CITY VIEWS | WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE PASTY TAX U-TURN? May 29, 2012 HOWARD WATT FIDELITY I bought a pasty from Greggs this morning and it did seem a little expensive, but it’s still much cheaper than a lot of the other food that is being sold in the City. I think booze and cigarettes should be taxed to encourage healthy lifestyles and pasties are quite fattening too. To [...]
RAPID RESPONSES June 18, 2012 Grexit postponed [Re: Greece jumps out of the fire and straight into the frying pan, yesterday] Many of the reform measures in the Memorandum of Understanding haven’t been implemented and never will be. Part of Greece’s debt could be paid off by privatising the power utility, the two major ports and the railways. Unions, however, [...]
Business leaders must speak up in promoting a culture of capitalism June 12, 2012 MY 33 years at Tesco, 14 of them as its chief executive, left me in no doubt that people hold one of two views of the world: there are those who believe in trusting people, markets and competition, and those who put their faith in government, in all its various guises. Life being what it [...]
Sainsbury says it beat rivals but shares fall June 13, 2012 J SAINSBURY crowned itself “a Jubilee winner” after chief executive Justin King said the Queen’s celebrations helped the retailer continue to beat its rivals in the first quarter of 2012. Like-for-like sales rose 1.4 per cent in the 12 weeks to 9 June, while total sales rose 3.8 per cent excluding fuel, with savvy shoppers [...]
THE TIPSTER | Consulting an upbeat 2012 June 11, 2012 CONSULTANCY WS Atkins was quite upbeat about its full-year results back in April, so it will be interesting to see if the company can indeed deliver. The shares have dropped back noticeably from their 2012 high around 800p, so the company will be hoping that its figures are enthusiastically received by investors. IG’s price on [...]
Clarke will need more than £1bn to reverse curse of complacent incumbency April 18, 2012 LET’S keep things in perspective here. Tesco isn’t exactly struggling, although you wouldn’t know it from the bad publicity that has plagued it since a profit warning in January. Group profit of £3.83bn was up by five per cent last year on revenues that were seven per cent higher at £72bn. A distressed retailer this [...]
Clarke will need more than £1bn to reverse curse of complacent incumbency April 18, 2012 LET’S keep things in perspective here. Tesco isn’t exactly struggling, although you wouldn’t know it from the bad publicity that has plagued it since a profit warning in January. Group profit of £3.83bn was up by five per cent last year on revenues that were seven per cent higher at £72bn. A distressed retailer this [...]
InterContinental names Cescau as chairman May 25, 2012 Unilever veteran Patrick Cescau is to become the new chairman of the world’s biggest hotelier InterContinental Hotels Group at the beginning of next year following the retirement of the 67-year old David Webster. French born Cescau, aged 63, spent 35 years working for the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant culminating in his role as chief executive [...]
London is ready to party May 31, 2012 Everywhere you turned yesterday there seemed to be rows and rows of festive flags of red, white and blue appearing in place for Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. People strolling along Oxford Street could hardly fail to notice the abundance of bunting, crowns and token corgis on display as retailers clamour to lure customers in [...]
LONDON REPORT June 10, 2012 THE week starts with a quarterly trading statement from grocer Tesco, which is expected to report a fall in earnings because of tough economic conditions and fierce competition. Tomorrow will see the release of the UK’s latest industrial production and manufacturing data, plus a speech from Paul Tucker, deputy governor of the Bank of England. [...]