HMV is finding it hard to match online value January 10, 2012 ON Monday, media store HMV reported a fall in sales over the Christmas period, and said it remains concerned about its ability to continue trading in its current form. A look at YouGov’s BrandIndex tells an interesting story about the problems the retailer faces. What we often see with companies that have financial difficulties is [...]
JJB enjoys an uplift in sales for Christmas January 5, 2012 SPORTS retailer JJB, which was on the verge of collapse last year, has battled its way through the crucial Christmas period, reporting a five per cent lift in like-for-like sales in December. JJB’s second-half like-for-like sales fell by 7.8 per cent while margins fell by 3.2 per cent, it said yesterday. But this was still [...]
Flybe shares in a tailspin after warning January 10, 2012 FLYBE’S shares tumbled 20 per cent yesterday after it warned its revenues would fall short of targets. The regional airline, which makes 70 per cent of its revenues on UK domestic flights, said conditions in Britain had deteriorated, leading to an eight per cent sales drop in its third quarter. Flybe’s board spent the day [...]
SuperGroup sales jump over Christmas January 11, 2012 SuperGroup, the company behind the Superdry fashion brand, posted a 22 per cent rise in group sales over the key Christmas period as it overcame distribution issues which had dogged the firm in 2011. The company, whose clothes are a favourite of celebrities such as David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio and Zac Efron, said total sales [...]
RIM’s losses mount as new BlackBerry is delayed June 28, 2012 BLACKBERRY manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM) last night announced worse-than-expected quarterly losses and said it has been forced to delay the launch of its new operating system until early next year, a potentially devastating setback for the struggling firm. RIM said consumers would have to wait for devices running its next-generation BlackBerry 10 software because [...]
JD Sports sees consumer confidence headwinds November 23, 2011 Sport retail chain JD Sports Fashion has issued a trading statement of two halves, saying its sales improved until mid-September but declined substantially after that until November. In a downbeat assessment of falling UK consumer sentiment, the company warned that it was having to work hard to sustain its margins as customers spent less. In [...]
Factories and shops caught up in gloom December 15, 2011 FRENZIED discounting across high street stores failed to stave off a drop in retail sales last month as wary consumers continued to rein in their spending in the crucial Christmas trading period. And in more bearish news for the economy, a survey from the CBI showed that orders at manufacturers have slumped to their lowest [...]
Apple falls as Android leads smartphone sales December 22, 2011 APPLE’s crop is suffering in Europe due to increased competition and the troubled economy as Android nabs the top spot in the smartphone market, the researcher Kantar Worldpanel ComTech has revealed. While the iPhone 4S has been flying off British and American shelves, customers in continental Europe have been less enthralled by the company’s latest [...]
Commodities fuel FTSE gains January 3, 2012 The FTSE 100 was off to a positive start this morning led upwards by commodity stocks which were boosted by strong data from China. Asian markets were given a lift as the official Chinese purchasing managers’ index indicated a rise in factory activity in December and London followed suit. Industrial metals such as copper rose [...]
Inditex sales growth slows in tough market December 14, 2011 Sales growth at Spain’s Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer and owner of the Zara label, moderated in the third quarter as the euro zone debt crisis crimped spending in the region. The company, founded by Spain’s richest man Amancio Ortega, posted a 9.5 per cent rise in sales growth on for the third quarter [...]