Banks and retailers rally to steer the FTSE 100 ahead May 27, 2009 GAINS in banks and retailers outweighed weakness in energy stocks and drugmakers yesterday to leave the FTSE 100 up by 0.1 per cent, or 4.51 points, at 4,416.23. Trade was thin with just 67 per cent of the average of the last 90 days of trading transacted with the absence of concrete data on the [...]
Morrisons outstrips its rivals May 27, 2009 Morrisons is growing at the fastest rate of the big four supermarkets with Tesco continuing to lag behind the pack, according to new industry data. Britain’s fourth-biggest grocer clocked up growth of 7.9 per cent in the 12 weeks to 17 May, lifting its market share to 11.6 per cent. Sainsbury’s, with 7.8 per cent [...]
Hop & glory May 27, 2009 MOST people, when they think of a thirst-quenching beer for summer, probably go no further than lager. Now, there is nothing wrong with a good lager, the problem is simply that there are plenty of sub-standard ones about. The pints of fizz flowing from the beer-taps of many pubs are second-rate and suffer from mass-production. [...]
Hop & glory May 27, 2009 MOST people, when they think of a thirst-quenching beer for summer, probably go no further than lager. Now, there is nothing wrong with a good lager, the problem is simply that there are plenty of sub-standard ones about. The pints of fizz flowing from the beer-taps of many pubs are second-rate and suffer from mass-production. [...]
US consumer confidence boosts late London trading May 26, 2009 BETTER than expected consumer confidence data out of the US gave the FTSE 100 a much-needed boost yesterday afternoon, after Asia’s sell-off – driven by concerns of heightening geopolictical tension on the Korean peninsula – infected the London markets in early trading. “Following the release of the US consumer confidence data there was an immediate [...]
Staff cash in after record Tesco profits May 26, 2009 MORE than 207,000 Tesco employees are to scoop up share bonuses worth a total of £98m, it was revealed yesterday, after the giant retailer posted record annual results. Under the group’s “Share in Success” scheme, checkout workers to store managers that have worked with the supermarket for at least a year by the end of [...]
Re-think for Tesco’s US venture May 21, 2009 Tesco is making major changes in its US Fresh & Easy stores as analysts worry that the one-and-a-half year old chain is still searching for a successful niche. In what it calls an “evolution,” Tesco is putting more focus on value and adding about 1,000 items to its small-format Fresh & Easy stores’ current 3,500-product [...]
No sign of vertigo as banks take the FTSE 100 higher May 19, 2009 THE FTSE 100 continued its upward momentum yesterday, propelled up by financials and miners, although gains were limited by figures that showed new US housing starts fell to record lows. The index closed 0.8 per cent, or 35.80 points, higher at 4,482.25, with investors showing no sign of vertigo from the recent hefty rises. “Despite [...]
Marks & Spencer is no longer special May 19, 2009 FOR a supposed retail guru, Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose is not doing well. His firm is underperforming Tesco, J Sainsbury, Morrisons and Alliance Boots, among others. Yesterday’s grim full year results show that the firm has a lot of hard thinking to do. Its product and pricing mix still isn’t quite right; [...]
KKR could yet pull off huge Boots coup May 18, 2009 TOGETHER with Guy Hands’ purchase of EMI, the creation and buy-out of Alliance Boots, the pharmacy-led health and beauty group, was one of the symbolic deals of the boom years. The firm was created when Alliance UniChem merged with Boots in 2006, before becoming the first FTSE 100 member to be taken private by a [...]