Tesco and Sainsbury’s boost UK market share January 9, 2011 THREE of the UK’s big four supermarket chains are reporting Christmas figures this week, with analysts expecting Tesco and J Sainsbury to have boosted their market share. Research company Kantar suggests that Sainsbury’s advanced its share of the British grocery market by 0.3 per cent to 16.4 per cent while Tesco saw a lift of [...]
Analyst views: What is the outlook for retailers’ figures this week? January 9, 2011 NICK BUBB | ARDEN “The resilience of trading at the premium end of the High Street, as evidenced by John Lewis, is still striking. Investors can’t buy shares in John Lewis, but they can buy shares in M&S, which is the best proxy for the strength of middle-class spending on food and clothing.” KEITH BOWMAN [...]
Online sales boost for House of Fraser January 9, 2011 UK department store House of Fraser saw same store sales jump 8.5 per cent in the five weeks to 8 January, reinforcing the success of multi-brand retailers over the Christmas period. It follows similar results last week from the John Lewis Partnership, which saw sales up 8.9 per cent compared to last year. But House [...]
Tesco names incoming UK team January 6, 2011 RETAIL giant Tesco yesterday named the eight-man team to lead its UK operation from March, reporting to new UK chief executive, Richard Brasher. Noel Robbins becomes chief operating officer, alongside new commercial directors Per Bank, and Laura Wade-Gery. Kevin Grace becomes property director; David North will become corporate affairs director and Judith Nelson personnel director. [...]
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 [...]