Bottom Line: Clarke gave investors a nasty shock but deserves more time October 2, 2013 TESCO chief executive Philip Clarke may be sticking to his guns and ruling out a European retrenchment – despite a 68 per cent drop in profits in the region – but investors are clearly sceptical. Though analysts seemed to have the fall priced in, shareholders still took flight, sending shares down as much as two [...]
Metro Bank: First London – next, the rest of the UK February 23, 2014 Metro Bank’s chairman and founder tells Tim Wallace he wants to take the Southern-focused lender out to a national audience IT HAS shaken up London’s retail banking scene, with bright new branches on busy high streets, and a bold American-style service ethos. But although Metro Bank startled the market as Britain’s first lender in more [...]
Inside Track: Ross’s brutal shake-up could prove painful for taxpayers January 29, 2014 ROSS’S Brutal Shake-up – come next month, that will be the most appropriate use of the initials of Britain’s most troubled lender. After Monday’s kitchen and bathroom sinking all rolled into one, it’s not difficult to see why. McEwan’s predecessor as chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Stephen Hester, was fond of describing [...]
Best of the Brokers for 26 September 2013 September 25, 2013 GREENCORE Numis has given food company Greencore an “add” recommendation and lifted its target price to 153p ahead of its 26 November full year report. The analyst said plus points include “the absence of the horse meat issue and possible improvement from UK cakes & desserts.” TESCO Shares in Tesco fell 3.5 per cent yesterday, [...]
Banking competition is already fierce – but technology will intensify it further January 15, 2014 FOR ALL the talk of competition in banking, ask yourself: have you ever felt that there is not a product for you on the market? Or that your choices are constrained? I have a current account with the same bank my family has used for years. But when it comes to my savings, I shamelessly [...]
City Moves for 19 December 2013 | Who’s switching jobs December 18, 2013 KPMG The professional services firm has hired Stephen Frost as head of diversity. He was formerly head of diversity and inclusion at the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games from 2008 to 2012. Prior to that, Frost worked at Stonewall. Mizuho The securities and investment banking arm of the Mizuho Financial Group [...]
Any other business – 20/09 September 19, 2013 Market commentators were musing yesterday on the coincidence that Nomura downgraded supermarket Tesco from a ‘buy’ rating to ‘neutral’, just a day after the food superstore ended the brokership relationship between the pair. While Nomura insisted to The Capitalist yesterday that the brokerage was a completely separate part of the firm and the incidents were [...]
Scarlett fever: Under The Skin is a classic March 13, 2014 FILMUNDER THE SKINCert 15 | By Alex DymokeFive Stars IF YOU were considering the filmic potential of Scotland, first to come to mind would probably be the highlands; the dramatic barrenness of the western isles, the bronze light that illuminates the Grampians every evening. You probably wouldn’t think of Asda, Tescos, or obscure ring-roads on [...]
Scottish fairytale not over yet, says Sir David October 23, 2013 SHRUGGING off a nine-division demotion and financial meltdown to return to the pinnacle of English rugby might seem like scaling Everest, unless you have already helped turn Tesco from supermarket into superpower. Sir David Reid saw the retailer become the world’s second largest during his time as chairman and now has designs on domestic, if [...]
Waitrose and discounters thriving September 24, 2013 DISCOUNT supermarket Aldi saw year-on-year sales growth of a record 32.7 per cent in the 12 weeks to 15 September, according to new industry data, as upmarket rival Waitrose also upped market share. Waitrose achieved growth of 9.7 per cent year-on-year, Kantar Worldpanel said, well above market growth of 4.2 per cent. But Tesco, which [...]