Banks take FTSE 100 to its fifth straight day of gains… June 30, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares rose sharply yesterday after the Greek parliament passed a second austerity bill to secure emergency funds, with riskier assets such as oil stocks, banks and miners leading the charge higher. The FTSE 100 index closed up 89.76 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 5,945.71, its fifth consecutive day of gains, managing to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 10, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES VIRGIN SEEKS US ROLE Virgin Trains is vying to play a role in the privatisation of the US rail industry in a move that could see it become the operator of the lucrative 457-mile route from Washington to Boston. Virgin, which already runs the profitable West Coast railway line between London and Glasgow [...]
Sainsbury’s shifts focus to non-food May 11, 2011 SAINSBURY’S yesterday said 40 per cent of its sales would be “non-food” by 2020 as it increasingly relies on clothing and other products for growth. The supermarket chain is in the middle of huge expansion with clothing and general merchandise being given more space. Sainsbury’s reported a 12.8 per cent jump in annual pre-tax profits [...]
Sainsbury’s shifts focus to non-food May 11, 2011 SAINSBURY’S yesterday said 40 per cent of its sales would be “non-food” by 2020 as it increasingly relies on clothing and other products for growth. The supermarket chain is in the middle of huge expansion with clothing and general merchandise being given more space. Sainsbury’s reported a 12.8 per cent jump in annual pre-tax profits [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 23, 2011 Agent Provocateur Retail veteran Chris Woodhouse has been appointed as non-executive chairman of luxury retailer Agent Provocateur. Woodhouse, director of Debenhams and chairman of restaurant group Gondola, which owns Pizza Express and ASK, will take a small stake in the lingerie business, which he will oversee alongside his existing role. Agent Provocateur, owned by private [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WILL THE SUPERMARKET’S PLANS ATTRACT INVESTORS? March 10, 2011 PHILIP DORGAN | ALTIUM SECURITIES Morrisons has grown its sales, profits, margins and return on capital. Not bad considering the state of the consumer economy. It is to return £1bn to shareholders over the next two years and has committed to double digit dividend growth. We are maintaining our ‘buy’ recommendation. RICHARD HUNTER | HARGREAVES [...]
Oil price fall fuels hopes of cheaper petrol May 11, 2011 CRUDE oil prices dropped below $100 a barrel and US petrol futures slumped yesterday, fuelling hopes that UK forecourt prices may fall substantially soon. Crude futures plunged more than five per cent in the week’s second major oil price fall, with light sweet crude for June hitting a low of $97.50 (£59.55). Brent crude traded [...]
Tesco Bank lags its parent supermarket brand April 26, 2011 WITH Tesco boss Phil Clarke saying that expanding its presence within the banking sector is one of his top priorities we’ve looked at BrandIndex data to make an assessment of the potential it has there. Tesco Bank itself does not fare especially well at the moment. On the index measure it is in 18th place [...]
John Lewis sales hit by wedding and easter May 6, 2011 Easter and a half-day closure for the royal wedding led to a sharp fall in weekly sales at Britain’s biggest department store chain John Lewis, it said. Sales dropped 9.2 per cent year-on-year to £48.7m in the week ended 30 April, and were down 10.7 percent excluding VAT sales tax. Employee-owned John Lewis, viewed as [...]
Mining shares rebound and oil stocks rise on supply fears June 9, 2011 MINERS rebounded from the previous day’s sharp sell-off to help push Britain’s top share index higher yesterday, while oil stocks tracked crude higher on supply fears. The FTSE 100 closed up 47.45 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 5,856.34, having bounced well clear of the session low of 5,795.00, although thin volumes exaggerated the index’s [...]