Supermarket Ocado edges towards profit February 7, 2013 ONLINE grocer Ocado yesterday narrowed year-end losses from £2.4m to just £600,000 as it edged ever closer towards profitability, easing the concerns of long-suffering investors. Shares in the company, which has not made a profit since it began trading thirteen years ago, yesterday closed up 11 per cent at 115.9p. This is still well below [...]
Sainsbury’s unveils rise in Christmas sales January 9, 2013 Sainsbury’s saw a record number of customers over the Christmas period, as it reported a small rise in sales over its third quarter. In a trading statement this morning, the supermarket posted an increase of 3.9 per cent in total sales over the 14 weeks to 5 January, while sales at stores open longer than [...]
Mining and banking shares boost FTSE February 11, 2013 The leading share index was modestly up in early deals, as mining and banking shares boosted the FTSE 100. Russian steelmaker Evraz rose 1.77 per cent. Miner Eurasian Natural Resources was up almost 1.7 per cent in early deals. Last week the Kazakh-focused miner soared more than nine per cent as it reported a jump [...]
Strong IT spending in UK boosts Computacenter in spite of euro January 17, 2013 IT FIRM Computacenter said yesterday strong demand for services in the UK had propelled rising revenues, even as a weak euro threatened to hit turnover. The company, which operates in more than 100 countries, said in constant currency terms its revenues had increased six per cent last year, but accounting for currency fluctuations, this was [...]
Tesco fightback steadies giant’s market share January 29, 2013 TESCO maintained its market share and matched market growth for the first time since June 2011, according to the latest grocery share data from Kantar Worldpanel. The UK’s biggest supermarket grew sales year-on-year by 3.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to 20 January, giving it a market share of 30.4 per cent, as its [...]
Britain isn’t classless but it’s time we all stopped worrying about it April 9, 2013 WHAT does a classless society look like? Is George Osborne its emblem – heir to a seventeenth baronetcy, but willing to drop his crystalline intonation to find common ground with a bunch of Morrison’s shelf stackers? Or is it only found in particular places? Perhaps class first died in London’s Docklands, gutted by war and [...]
Spurs march on but Villas-Boas faces striker headache after injury to Defoe February 3, 2013 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 0 vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 TOTTENHAM manager Andre Villas-Boas admitted that he is sweating over the fitness of Jermain Defoe after the striker limped out of yesterday’s win at the Hawthorns. A second half strike from Gareth Bale earned Spurs all three points against West Brom, who played nearly half of the [...]
Grocers set to unveil festive trading figures January 7, 2013 TESCO is expected to emerge as the winner of a tough Christmas trading period for Britain’s big four supermarkets as weak consumer confidence, falling real incomes and rising real prices put pressure on the sector. Analysts predict the grocer will on Thursday post a one per cent rise in UK like-for-like sales for the six [...]
Morrisons sales dip in tough market May 3, 2012 Morrisons posted a fall in underlying sales in its first quarter, reflecting tough comparatives with a bumper period of trading last year and customers switching to rivals who are promoting more heavily. The supermarket chain, which trails market leader Tesco, Wal-Mart’s Asda and J Sainsbury in UK market share, said on sales at stores open [...]
Waitrose smashes Christmas sales records January 3, 2013 WAITROSE yesterday toasted record trading in the run-up to the New Year after the grocer said aggressive promotions on products such as champagne and its Brand Price Match campaign helped to lure customers from rivals. The upmarket supermarket, which is owned by John Lewis, said like-for-like sales rose 5.4 per cent between 18 December New [...]