Tesco chief turns down £372,000 bonus May 22, 2012 Tesco boss Philip Clarke has opted not to take an annual bonus of about £372,000 following a poor performance by the world’s third-biggest retailer in its main British market. Shares in Tesco, which issued a shock profit warning in January, have lost almost a quarter of their value this year and the company is now [...]
What the other papers say this morning December 17, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES G4S set to win child benefit role G4S, the company at the centre of the Olympics security fiasco, is set to win a role in implementing the government’s contentious and complex changes to child benefit and the universal credit. The FTSE 100 group is among six companies selected to run call centres that [...]
Best of the Brokers December 4, 2012 TESCO Espirito Santo has downgraded the supermarket giant from a “hold” guidance to a “sell” and cut the price target from 300p to 275p, warning of a drop in profit margins. CWC Barclays has upgraded the telecoms firm to an “equal weight” rating, and upped its target by 32 per cent to 41p following CWC’s [...]
Stagecoach to Steam ahead December 3, 2012 TRAVEL firm Stagecoach will signal whether its joint venture with Virgin is on track when it submits its interim statement tomorrow. The current franchise is due to expire this month, but traders seem positive and shares have steamed ahead by over 25 per cent since lows in May. Spreadex quotes a price of 291.7p-293.8p for [...]
As Tesco reports a drop in UK sales, has the retailer been pursuing the wrong strategy? June 11, 2012 YES Richard Perks “Retail is detail” and Tesco has been getting too many of the details wrong – poor quality, bad service, tired stores and an inept marketing function that couldn’t cope with Asda’s price guarantee. Very basically, Tesco has been using the UK as a cash cow to provide funds for development elsewhere. But, [...]
Festive trading is slow for UK supermarkets as sales weaken December 19, 2012 SUPERMARKET grocery sales have slowed in the past four weeks, held back by weak general merchandise sales and the continued squeeze on consumer budgets. According to the latest data from Nielsen, grocery sales in the four weeks to 8 December rose 1.3 per cent year-on-year. That compared with a two per cent growth in the [...]
Unite Group launches retail bond November 21, 2012 Unite Group, the UK’s biggest student accommodation provider, yesterday become the latest firm to launch a retail bond. With £2,000 as the minimum investment, the bond pays a coupon rate of 6.125 per cent and matures on 12 June 2020. The group aims to raise £50 to £75m from the bond to fund expansion. Investec [...]
Unite Group launches retail bond November 21, 2012 Unite Group, the UK’s biggest student accommodation provider, yesterday become the latest firm to launch a retail bond. With £2,000 as the minimum investment, the bond pays a coupon rate of 6.125 per cent and matures on 12 June 2020. The group aims to raise £50 to £75m from the bond to fund expansion. Investec [...]
Henderson sells £184m portfolio November 20, 2012 Henderson Global Investor has sold 24 remaining assets in its debt-laden CMBS Caspar regional property fund for £184m to buy-out firms Mountgrange and Patron Capital, the property asset manager announced yesterday. Mountgrange and Patron have in turn sold on seven of the warehouses and sites based in London and the south east, to CBRE Global [...]
Sir Terry Leahy to chair bargain store December 3, 2012 SIR TERRY LEAHY is making a comeback to the retail sector as chairman of B&M Bargains after US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier and Rice yesterday revealed it has bought a stake in the chain for around £965m. The former Tesco boss is an adviser to CD&R, which has fought off rivals such as Advent, [...]