Tesco to appeal to “aspirational” shoppers May 10, 2011 Tesco plans to create new brands to spruce up its product ranges and appeal to increasingly aspirational shoppers across the world, its new chief executive said. Phil Clarke, outlining his strategy for the supermarket group, also said Tesco would be online in all 15 of its markets this decade and, while it would continue to [...]
Commodities drag on FTSE but high street names rally May 4, 2011 COMMODITY stocks pulled Britain’s top share index lower yesterday, ending the FTSE 100’s recent rally as disappointing US manufacturing data spoiled investors’ appetite for risk. The FTSE 100 closed down 98.81 points, or 1.6 per cent, at 5,984.07, with the FTSE volatility index up 11.4 per cent, hitting a near five-week high. The FTSE 100 [...]
Earnings successes still marred by inflation May 2, 2011 THE past week has seen global equity markets, especially in the US, boosted by better than expected corporate earnings. Investors moved further back into equities, betting once again that sovereign debt, nuclear troubles in Japan and higher commodity prices won’t turn out to be sufficient headwinds to blow corporates off course. In Britain, the impact [...]
Danone benefits from price hikes April 14, 2011 FRENCH food group Danone stuck to its full-year goals yesterday despite rising commodity costs and tough economic conditions, after price hikes fuelled stronger-than-expected first-quarter sales. The world’s largest yoghurt maker with brands like Actimel and Activia said business picked up in all divisions, with water and baby food particularly strong and it benefited from its [...]
FTSE at two-week low as banks and Reckitt fall April 14, 2011 The FTSE returned to a downward path today to close at a two-week low after household goods giant Reckitt Benckiser broke the news that its chief executive had unexpectedly stepped down. The FTSE 100 lost 46.6 points or 0.8 per cent to close at 5,963.80 as banks and miners also suffered, with fears over Asian [...]
Unilever fined for EU price fix April 13, 2011 CONSUMER goods giants Unilever and Procter & Gamble were yesterday fined €315.2m (£281m) by EU regulators for fixing washing powder prices in eight EU countries. Germany’s Henkel, which alerted the European Commission to the cartel in laundry detergents, was not fined. The penalty for Unilever was €104m while P&G was fined €211.2m. As part of [...]
Unilever and P&G fined for price fixing April 13, 2011 Consumer goods giants Unilever and Procter & Gamble were fined 315.2 million euros (£281m) by EU regulators for fixing washing powder prices in eight EU countries. Germany’s Henkel, which alerted the European Commission to the cartel in laundry detergents, was not fined. The penalty for Unilever was 104m euros while P&G was fined 211.2m euros. [...]
Unilever likely to face fine for fixing wash powder price April 12, 2011 CONSUMER goods giant Unilever, which makes Persil, is expected to be fined today by competition watchdogs for fixing prices in the washing powder market. The Anglo-Dutch firm, together with Ariel maker Procter & Gamble, is understood to have struck a deal with the European Commission that will see it receive a reduced penalty in exchange [...]
Unilever washes hands of Sanex March 23, 2011 Unilever has sold its shower gel and deodorant business Sanex to US consumer goods group Colgate-Palmolive for €672m (£584m), the firm said. The sale is part of Unilever’s deal with the EU to sell the brand for anti-trust reasons.
WPP buys Vietnamese agency March 22, 2011 WPP yesterday announced the acquisition of Vietnamese digital agency Who Digital. The world’s biggest advertising agency plans to form a joint venture in the country with OgilvyOne, in which it will take a majority stake. Who Digital, which has assets of around £400,000, has clients including Unilever, Megastar, HSBC, Baoviet and Sony Ericsson. The acquisition [...]