Aldi sold one million turkeys this Christmas January 12, 2016 Traditional retailers might have had a tough Christmas trading period, but Aldi continues to prove it's no turkey. The German grocer today said it experienced its highest ever sales in a single day this festive period – peaking on 23 December – since launching in the UK 25 years ago. The discount retailer welcomed "hundreds of [...]
FTSE 100 index opens up on supermarkets as share price of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer rise following Morrisons results January 12, 2016 The FTSE 100 index opened higher this morning as housebuilders and supermarkets made gains. The UK's blue-chip index rose 0.2 per cent to 5,883 points, led higher by Tesco, Sainsbury's and housebuilder Berkeley Group. The index made gains despite continued scepticism about the state of the Chinese economy. Read more: And they’re off – Shire and Baxalta agree $32bn [...]
Tesco, Asda and Morrisons named Christmas losers by Kantar as Waitrose, the Co operative, Aldi and Lidl crowned the winners January 12, 2016 There was little Christmas cheer for the supermarket sector – but some individual grocers outperformed the wider market, Kantar Worldpanel said this morning. The sector as a whole fell 0.2 per cent in the 12 weeks to 3 January, with Asda dropping the furthest – consumer spend at the Walmart-owned retailer was down 3.5 per cent. Tesco [...]
Xchanging share price finishes down, as company urges shareholders to back Computer Sciences Corporation offer by Friday January 11, 2016 Outsourcing company Xchanging today called on its shareholders to accept a takeover offer from Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) by Friday, as it warned that it could not be confident it would receive a better offer from insurance software company Ebix. In December last year, CSC made a cash offer to purchase Xchanging for 190p per share, [...]
House of Fraser reports strong Christmas trading period after first full year of being owned by Chinese conglomerate Sanpower January 11, 2016 House of Fraser appears to have shrugged off the festive blues plaguing other retailers, with sales up 5.3 per cent for the six weeks to 2 January. The figures The Chinese-owned department store, said it had had a strong Christmas trading period, starting with Black Friday, when sales were up 10 per cent on the previous [...]
New Axa Insurance boss Amanda Blanc on the company’s plans for growth January 11, 2016 Amanda Blanc began the new year as chief executive of a reorganised Axa Insurance. Previously the head of Axa Commercial Lines and Personal Intermediary, as of 1 January Blanc has taken on responsibility for the French group’s insurance business in the UK and Ireland, a change that doesn’t seem to have phased her. “I feel like [...]
Russian guests rack up a five-figure bill on their Christmas day January 10, 2016 FOR THOSE not in the know, Russia celebrated its own Christmas day last week, with a few of the capital’s wealthiest visitors racking up a very impressive bill at City eatery M’s Westminster outpost. A party of six headed straight for M’s members bar, starting as they meant to go on with six bottles of [...]
At the close: FTSE 100 index falls further to cap off a bad week January 8, 2016 The FTSE 100 index fell again on Friday, finishing just under 6,000 to cap off a bad week, as concerns over the Chinese economy continued to weigh. "A turbulent start to 2016 has seen investors adopting the brace position, as a combination of factors have driven global markets lower," Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown, said. "With [...]
Blood on the shop floor as warm weather means high street retailers suffer worst Christmas performance since 2008, BDO says January 8, 2016 Retailers hoping for a last minute Christmas sales rush were bitterly disappointed, as figures suggest it was the worst festive period since 2008. According to BDO’s monthly high street sales tracker, retailers suffered a 5.3 per cent drop in year-on-year sales for December – the worst monthly results in seven years. No retail sub-sector survived unscathed. Sales of [...]
With Marks and Spencer’s CEO Marc Bolland bowing out, odds shorten on the City’s retail boss departures January 7, 2016 So M&S boss Marc Bolland has finally stepped down, after years of pressure – but who thought his departure would be revealed just seven days into the New Year? At the very start of this week The Capitalist brought you odds on The 2016 Sack Race, including the 4/5 that was available on Marks’ Dutch [...]