Freezer King bags £542m as AO.com soars February 26, 2014 AO WORLD founder John Roberts is sitting on cash and shares worth around £542m after the online white goods empire he founded 14 years ago made a grand entrance onto the London Stock Exchange yesterday, with shares leaping 32 per cent. Roberts has reduced his 40 per cent stake to 28.6 per cent, the company [...]
Weak French economy leaves Kingfisher with flat sales November 28, 2013 Kingfisher has seen flat sales for the 13 weeks ended 2 November, due to a poorly performing French economy. Profits in France dropped by 5.6 per cent over the period. The owner of B&Q and Screwfix saw like-for-like sales in France of £1.17bn. Analysts at Deutsche Bank had expected a sales increase of 0.3 per [...]
The financial A to Z of Scottish independence – CNBC Comment September 15, 2014 A new, independent Scotland might flummox a foreign visitor. So it’s lucky this financial A to Z has turned up – even if some say it’s a parody of the Better Together campaign. A: Alex – Scotland’s official unit of currency, though largely superseded by an informal bartering system, where one barrel of oil [...]
Kingfisher falls after caution on French market November 28, 2013 SHARES in Kingfisher, Europe’s biggest home improvements retailer, slumped yesterday as it posted third-quarter profit at the lower end of forecasts and cautioned that its markets remained tough, particularly in France where consumer confidence is weak. The firm said yesterday there was no obvious sign of an imminent improvement in consumer sentiment in France, its most [...]
Top think tanks compete for Think Tank Top at Institute of Directors July 16, 2014 The Institute of Directors was bustling with activity last night as it hosted a handful of events in its hallowed halls, but boss Simon Walker only had eyes for one shindig – the Think Tank Awards. “It’s fantastic to host an award for these folks, we love think tanks… well, most of them,” [...]
Kingfisher cuts back on space to save on costs September 11, 2013 B&Q OWNER Kingfisher said yesterday it is to scale back or exit 18 of its stores across the UK as the DIY retailer looks for ways to ease its lease burden and boost profitability. Several retailers, including Topshop owner Arcadia, have been shedding stores as leases come up for renewal to reflect changes in [...]
Kingfisher to shift sourcing away from China October 8, 2013 KINGFISHER, Europe’s biggest home improvements retailer, said yesterday it planned to source more products from eastern Europe and Turkey to counter higher costs in China, and build a central warehouse in Europe to improve its supply chain. The company, which owns B&Q and has suffered from weak demand due to sagging housing markets in many [...]
Grapple investors share £40m pot after payment firm swoops September 5, 2013 LONDON-based design agency Grapple Mobile was snapped up by Monitise yesterday, bagging its founders a large share in the £39.4m price tag. Grapple is a design agency which provides smartphone solutions for brands such as Whitbread, Sky & B&Q. Yesterday Monitise bought its entire share capital for £16.5m, with a further payment of up to [...]
Best of the Brokers for 16 September 2013 September 15, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com GALLIFORD TRY Peel Hunt reckons investors should “buy” the housebuilder, and has a target of 1,100p, ahead of final results due tomorrow. The broker predicts record profit of around £74m, up 19 per cent on last year thanks to higher margins, and expects [...]
Summer weather warms up Kingfisher sales July 24, 2013 KINGFISHER, the home improvement retailer that owns B&Q, today unveiled a 5.2 per cent increase in sales over the quarter, helped by improved weather conditions. Sales in the UK and Ireland rose 3.6 per cent, while sales of outdoor and seasonal products rose by nearly 20 per cent, representing almost 40 per cent of total [...]