Home Retail in share buy back as earnings fall April 28, 2010 ARGOS and Homebase owner Home Retail Group has announced plans for a share buy back of up to £150m as new figures showed its annual profit had dropped by 11 per cent. Underlying profits fell to £292.9m for the year to 27 February. Earnings were hit by weak consumer spending and a lower pound, which [...]
Homebase to post strong profits April 25, 2010 DIY store Homebase is set to post strong annual profits this week, after the pressures of the downturn pushed consumers to spend on improvements rather than moving house. Homebase, owned by Home Retail, is set to report a 168 per cent rise in operating profit to £40m, according to consensus analyst forecasts. However, Argos – [...]
Asda chief to step down as takeover rumours sweep City April 12, 2010 ANDY Bond is stepping down as chief executive of Asda in a shock move ahead of his unveiling of the company’s five-year strategy plan. Bond is stepping into a new role of chairman on the board of Asda – a subsidiary of US retail giant Walmart – the firm said yesterday. The role will start [...]
Asda chief Bond to step down April 12, 2010 ANDY Bond is stepping down as chief executive of Asda in a shock move ahead of his unveiling of the company’s five-year plan. Bond is stepping into a new role of chairman on the board of Asda – a subsidiary of US-giant Walmart – the company said yesterday. The role will start off full-time to [...]
Asda moves to beat tax rate April 11, 2010 Asda, the second largest supermarket chain in the UK, helped a number of senior executives dodge the new 50 per cent top rate of income tax by paying them a portion of their annual salary upfront in March. Asda would not confirm how many staff earning above £150,000 per year took up the opportunity. Meanwhile, [...]
Home Retail ups forecast March 11, 2010 HOME retail Group – which owns Argos and Homebase – has tipped its pre-tax profit for the year to come in at £290m. The figure is slightly ahead of its earlier forecast of £285m for the year to 27 February. Argos sales fell 9.4 per cent while sales at its home improvement operation Homebase declined [...]
Home Retail Group ups forecasts but Argos slumps March 11, 2010 HOME retail Group – which owns Argos and Homebase – has tipped its pre-tax profit for the year to come in at £290m The figure is slightly ahead of market forecasts for the year to 27 February. Argos sales fell 9.4 per cent while sales at its home improvement operation Homebase declined 0.6 per cent [...]
Future is sweet for Nectar as it ranks top of the loyalty schemes February 7, 2010 NECTAR has become the country’s most popular loyalty scheme, with 16.8m subscribers. A staggering 50 per cent of households now swipe their Nectar card when shopping in stores and online and it has become more popular than both the Tesco Clubcard and the Boots Advantage card. Gwyn Burr, Sainsbury’s customer director, said: “Customers are increasingly [...]
Sales at Home Retail Group upset the City January 14, 2010 SHARES in Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail Group (HRG) slid more than six per cent closing at 265.8p yesterday despite the company increasing its full-year profit forecast by £20m. The retailer estimated that its pre-tax profits for the current financial year to 31 March would hit £285m The revised figure came as a trading [...]
Argos sales lift fuels profit forecast rise at Home Retail Group January 14, 2010 ARGOS and Homebase owner Home Retail Group (HRG) has increased its full-year profit forecast by £20m after sales in the second half of 2009 beat expectations. The retailer now expects its pre-tax profits for the current financial year to 31 March to hit £285m. The revised figure came as a trading statement showed that Argos [...]