per cent rise in like-for-like sales, excluding tobacco, and sees an opportunity to buy into the shares if the figures end up disappointing the market. [...]
LONDON REPORT July 15, 2012 A SLEW of company results this week culminates with a busy Thursday, when retail giant Sports Direct, Halfords, Kingfisher and Mothercare are all set to update the market. Accountancy software maker Sage is set to give an interim management statement today, which will be followed with a Capital Market Day for investors tomorrow. Panmure Gordon [...]
JJB Sports fails to score as Euro 2012 sales drag July 9, 2012 SPORTSWEAR RETAILER JJB blamed poor summer weather and disappointing sales of football shirts during the European Championship for a profit warning yesterday, which sent shares tumbling more than 24 per cent. The company warned “sales have fallen materially short of expectations”, after consumer demand for replica football kit during Euro 2012 “did not materialise to [...]
Consumers cool on buying replica kit July 9, 2012 YOU can buy plenty of all-weather gear from the JJB Sports website, but that didn’t help the retailer’s performance in May and June, which yesterday it partly put down to the dismal summer weather. With its shares falling off a cliff on the news, down almost 25 per cent over the day, markets clearly aren’t [...]
All the West End wonders July 5, 2012 CHARIOTS OF FIRE Celebrate one of this country’s greatest ever sporting achievements this summer as Chariots of Fire, a new play, lights up the West End at the Gielgud Theatre. Adapted from the Oscar-winning movie, and featuring the original Vangelis score, this is a moving tale of rivalry, and determination in the face of prejudice [...]
Becklash: Stars and fans hit out at Olympic snub June 28, 2012 TEAM GB football manager Stuart Pearce was facing a backlash last night after controversially omitting former England captain David Beckham from his final squad for London 2012. Ex-players Gary Lineker and Robby Savage criticised the decision, while some fans vowed to boycott Team GB matches, having bought tickets in the hope of seeing Beckham’s international [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 26, 2012 Mayer Brown Andrew Block has been appointed as a partner in the pensions group of the law firm. He was previously a partner at Travers Smith, and started his legal career at Linklaters. Block acts in occupational pension scheme matters. He will be based in Mayer Brown’s London office. Manches The law firm has announced [...]
Sports Direct hires Oriel June 19, 2012 Sports Direct International has hired Oriel Securities as its joint corporate broker. The FTSE 250-listed British sports retailer said yesterday that Oriel will now work alongside Bank of America Merrill Lynch with immediate effect.
Lexus makes automotive alchemy June 19, 2012 Believe it or not, this is the fourth generation Lexus GS model, a car that has been in production since 1993, quietly going about the business of offering buyers a unique alternative to the more familiar premium saloons like the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series and Jaguar XF. Unique? Really? Well Lexus does things a [...]