Royal Mail’s profits double pre-share sale November 27, 2013 SOARING margins boosted revenues at Royal Mail in the six months to September and doubled the firm’s operating profits, the postal operator said yesterday. In the months leading up to its privatisation the group’s revenues increased to £4.52bn – a rise of two per cent on the same period of 2012. In part that was driven [...]
New Look chief says IPO at least 12 months away November 12, 2013 NEW LOOK chief executive Anders Kristiansen yesterday poured cold water on rumours that the group was planning a return to market, stating that an initial public offering could be at least a year away. The last months have seen a wave of public listing including Bargain Booze owner Conviviality Retail, with retailers Bonmarche and Poundland [...]
A Merry Christmas and thanks for your support during 2013 December 19, 2013 AFTER months of speculation about how the markets would react to the gradual phasing out of monetary stimulus in the US, we got part of our answer over the last 36 hours. And, it has to be said, it’s so far so good. Some assumed that even a hint of a tightening of monetary policy [...]
Housing market cools for winter but price growth beating wages November 17, 2013 HOUSE prices this month are still up four per cent on November last year, despite a small seasonal dip from October. According to Rightmove’s latest house price index, London prices are up by 6.9 per cent in the same period. In the year to September, average weekly earnings only rose by 0.8 per cent. Between [...]
Internet sales boost results for Argos as Home Retail reports positive results October 23, 2013 Argos and Homebase parent company Home Retail has today announce a positive like-for-like sales performance, despite highlighting limited customer spending, owing to lessened disposable incomes. Profit before tax for the period was £14.2m in the 26 weeks to 31 August. (Release) Argos did particularly well when it came to sales via smart devices – internet [...]
Dubai property group’s £1.6bn London flotation is delayed November 26, 2013 BANKS advising Damac, the Dubai-based property group, on its London flotation last night went back on plans to price the shares. The decision came after some investors said they wanted to know whether Dubai would be the venue for Expo 2020, which will be announced today. Advisers said there was sufficient demand to go ahead [...]
Supermarkets slump as half of UK shoppers head to discounters December 17, 2013 FOR THE first time ever, more than half of the UK shopped in either an Aldi or Lidl in the last three months, putting pressure on bigger retailers as the shift toward discount shopping continues unabated. Sales at Aldi surged by 30.7 per cent in the 12 weeks to 8 December while its smaller discount rival [...]
Wanted to make a fortune from 2000 to 2013? Tobacco and alcohol would have been your best bet December 2, 2013 If you could go back to the start of the century and make a few choice investments to make a fortune by Christmas 2013, what would you have bought? According to Hardman & Co the best return on your investment would have been tobacco followed distantly by alcohol. Since 1 January 2000 capital returns for [...]
Chocolatier Thorntons in festive mood as growth gathers pace October 9, 2013 THORNTONS yesterday said sales had got off to a strong start in the first quarter of the year as the confectioner’s turnaround strategy continued to gather pace. Revenues rose 2.1 per cent to £47m in the 14 weeks to 5 October, driven by sales to supermarkets and other third party retailers, which leapt 11 per [...]
Bottom Line: An ambitious play for expansion not a call to international rescue November 24, 2013 THE possibility of a tie-up between FTSE 100 stalwart Babcock and helicopter transport specialist Avincis is continuing proof of the scale of Babcock’s ambition. The engineering support services group has been looking to expand internationally in recent years and this looks a potentially smart step in that growth process, opening up new options in European [...]