Dave Lewis admits long road ahead for Tesco recovery April 22, 2015 Tesco boss Dave Lewis admitted yesterday that he faced a larger task than expected turning around the struggling supermarket giant, as it reported the worst results in its 96-year history. Lewis – known as “Drastic Dave” for his radical overhaul of businesses at Unilever and now at Tesco – acknowledged that the task of turning [...]
Tesco set to report record loss. Is new boss Dave Lewis the man to lead a turnaround? April 20, 2015 Dave Lewis arrived at Tesco with the nickname “Drastic Dave” – earned after he streamlined Unilever UK in 2007, cutting 40 per cent of costs and 300 jobs. When he took up the role of Tesco chief executive in September he had every reason to live up to that moniker. Facing a £263m accounting error, [...]
Best of the Brokers for 20 April 2015 April 19, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com JUPITER Analysts at Shore Capital have concerns over Jupiter’s ability to resist ongoing fee deflation, adding that its high exposure to the UK retail market sector leaves it vulnerable to a highly competitive online market. The firm has a “sell” recommendation on the [...]
FTSE off its record high as Pearson’s shares are knocked – London Report April 16, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index slipped off record highs on Thursday, with media group Pearson underperforming after a newspaper report of a glitch in a lucrative contract. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index initially rose to an all-time high of 7,119.35 points but then edged back and closed down 0.5 per cent at 7,060.45 points. Pearson fell [...]
Weak euro helps Unilever deliver better-than-expected sales growth April 16, 2015 The figures The slowdown in emerging markets hasn't stopped Unilever from recording a 12.3 per cent increase in turnover to €12.8bn (£9.22bn) in the first quarter of 2015. Even when your economy isn't growing as rapidly as it once did – looking good still remains a priority. Shares rose by over three per cent in [...]
Retail sales helped by early Easter and likely to continue – London Report April 12, 2015 RETAIL sales data from the British Retail Consortium due out this week is expected to show decent sales growth due to the fact that Easter occurred at the very beginning of April this year. The report will also show that UK consumers are highly unlikely to hold back on making purchases due to the possibility [...]
TNT Express share price rises on FedEx’s €4.4bn bid April 7, 2015 Shares in Dutch firm TNT Express leapt by a third yesterday after FedEx announced a €4.4bn (£3.2bn) all-cash offer to acquire the beleaguered delivery giant. TNT has struggled since European regulators prevented it from merging with UPS in 2013, with its market share declining by five per cent leading to a €137m loss in the [...]
Why hiring chief executives externally is better for struggling businesses April 2, 2015 It's an age-old argument: when a leader steps down, do you promote from within or bring in fresh blood? Each brings their own benefits – one has a fresh view on business and new ways of working, while the other already has a deep understanding of a company's strengths and weaknesses. Now we might have [...]
Philip Clarke just left Tesco – again March 25, 2015 Eh up. Anyone got a sense of deja vu? Tesco has announced chief executive Philip Clarke had decided to step down, retiring after 40 years in the job. The revelation left supermarket-watchers confused – surely Clarke has already departed, to be replaced by former Unilever man "call me Dave" Lewis? Clarke left the supermarket under a [...]
Women are on board in the FTSE 100, but job is not finished March 24, 2015 The number of women on FTSE 100 firms’ boards has almost doubled over the past four years, a government report released today will show. However, there is still scepticism over whether firms are boosting their numbers by bringing in female non-executive members, instead of promoting women into executive roles through their internal structures. The report, [...]