Ocado sales growth accelerates May 23, 2012 Online British supermarket Ocado posted an acceleration in sales growth in its second quarter, raising hopes it has got to grips with bottlenecks at its distribution centre that led to a string of profit downgrades last year. Shares in Ocado, whose range includes products supplied by upmarket grocer Waitrose jumped 6.8 per cent on Wednesday [...]
CITY VIEWS | HAS MARKS & SPENCER LOST ITS SPARK? May 22, 2012 PORTOLEIO MATTHEW CHARTIS I don’t think so. Its retail services are very good so this is just due to reduced profitability in the economy. If you compare it with Sainsbury or Tesco it is a much higher value brand and its bakery is exceptional. NATASHA RUSKINA IG GROUP No. I think this dip is just [...]
Waitrose and budget grocers outpace rivals May 22, 2012 TESCO AND MORRISONS’ market shares are still under pressure from fierce competition, retail data showed yesterday, as upmarket and discount retailers outpaced the middle market. Kantar Worldpanel figures for the 12 weeks to 13 May 2012 revealed that Aldi grew sales by more than 25 per cent compared with the same period last year, achieving [...]
Tesco’s Philip Clarke waives annual bonus May 22, 2012 PHILIP CLARKE, Tesco’s chief executive, said he would forgo his £372,000 annual bonus after the retailer’s weak UK performance last year prompted its first profit warning in 20 years. “I decided at the beginning of the year that I would decline my annual bonus for 2012,” Clarke said in a statement yesterday. “I wasn’t satisfied [...]
Miners push up FTSE 100 May 22, 2012 Britain’s leading share index jumped yesterday, driven by gains in mining stocks as the demand picture for metals was brightened by hopes of fresh moves by China to boost its economy. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was up 98.80 points – or 1.9 per cent – at 5,403.28 points, adding strongly to Monday’s 0.7 per cent [...]
Tesco chief turns down £372,000 bonus May 22, 2012 Tesco boss Philip Clarke has opted not to take an annual bonus of about £372,000 following a poor performance by the world’s third-biggest retailer in its main British market. Shares in Tesco, which issued a shock profit warning in January, have lost almost a quarter of their value this year and the company is now [...]
Mitie seeks out overseas deals as sales jump May 21, 2012 OUTSOURCER Mitie yesterday said it was eyeing international growth as it reported record revenues. The FTSE-250 company, which has dozens of UK government contracts, has a brimming order book with services including security and maintenance growing. Its pre-tax profits jumped 5.9 per cent to £94.5m for the year to the end of March. Mitie’s order [...]
Bank rally helps steady FTSE May 21, 2012 The FTSE 100 was solid this morning despite the storm clouds – created by the Eurozone crisis – still hanging over markets. Over the weekend G8 leaders stressed their “imperative” was to promote growth and jobs and gave verbal backing for Greece to stay in the euro. But despite calls from the United States for [...]
Mitie profit rises as order book swells May 21, 2012 British outsourcing firm Mitie posted an 8.9 per cent rise in full year profit and said it was upbeat about growth prospects in the coming year as governments and businesses seek to cut costs and secure energy supply. Mitie, which provides catering, cleaning and maintenance services for clients like Vodafone, Tesco, and the British government, [...]
Asda market share up as it lures shoppers with price guarantee May 17, 2012 ASDA, the British arm of supermarket giant Walmart, said it continued to gain market share in the first quarter of the year as its focus on low prices and a revamping of own-brand ranges helped drive sales growth. The UK’s second-biggest supermarket chain behind Tesco, said like-for-like sales excluding fuel and VAT accelerated in the [...]