Chief executives earn trust with honest answers March 12, 2012 WHEN Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF, recently gave an interview, he knew that trust in energy companies was at an all-time low. The interview was the perfect opportunity to start rebuilding it. So he mentioned “trust” – 61 times in fact – and little else. Unsurprisingly he was pilloried. EDF will wrongly blame [...]
Asda takes George brand to Middle East January 25, 2012 ASDA, the British arm of US retailer Wal-Mart, has signed a franchise deal with a Lebanon-based firm to take its George budget fashion brand to the Middle East. The UK’s second largest supermarket said in a statement yesterday that the Azadea Group, headquartered in Beirut, would explore options for its George label in the Middle [...]
Woes in the UK could last for a while December 8, 2011 THERE is a sense of fin de siècle surrounding Tesco these days. Sir Terry Leahy, who first joined the supermarket giant in 1979, has left the building, with a clutch of his key lieutenants in tow. Sales at existing stores, which have risen inexorably in recent years, are flagging. Its market share, once a source [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 21, 2011 CARNIVAL Deutsche Bank rates the cruise company as a “buy” with a target price of 2,650p after fourth quarter results that showed earnings per share (EPS) in line with the broker’s expectations of 28 cents. Deutsche points out that while it expected no extra stock to have been purchased following a significant buyback in the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 21, 2011 CARNIVAL Deutsche Bank rates the cruise company as a “buy” with a target price of 2,650p after fourth quarter results that showed earnings per share (EPS) in line with the broker’s expectations of 28 cents. Deutsche points out that while it expected no extra stock to have been purchased following a significant buyback in the [...]
Tesco opens Asia training centre for 100,000 staff July 7, 2011 Tesco has opened a £30m training centre in South Korea to train its staff across Asia. The group posted Asian sales last year of £11bn from consumers in South Korea, China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and India. Tesco is the first FTSE 100 company to open such a training academy in Asia. Workers will be taught [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 24, 2012 RYANAIR Espirito Santo rates the airline “buy” and has a target price of €4.60. The broker is expecting the firm to post a net loss of €18m in its quarterly results next week, on revenues of €806m. It thinks Ryanair’s current trading is on track and that the firm’s decision to cut capacity over the [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WERE MORRISONS’ RESULTS IN LINE WITH EXPECTATIONS? January 9, 2012 PHILIP DORGAN | PANMURE GORDON Christmas trading was slightly below best expectations, although in line with the market. Morrison’s shares were fantastic performers in 2011 and, while we see no real downside, we expect others within the sector to pick up the baton in 2012. CLIVE BLACK | SHORE CAPITAL We deem such a performance [...]
FTSE pulled down by poor showing from energy stocks March 15, 2012 Britain’s leading share index slipped yesterday, weighed down by weakness in heavyweight energy stocks after recent gains, with investors also looking ahead to futures and options expiries. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was down 4.71 points or 0.1 per cent at 5,940.72, having shed 0.2 per cent in the previous session following five [...]
Tesco UK sales fall short June 14, 2011 Tesco, the world’s No.3 retailer, missed forecasts with a second consecutive quarterly fall in underlying sales in its main UK market as cash-strapped shoppers cut back on discretionary spending. The supermarket group said sales at stores in the UK open at least a year fell 0.1 per cent, excluding petrol and changes in VAT sales [...]