Sales grow at Morrisons November 19, 2009 WM Morrison yesterday unveiled strong third quarter sales, a day after the City and investors were left reeling from the shock departure of its chief executive Marc Bolland. The group said like-for-like sales rose 4.3 per cent in the 13 weeks to 1 November, just below expectations, as slowing food inflation pegged back growth from [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 10, 2009 TESCOJP Morgan said that 2009/10 will be a year of two halves for Tesco in terms of like-for-like growth, margin development and competition. The broker reiterated its “underweight” rating and 335p target price, saying that the chain remains a company with great assets and management track record but that it faces challenges. GAME GROUPGame’s current [...]
Japanese whisky, the spirit of Christmas November 11, 2009 IF JAPANESE whisky sounds like a joke – something akin to the Jamaican bobsleigh team, or Indian wine – then you clearly don’t know very much about spirits. At last year’s World Whisky Awards, Yoichi 20-year-old was voted the best whisky in the world, while Suntory’s Hibiki was voted the best blended whisky. If you [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 17, 2009 Virgin MediaThe media group has appointed Eamonn O’Hare, previously UK finance director of supermarket giant Tesco, as its new chief financial officer. O’Hare, who will assume his new role in November, has been at Tesco for the past four years. Prior to that, he played a key role in the turnaround of Energis, where he [...]
Hung parliament would fuel UKcrisis November 30, 2009 IT was certainly impeccable timing. A note yesterday from Morgan Stanley predicting fiscal carnage in Britain in the event of a hung parliament was released just hours before a ComRes opinion poll revealed a slump in the Tory vote. The chances of no party gaining overall control of the House of Commons had suddenly increased; [...]
Bid talk pushes Dana higher as FTSE 100 loses its grip November 17, 2009 A retreat in miners and banks offset strength in defensive utilities and food retailers yesterday, pushing the FTSE 100 lower by 0.7 per cent lower, ending four consecutive sessions of gains. The index closed 36.74 points lower at 5,345.93, giving back some gains from the previous session when shares hit a 14-month closing high. Mid-cap [...]
AT-A-GLANCE October 5, 2009 • UnemploymentShadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May fleshed out well-trailed plans for welfare reform, outlining a scheme that will give personalised help to young people who have been unemployed for over six months. Under Labour’s existing New Deal scheme, a young jobless person must have been out-of-work for 12 months before they are given [...]
B&B will split assets up to repay its loan October 25, 2009 PART-nationalised bank Bradford & Bingley (B&B) will split up its £50bn balance sheet into “good” and “bad” assets, in a move which mirrors the restructuring plans at Northern Rock. The group wants to sell off the “good” assets to private companies in a bid to repay its loans. Its mortgage book was nationalised last year, [...]
Co-operative enjoys mutual benefits October 12, 2009 THE CO-OPERATIVE Group, Britain’s biggest mutually owned retailer, yesterday reported a 17 per cent rise in profits, boosted by strong food sales and acquisitions. The Co-op, which bought rival food retailer Somerfield and the Britannia Building Society earlier in the year, said pre-tax profits had jumped to £229m in the six months to 25 July. [...]
Pirc raises concerns over Sky October 15, 2009 BSKYB investors were yesterday urged to oppose the re-election of five of its board members and to vote against the firm’s remuneration report at its annual meeting next week. Investor body Pirc issued an alert expressing its concerns over a lack of independent representation on BSKB’s board, because a number of non-executive directors have links [...]