US factory and spending data see solid growth January 31, 2011 Factory data for the US midwest rose to a 22 and a half-year-high in January on strong orders and employment prospects, adding to hopes the US economy will stay on a solid growth path this year. A second dataset has also shown that consumer spending ended 2010 on a firmer footing, a trend expected to [...]
Majestic sees wine sales up in festive lift January 6, 2011 MAJESTIC Wine has bucked the trend of retailers turning in poor results figures over the snow-hit Christmas period with a 6.4 per cent sales rise. Chief executive Steve Lewis said the weather had initially put customers off venturing out but then there had been a rush. The figures for the nine weeks to 3 January [...]
Moss Bros in sales rise boost December 9, 2010 MOSS Bros posted an 8.3 per cent rise in like-for-like sales for the first 18 weeks of the second half as the British menswear retailer’s improved product offering drew in more shoppers. The company, which has 150 retail outlets worldwide, said total sales for the 44-week period to 4 December were up 8.9 per cent [...]
Growth to slip after record winter freeze January 23, 2011 THE coldest winter in 100 years may have contributed to a slowdown in economic growth in the three months to December, economists said ahead of official GDP figures released tomorrow. Experts have forecast an average 0.4 per cent GDP growth for the quarter, down from 0.7 per cent in the previous quarter. Heavy winter snow [...]
Winter freeze knocks retail sales growth January 10, 2011 HIGH street spending took a severe hit from last month’s snow, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) confirmed today. Like-for-like sales in December dropped by 0.3 per cent on the previous year, the group reported, although for the whole of 2010 these sales increased by 0.8 per cent. “The unusually early winter weather made a difficult [...]
Iron boosts Rio Tinto but coal suffers January 18, 2011 GLOBAL miner Rio Tinto posted a six per cent rise in iron ore production in the fourth quarter, powered by Chinese demand, but said coal production suffered after flood-related disruptions in Australia. Rio Tinto said in a production report yesterday that it produced 50.05m tonnes of iron ore in the fourth quarter versus 47.23m a [...]
Richemont in sales boost led by China January 17, 2011 SWISS luxury goods group Richemont saw healthy sales growth in all business areas in its third quarter as wealthy Chinese customers continued to splash out on Cartier jewellery and timepieces. Overall sales for the three months to 31 December were up 33 per cent, beating analysts’ forecasts. Sales in the Asia-Pacific region rose 42 per [...]
THE TIPSTER January 17, 2011 INDUSTRIAL giant General Electric reports its fourth quarter earnings on Friday. The company is often seen as something of a barometer for the global economy as a whole but the share price still remains somewhat depressed from the highs of 2007. Demand from emerging economies will continue to lend support to sectors such as its [...]
Online sales boost for House of Fraser January 9, 2011 UK department store House of Fraser saw same store sales jump 8.5 per cent in the five weeks to 8 January, reinforcing the success of multi-brand retailers over the Christmas period. It follows similar results last week from the John Lewis Partnership, which saw sales up 8.9 per cent compared to last year. But House [...]
JJB in £30m fundraising plan December 24, 2010 JJB has has announced plans to raise £31.5m from shareholders, after issuing a warning it could breach the terms of a banking agreement. The struggling sports retailer said it was raising funds from major shareholders including Crystal Amber and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. It added that its lender, Bank of Scotland, had [...]