Sports Direct share price falls as Mike Ashley’s retailer posts underwhelming first half results December 10, 2015 Sports Direct's share price fell this morning after reporting underwhelming first half figures. The figures The Mike Ashley-owned retailer had a solid six months to 25 October, with group revenue ticking up 0.1 per cent to £1.43bn, while underlying pre-tax profit rose 3.6 per cent to £166.4m and EBITDA rose 7.6 per cent to £218.5m. [...]
Supermarket wars hit food suppliers hard July 19, 2015 HEAVY discounting and delayed payments from supermarkets fighting to win back customers from the discounters is putting the UK’s smallest food suppliers, independent grocers and farmers at risk of collapse, warns Begbies Traynor. According to Begbies Traynor’s Red Flag Alert research for this year’s second quarter, the UK food and beverage manufacturers sector, which includes [...]
Tesco first half results: Analysts question whether “Drastic Dave” Lewis has been drastic enough October 7, 2015 Tesco may have beaten expectations for UK sales in the first half of this year, but analysts are warning that the troubled supermarket still has a long way to go if it is to shrug off the many problems facing the UK's biggest retailer. Tesco's profits fell 55 per cent in the six months to 31 [...]
City Moves for 8 July 2015 | Who’s switching jobs July 7, 2015 Investec The bank has appointed Chris Hare to its economics team, focusing on both UK and global economic issues. He joins from the Bank of England, where he was responsible for monitoring issues such as the impact of economic uncertainty on activity. Santander Asset Management Ileana Salas has been appointed global head of institutional [...]
City Moves for 27 April 2015 | Who’s switching jobs April 26, 2015 Nexus Underwriting Management Group Stuart Rouse has been appointed chief operating officer and chief financial officer (CFO) at the underwriting firm. He has previously served as CFO of Fusion Insurance, CFO of Towergate Underwriting, chief operating officer of Towergate Financial, CFO of Aspen’s managing agency and its insurance division, and latterly group chief operating officer [...]
Retailers miss out on festive shopping boom December 22, 2014 MANY British retailers have failed to cash in on the Christmas shopping boom, according to research released today, causing the number of struggling businesses in the sector to increase considerably. According to research by specialist professional services group Begbies Traynor – covering 1 October to 17 December – UK retailers are considerably worse off this Christmas [...]
Supermarket woes deepen over price wars October 21, 2014 THE UK food industry’s troubles were laid bare today after a report revealed the sector had suffered the sharpest rise in financial distress compared with other UK industries. According to Begbies Traynor’s latest Red Flag update, which monitors the health of UK companies, levels of “significant” financial distress among UK food retailers rose by 11 [...]
Thorntons’ share price collapses 25 per cent following profit warning December 23, 2014 Chocolate maker Thorntons has ended the year on a disappointing note, warning falling sales will hit the company's earnings for the full year. The company's share price slumped a whopping 25 per cent when the market opened. Thorntons announced its UK Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) division had faced "challenges" that hit sales performance in [...]
FTSE rises after Glaxo sets out recovery plan – London Report October 22, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index yesterday ended higher, with motor insurers advancing on news of an increase in car premiums and drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline rising after its results. The FTSE 100 finished 0.4 per cent higher at 6,399.73 points. It had fallen more than 10 per cent in four weeks before making a marginal recovery since late [...]
Small interest rate hike would kill 20,000 zombie businesses July 17, 2014 Hiking interest rates to just 1.5 per cent would drive tens of thousands of companies to the wall, insolvency practitioner Begbies Traynor warned yesterday. It estimates there are 218,000 distressed firms in the UK, a large proportion of which are zombies – businesses that are staying afloat only because interest rates have been kept so [...]