Smiles all round as Boohoo’s rising revenue trumps City forecasts September 26, 2018 Online fashion retailer Boohoo bumped up its forecast for full-year sales growth this morning in the wake of better-than-expected revenues during the first half of 2018. The PrettyLittleThing.com owner’s revenue hit £395m in the first six months of the year, marking a sharp 50 per cent rise compared with the same period in 2017. [...]
Ranked: Sports Direct tops poll of UK’s most loathed brands October 23, 2018 House of Fraser owner Sports Direct is the UK’s most loathed brand, according to consumer finance website Money Saving Expert. However, billionaire Mike Ashley's bottom-placed retail giant may have been hurt by a social media campaign against the company, admitted the website, which asked 7,600 readers to rank 52 household name brands. Read more: Mike [...]
Death of the High Street? Why we’re still backing UK retail April 9, 2019 Following some dire headlines you might rightly wonder why the share prices of UK retailers have recorded double-digit gains this year (see graphic, below). Surely the relentlessly downbeat mood music from the mainstream media (and pessimism among analysts) is confirmation that the UK consumer is in full retreat, and consumer-exposed sectors are in deep trouble? [...]
What’s Next? Questions remain over autumn results after retailer’s summer boost September 25, 2018 There’s been no shortage of negative headlines surrounding UK retail in recent weeks with the woes of the sector hitting some high profile names in recent months including House of Fraser, Moss Bros last week, and John Lewis surprising the markets in reporting huge drops in profits. Earlier this year Next warned that trading conditions [...]
Last Week in the City: Trade wars begin July 6, 2018 Garry White, chief investment commentator, looks at the market-moving events that have shaped the UK equity markets this week (2 to 6 July 2018). The World Cup is “distracting” for participants in global markets, according to Citigroup. "We find that football is indeed distracting, subtly impacting market depth, traded volumes and execution cost,” the US [...]
Why Debenhams has had three profit warnings in a year and could Mike Ashley help? June 20, 2018 City grandee Crispin Odey, whose hedge fund holds a short position in Debenhams, said last year that the retailer was in a race with House of Fraser “as to who will go down first”. While House of Fraser’s fate will be sealed at its CVA on Friday, Debenhams’ future looks dark, with the embattled department [...]
Primark import costs expected to hit sales margins February 26, 2017 Primark's tightening margins could cause concern for its owner, Associated British Foods (ABF) and shareholders next week when the company releases its next trading update. Import costs have risen for the clothing retailer since the pound weakened, with 3 in every 4 of Primark's purchase invoices being billed in US dollars. Yet the budget brand [...]
Is a ball pit in the office more of a hindrance than a help? Designers are calling time on tech playgrounds and creating offices that make you more efficient November 2, 2018 As the tech giants of Silicon Valley scrabble over the world’s best programmers, they’ve been inventing increasingly excessive office perks. We’ve all heard of them; Facebook’s ball pit, Google’s unlimited free food and on-demand masseuses, Reebok’s fitness classes. But while free concerts, haircuts and therapy puppies may get the talent to sign a contract, are [...]
Investors ignore disruptive weather at their peril March 5, 2018 The "Beast from the East" closed schools, kept trains in their sidings and hit Britain's productivity. But can inclement weather move the stock market by affecting investors' minds? Findings of a research project published in the Journal of Accounting Research in 2015 concluded that financial analysts respond more slowly to the implications of earnings announcements [...]
Primark owner warns benefit of sterling’s fall will only last so long February 27, 2017 Primark owner Associated British Foods' (ABF) share price edged downwards this morning after it warned its boost from the devaluation of sterling will fade later in this year. The figures In its trading update, ABF said it expects Primark sales to be 11 per cent higher, when measured at constant currency, but that this growth would be "driven [...]