New Look hires JPMorgan as it eyes £2bn float February 23, 2015 Fast fashion chain New Look has taken a step closer to an initial public listing (IPO), having hired JP Morgan to work on options for a flotation. Reports suggest the retailer, which is currently owned by private equity firms Apax and Permira as well as founder Tom Singh, could be valued at as much [...]
ECB bond-buying programme sends indices soaring up – London Report January 22, 2015 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank’s €1.14 trillion bond-buying programme sent UK shares to their highest level for four months yesterday. The FTSE 100 finished up 68.59 points, or 1.02 per cent, at 6,796.63, its highest since 19 September last year. Among the risers Royal Mail gained 3.55 per cent to 445.80p after a good Christmas performance [...]
Primark to open stores in northeast US April 23, 2014 Primark is set to make its first foray in the US, opening stores in the north east, owner Associated British Foods has announced this morning. After “extensive research”, the decision’s been made to take the budget high street shop to consumers in the US, AB Foods said. A new store with 70,000 square feet of selling [...]
Primark to lift profit at AB Foods April 21, 2014 ASSOCIATED British Foods’ (ABF) booming high street chain Primark is expected to reveal a 21 per cent jump in first half operating profits this week, helping to offset falling profits at its troubled sugar business. The FTSE 100 owner Twinings tea and Kingsmill bread, which will report its half year results tomorrow, guided in February [...]
Sir Philip Green sold BHS for £1 – but can the high street stalwart be salvaged? March 16, 2015 It’s a rare day when retail mogul and the official patron saint of lost causes Sir Philip Green decides to throw in the towel. The tycoon’s decision last week to back out of BHS after 15 years of ownership and offload it to a previously unknown group of investors for £1 set the City’s retail [...]
Primark set to launch its first stores in the US April 23, 2014 ASSOCIATED British Foods (ABF) is taking Primark to the US, the FTSE 100 conglomerate announced yesterday, as it reported a 26 per cent leap in the budget clothing chain’s profits. Primark is set to open a 70,000 square foot store in Boston in 2015 and it is also in talks to open a further eight [...]
BHS sale spells break-up of Philip Green’s empire January 26, 2015 SIR PHILIP Green is looking to sell a chunk of the vast retail empire he has built up over the last 15 years after receiving several takeover approaches for the struggling department store group BHS. Green bought the chain – then known as British Home Stores – for £200m in 2000 from retail conglomerate Storehouse, [...]
Primark buoys AB Foods as sugar continues to sour performance April 23, 2014 Shares in Primark owner Associated British Foods are up over six per cent this morning, after the group announced a six per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £434m in the first half of the financial year, and a 26 per cent jump in Primark's profit. The group called the results “resilient”, despite facing ongoing challenges [...]
Sales down but market share up as New Look turnaround continues February 10, 2015 New Look has suffered declines in the “unseasonably warm” three months to December 27- but the fast fashion chain is still buoyant after growing market share. The figures New Look's revenues dropped 1.6 per cent in the third quarter, from £406.6m to £399.9m. Adjusted EBITDA was £76.8m, down 2.7 per cent from £78.9m last [...]
LondonMetric signs Primark pre-let April 1, 2014 Property developer LondonMetric has signed a deal to build a huge distribution centre in Northamptonshire for a “top 25 retailer” understood to be Primark. The warehouse on the A16 in Islip will span 1.06m square feet – the size of around 38 football pitches – and has been pre-let to Primark on a 25 year [...]