London Report: Ukraine fears prompt return to defensives April 14, 2014 A RISE in food and retail stocks, seen as “defensive” plays with investors worried by tensions in Ukraine, enabled Britain’s top equity index to inch higher yesterday. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up by 0.3 per cent, or 22.06 points, at 6,583.76 points. Trading volumes came in at around 1.1 times above the index’s 3-month [...]
Sainsbury’s hit by first sales fall in nine years March 18, 2014 SAINSBURY’S nine-year run of like-for-like sales growth came to a halt in the fourth quarter as sluggish market growth and fierce competition from discounters finally caught up with the grocer. Like-for-like sales excluding fuel tumbled 3.1 per cent in the 10 weeks to 15 March, ending 36 consecutive quarters of sales growth on chief executive [...]
Asda hurt by first sales drop in three years February 20, 2014 ASDA chief executive Andy Clarke yesterday admitted it had been a “tough year” after the supermarket chain reported its first fall in sales for three years. The Walmart owned chain said like-for-like sales fell 0.1 per cent in the 13 weeks to 3 January, compared to the same period a year ago, marking its first [...]
Forget energy companies: Blame the regulator for distorting competition March 18, 2014 OFGEM, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will shortly issue an assessment of how well competition in the markets for gas and electricity is serving the interests of households and small firms. But as I argue in the March/April 2014 edition of the European Competition Journal, Ofgem’s regulatory [...]
Letters to the Editor – 11/03 – Tax reform, Best of Twitter March 10, 2014 Tax reform [Re: Stop acquisitive politicians forever with a max tax guarantee, Thursday] I wish I thought a max tax would work, but it would likely be far worse than useless, and open the way for a British alternative minimum tax. Recall the political grandstanding that accompanied the withdrawal of allowances from higher-earning income taxpayers, [...]
Digital advertising on the street: Why posters are no longer static February 3, 2014 @LiamWardProud WITH online marketing campaigns accounting for an ever greater share of advertising budgets, digital posters and billboards are catching up fast. There were over 79,000 digital out of home (OOH) advertising sites in the UK in 2013, according to a recent report by OOH specialist agency Kinetic. This figure is set to grow to [...]
Digital advertising on the street: Why posters are no longer static February 2, 2014 @LiamWardProud WITH online marketing campaigns accounting for an ever greater share of advertising budgets, digital posters and billboards are catching up fast. There were over 79,000 digital out of home (OOH) advertising sites in the UK in 2013, according to a recent report by OOH specialist agency Kinetic. This figure is set to grow to [...]
London Report: Retailers set to reveal scale of 2013 hangover January 5, 2014 RETAIL figures due this week will reveal whether Britain’s major brands are going into the New Year with a Christmas hangover. Marks & Spencer and Tesco are both set to report on Thursday, and J Sainsbury on Wednesday, with figures likely to show retailers faced a dismal festive season. Debenhams has already set the tone, [...]
Buffett not so sage after S&P outclasses him March 3, 2014 STOCK picking guru Warren Buffett failed to beat America’s S&P 500 again last year, marking the first time he has lost to the index over a five-year period since he started in 1965, results show. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway saw its book value per share rise by 18.2 per cent in 2013, while the S&P 500 [...]
Former Matalan boss Darren Blackhurst decides to B&Q-it January 21, 2014 After a six month silence, the former chief executive of Matalan Darren Blackhurst has popped back over the parapet, this time as commercial director of DIY chain B&Q. The moves marks an unusual step back for Blackhurst, who was a leading contender to replace former Asda chief executive Andy Bond back in 2010 (a role [...]