Asda exec King in shock exit June 20, 2011 Chief operating officer at supermarket giant Asda, Simon King, has quit after only six months. King joined Asda on 10 January this year, moving from Saudi Arabia where he was chief executive of supermarket operator Panda Retail, a subsidiary of The Savola Group. Prior to that he was chief executive of Tesco Kipa in Turkey, [...]
SIR TERRY LEAHY BUYS BRITISH AGAIN June 19, 2011 FORMER Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy has backed a small British technology start up. Sir Terry, who ploughed £2m of his personal wealth into software start up MetaPack last week, has now led a £1.5m cash raising for mobile coupon firm Eagle Eye Solutions. He and two top-ranked City retail analysts, Bill Currie and Iain [...]
High street gloom twice as bad as expected… June 16, 2011 THE plight of the UK consumer returned to the fore yesterday as new official data showed retail sales slumped more than twice as much as anticipated in May. Retail spending dropped off sharply with the end of April’s sunny weather and public holidays, leaving sales down 1.4 per cent in May, or 1.6 per cent [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 16, 2011 BARCLAYS Deutsche Bank rates the bank “buy” with a target price of 386p. The broker notes that Barclays was keen to stress its flexibility in the face of regulatory shifts at a recent investor day, forecasting a 15 per cent return on equity for BarCap in 2013 even if revenues are subdued by rule changes. [...]
FTSE tumbles as Greek crisis prompts flight from equities June 16, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares fell sharply yesterday as fears over the global recovery and a contagion impact from the Greek debt crisis prompted investors to sell out of riskier assets such as commodity stocks. The FTSE 100 ended down 43.74 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 5,698.81, back at levels last seen after the Japanese earthquake, [...]
UK retail sales fall more than expected June 16, 2011 UK retail sales fell more than twice as expected in May, new data has shown, deepening concerns over the health of the high street. Sales fell 1.4 per cent in May compared with April, against economists’ expectations for an 0.6 per cent increase. The fall reversed April’s 1.1 per cent rise as rising job insecurity, [...]
Sainsbury’s sales rise but fuel costs bite June 15, 2011 UK SHOPPERS are spending £10 per week less on food now than two years ago because of the cost of petrol, Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King (pictured) warned yesterday, as the supermarket said sales rose 0.9 per cent in the past quarter. Sales excluding petrol but including VAT rose 1.9 per cent, while sales ex-VAT [...]
Weak banks help drive FTSE to three-month closing low June 15, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares ended lower yesterday, weighed down by banks on worries over the UK government’s drive for tougher regulation and Europe’s debt crisis, while commodity stocks also pressured the index. The FTSE 100 closed down 60.58 points, or 1.0 per cent, at 5,742.55, its lowest finish since March 18. Banks fell ahead of chancellor [...]
Sainsbury’s sales up as shoppers buy bargains June 15, 2011 Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has seen like-for-like sales grow 1.9 per cent in the past three months, excluding sales of fuel but including VAT, confirming the subdued consumer spending trend. It warned that customers were turning to its own-brand products to try to spend less on food and had focused on products included in meal deals. [...]
Tesco blames fuel price for UK sales dip June 14, 2011 TESCO stoked fears over the financial pressures on British consumers yesterday by posting sales growth in all international regions except the UK. The UK’s biggest supermarket blamed high petrol prices for eating into household incomes and causing an 0.1 per cent fall in UK sales excluding petrol and VAT in the past three months. It [...]