Next share price slides as it warns balmy September weather “might hit profit forecast” September 30, 2014 Next shares opened four per cent lower as the retailer warned it could be forced to lower profit guidance if the "unusually warm" September weather continues. In a trading statement posted this morning, the retailer said despite "several very strong weeks" during August's dip in temperatures, September's warmer weather "had the reverse effect". It now [...]
David Cameron refuses to be drawn on timeline for an EU referendum during negotiations in Riga May 22, 2015 Talks in Riga over the UK's position in Europe were merely "scratching the surface", David Cameron said today, and refused to be drawn on the timing of an EU referendum. Read more: Spencer – EU referendum must not be rushed "I will not give time lines and deadlines and a running commentary on the referendum plans," [...]
Soaring Tesco helps FTSE but Serco plummets – London Report November 10, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index yesterday advanced to a five-week high as investors bought into the consumer staples and retail sectors, with ailing supermarket group Tesco leading the gainers. The stand-out mover of the day, however, was mid-cap services outsourcer Serco, whose shares fell 32.2 per cent to 215p after saying it planned a rights issue [...]
FTSE buoyed as Draghi speech reverses trend – London Report November 17, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index turned positive late yesterday after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi said unconventional monetary policy measures could include buying sovereign bonds. Draghi also told the European Parliament the ECB will continue to do “whatever it takes” within its mandate to save the euro and that the single currency was irreversible. The [...]
Don’t fear low inflation: It’s great news for consumers while it lasts August 18, 2015 The latest retail figures in the UK showed good growth. Things are also looking up in the US and in much of the euro area. The world economy has settled into a period of steady growth with very little inflation in the major economies. Indeed, just yesterday, official figures revealed that consumer price index inflation [...]
London Report: Lower crude prices pull FTSE down but Morrison’s gets lift September 9, 2014 BRITAIN’S top shares yesterday inched lower on Tuesday as energy stocks weakened and investors bet on whether Scotland would vote to leave the United Kingdom in the 18 September referendum. But stocks showed little reaction to comments by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, who suggested the bank might start to raise interest rates next [...]
Marks & Spencer chooses a new auditor after 87 years with PwC December 5, 2013 MARKS & Spencer has parted ways with PwC, picking a new auditor for the first time since the FTSE 100 retailer became a public company in 1926. M&S said yesterday it has appointed Deloitte as its new auditor following a competitive tender. The switch comes at a time when the close and often decades-long relationship [...]
The world’s best business universities and MBAs: Three UK schools named in top 10 May 20, 2015 Three of the top 10 business schools in the world are based in the UK, according to a new university ranking guide. The QS world universities rankings for 2015 has named London Business School as the world's top university for business and management studies, based on a combination of its academic reputation, reputation among employers [...]
The FTSE 100’s Twitter power-users (and its social flops) September 21, 2014 FTSE 100 companies have upped their game on Twitter according to social media agency Battenhall, sending out a total of 1.4 million tweets in the past year compared with 582,227 in 2013. The agency puts companies’ increased efforts on Twitter down to the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2013 legislation, which gave firms permission to [...]
Now Standard & Poor’s puts Tesco on negative credit watch September 24, 2014 It hasn't been a great week for Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis, what with discovering a £250m black hole in his balance sheet, having to suspend four executives, and then being subjected to the humiliation of a series of regulators saying they were "keeping an eye" on the situation. Now, following in the footsteps of [...]