Ikea names its next chief and plans new store opening spree September 18, 2012 IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, has promoted its current Sweden boss, company veteran Peter Agnefjall, 41, to the post of chief executive from September 2013. Mikael Ohlsson, leader since 2009, had informed the board he wished to step down after 34 years with Ikea. The reshuffle came as the firm pledged to speed up [...]
Morrisons is among the winners of the ongoing saga February 26, 2013 BRAND INDEX IKEA now joins the long list of brands to get hit by the horsemeat scandal. We won’t have numbers until later today but judging from what happened to Tesco, the Swedish group may well have a problem. The first time I wrote on this subject back in January, I said it might turn [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 24, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Fears over ECB funding scheme Concern is mounting among senior bankers that the European Central Bank’s special longer-term funding scheme risks backfiring, stigmatising the region’s weaker banks a year after it was launched. From the end of January banks have the opportunity to start paying back the cheap three-year money they borrowed under [...]
Why sometimes it pays to return to square one February 10, 2013 JASON Goldberg and Bradford Shellhammer, founders of the overnight internet sensation Fab.com, were almost too busy for our conversation to take place. That may be an occupational hazard if you’ve made it your mission to “change the world”. Fab.com is the hugely successful flash-sale site, that sells design items as diverse as furniture and jewellery [...]
Study Italy’s election: It is the shape of things to come in UK February 25, 2013 ITALY has spoken. Few in the City like what they are hearing, but they should listen carefully. Bond yields, which had fallen when it was thought the centre-left was cruising to victory, shot back up when it emerged that Silvio Berlusconi and a new, populist protest party were doing well. This bitterly divided vote is [...]
What the other papers say this morning November 22, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES State Street in pension fee probe UK regulators are investigating allegations that State Street overcharged Ireland’s state pension fund and several big UK corporate pension funds, including those of the Royal Mail and J Sainsbury, billing them for fees not included in their contracts, according to people familiar with the matter. Ireland’s national [...]
IKEA posts record profit January 20, 2012 Sweden’s IKEA, the world’s biggest furniture retailer, posted on Friday a record profit for the fiscal 2010/11 year on the back of growing sales and a bigger share in almost all of its markets. Net profit at the privately-held Swedish firm, known the world over for low-price, self-assembly, flat-packed furniture, rose 10.3 per cent to [...]
Twi not to fall asleep to Breaking Dawn November 15, 2012 Review 1: The Twi-Hard *** By Naomi Mdudu I like Twilight. A lot. Probably too much for someone who left her teenage years a good while ago. So, I had high hopes for the final instalment – hopes that weren’t entirely realised. The story picks up where we left off, shortly after Bella (Kristen Stewart) [...]
Coke to invest $3bn in India June 26, 2012 COCA-COLA announced a further $3bn (£1.92bn) in investment in India over the next eight years yesterday as the world’s biggest soft drinks maker seeks to expand in a country where its flagship brand trails rival Pepsi. The investment by Coca-Cola and its bottlers, on top of a $2bn five-year plan announced in November, will hearten [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 24, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES MPC member wants £50bn easing The Bank of England needs to pump at least another £50bn into Britain’s “stalled” economy, says David Miles of its interest rate-setting committee, warning that only a “substantial” third round of emergency bond-buying will kick-start recovery. Bank chiefs enjoy double-digit pay rises Top US and European bankers, including [...]