Miners dent FTSE as UK retail suffers blow March 22, 2012 Miners pegged back the FTSE 100 in early trading as more data suggesting China’s economic growth is slowing took its toll. The first full trading session sine Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget speech saw investors shun riskier assets with banks also being knocked back. Factory activity in China was down for the fifth month in a [...]
B&Q decline takes toll on Kingfisher July 21, 2011 SALES at Kingfisher’s B&Q have slumped, with the company warning of “challenging” trading conditions. Like-for-like sales at B&Q, which has 330 stores, fell 6.7 per cent in the 11 weeks to 16 July. Kingfisher’s UK sales overall dropped by 5.5 per cent, with a good performance by trade supplier Screwfix offsetting some of the poor [...]
Travis Perkins buys out Toolstation from founder January 3, 2012 THE FOUNDER of Somerset-based hardware store Toolstation netted a £24m windfall yesterday after Travis Perkins – owner of DIY chain Wickes – bought the company. Mark Goddard-Watts set up the business in 2003 after leaving rival Screwfix, which he also founded, following its takeover by B&Q owner Kingfisher. Yesterday he sold the remaining 70 per [...]
Explore beyond limits: Acer sets its sights on emotional branding June 19, 2012 COUNTDOWN TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES 37 DAYS TO GO Q What’s your brand’s primary reason for being involved with the Games? A Acer is proud to be the world-wide computing partner of the Olympic movement. We feel we share the Olympic values, and have a deep respect for the sports and its athletes. [...]
Mild autumn boosts profit at Kingfisher December 1, 2011 KINGFISHER posted better-than-expected third quarter profits yesterday, after the unseasonally mild autumn weather helped boost sales at the retailer’s stores in the UK and France. Europe’s biggest DIY company, which runs over 800 stores across the continent, posted a 13.9 per cent rise in operating profit to £273m in the the 13 weeks to 29 [...]
Mild autumn boosts profit at Kingfisher December 1, 2011 KINGFISHER posted better-than-expected third quarter profits yesterday, after the unseasonally mild autumn weather helped boost sales at the retailer’s stores in the UK and France. Europe’s biggest DIY company, which runs over 800 stores across the continent, posted a 13.9 per cent rise in operating profit to £273m in the the 13 weeks to 29 [...]
Extreme tech: Atos sees Olympics exposure as a real-time showcase June 26, 2012 COUNTDOWN TO THE LONDON2012 OLYMPIC GAMES 30 DAYS TO GO Q What’s your brand’s primary reason for being involved with the Games? A We’ve been involved since Barcelona in 1992. We became a worldwide IT partner in 2001, and we’re committed through to Rio in 2016. There’s two reasons why it works. I think the [...]
Analysts warn bailout debts may hurt Spain June 10, 2012 INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) boss Christine Lagarde welcomed Spain’s bailout deal as “key” to the financial sector’s future stability. But analysts warned that it may offer only temporary reprieve from the strains of the sovereign debt crisis, in part because the deal adds up-to €100bn (£81bn) to Spain’s already dangerously large public debt. “Providing a [...]
Kingfisher beats forecasts December 1, 2011 Kingfisher beat forecasts with a 14 per cent rise in third-quarter earnings as market share gains and a drive to improve margins offset weak sales in Britain and slowing growth in France. The group, which runs British market leader B&Q as well as Castorama and Brico Depot in France and elsewhere, said on Thursday it [...]
Banks steady FTSE but retailers dive January 12, 2012 The FTSE 100 index saw modest rises this morning as banks performed well in stark contrast to the retail sector which was pulled down by a string of poor results from heavyweights including Tesco. Investors were also digesting the results of a Spanish sovereign debt auction which showed yields going in a positive direction. Spain [...]