Asda vows to cost 10pc less January 6, 2011 ASDA has guaranteed to sell 15,000 grocery products at least 10 per cent cheaper than all of its big rivals. The UK’s second largest chain behind Tesco is promising voucher refunds if customers are charged more. Asda chief executive Andy Clarke said: “The Asda Price Guarantee cuts through all the phoney claims and headline numbers, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 6, 2011 TRAVIS PERKINS RBS rates the building materials firm “buy” with a raised target price of £12.95. The broker sees the firm’s purchase of BSS Group last month as an attractive earnings driver over the next two years until the underlying market recovery takes over in 2013. It adds that the acquisition gives the company significant [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 4, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BOND SURGE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC AS COMPANIES VIE FOR FUNDS Companies have embarked on an early-year rush to issue debt in an effort to beat rivals and secure financing before any rise in borrowing costs.The surge in bond issuance on both sides of the Atlantic on Tuesday came as equity [...]
Prices to go up after VAT rise squeeze January 4, 2011 RETAILERS may be promising to bear the brunt of the VAT rise but consumers will be hit by higher prices over time, experts said yesterday. Large retailers such as Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Sainsburys have rushed to promise consumers they will not bear the burden of the tax rise from 17.5 to 20 per [...]
Solicitors have to become businesslike January 4, 2011 CROWE CLARK WHITEHILL There is a sense of pessimism about the future of the legal profession. The downturn has hit the law hard, with many City firms making redundancies, and it has triggered much debate about the future of such fundamental things as the partnership model and the fees structure. Add the fact that the [...]
Tesco unveils cash for gold plans January 3, 2011 Supermarket giant Tesco has launched a service allowing customers to swap unwanted gold jewellery for cash. The retailer had trialled the scheme online and in about 15 stores from November. Shoppers are now able to post unwanted gold jewellery to designated stores. Tesco pledges on its website to pay £7.81 per gram of nine carat [...]
Amazon plans LoveFilm buy for £200m January 3, 2011 AMAZON is planning a buy-out of the online DVD rental company LoveFilm, which would value the firm at £200m. The online retail giant already owns 42 per cent of LoveFilm after a deal in 2008 when it sold its DVD rental arm to the company. The cost of a buyout would therefore be around £116m. [...]
Retailers hit back over BBC claims December 22, 2010 THE British Retail Consortium (BRC) has branded a withering attack on supermarket expansion broadcast on the BBC’s Panorama last night as “misleading”. Programme makers indicate that the UK’s major grocers are growing more quickly than ever, suggesting that one of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons effectively gets planning permission for a new store “every working [...]
Utility firms lift FTSE 100 as cold snap drives power sales December 20, 2010 UTILITY stocks helped push Britain’s top shares higher yesterday, as the UK’s near-Arctic conditions boosted demand for energy, but British Airways toiled as the big freeze disrupted airline services. The FTSE 100 closed up 19.86 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,891.61. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 closed up 6.33 points at 11,433.11. It touched a [...]
Tesco faces a battle for Czech shop chain December 15, 2010 TESCO is lining up against Europe’s largest retailer Carrefour in the race to buy the Zabka retail chain. The pair are among four bidders pursing Zabka, which has 2,300 stores in the Czech Republic and Poland. “There are four bidders left, two strategic (investors) and two financial (investors),” a source close to the transaction said. [...]