House of Fraser sales lifted by demand for own label brands June 25, 2014 DEPARTMENT store chain House of Fraser saw same store sales rise two per cent in the first three months of the year, as customers snapped up its own-label brands. House labels, including Linea and Kenneth Cole, jumped eight per cent in the 13 weeks to 26 April while branded and concessions sales both rose by [...]
New Look sells French arm Mim to newly-created business Main Asia September 5, 2014 New Look has sold its French business Mim for an undisclosed sum, to a Hong Kong-based company about which relatively little information has been made available. Main Asia (HK) was established earlier this year to acquire Mim, and the main shareholders and management are “active in apparel and textile manufacturing and trading, along with [...]
Who will Arsenal face in the Champions League play-off? One for Gunners to avoid as Bilbao lurk August 7, 2014 Arsenal’s hopes of reaching the Champions League proper suffered a potential setback last night as Athletic Bilbao slipped into the pot of teams which the Gunners could draw in the group stage play-off. Arsene Wenger’s side, who finished fourth in the Premier League last season, will enter the draw as one of the seeded teams [...]
Simon Fraser is fighting for hearts and minds at the Investor Forum July 2, 2014 Does someone at the new body set up to promote investor long-termism have a bizarre sense of humour? That was one interpretation of yesterday’s confirmation that Simon Fraser, former global chief investment officer of Fidelity, would be its first chairman. After all, Fraser was until recently a board member at the bete [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct swoops on MySale stock June 18, 2014 Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct yesterday snapped up a 4.8 per cent stake in online fashion site MySale just a day after a pricing error caused shares to tank on its stock market debut. MySale plunged 27 per cent on Tuesday after the share price was listed as 2.26p instead of 226p, leading trading programmes to [...]
Tesco seals deal to sell House of Fraser products June 2, 2014 TESCO has struck a deal with House of Fraser to sell the department store’s products on its website, the supermarket giant said yesterday, as it seeks to stem its declining sales. After trialling the offer earlier this month, Tesco said House of Fraser has agreed to sell 2,000 products from homeware brands including Linea and [...]
Land Securities buys Bluewater shopping mall stake for £656m June 25, 2014 LAND Securities has bought Lend Lease’s 30 per cent stake in Britain’s fourth largest shopping centre Bluewater for £656m after a heated battle for the site. The acquisition is a coup for property giant, which has been selling several of its regional shopping centres in order to make way for acquisitions in the south east [...]
House of Fraser sales hit record for new owners April 15, 2014 BOOMING online sales helped House of Fraser deliver record gross profits last year, the department group said yesterday in the wake of its acquisition by Chinese conglomerate Sanpower. House of Fraser’s adjusted earnings rose 8.3 per cent to £60.2m in the year to 25 January while gross profits hit £430.6m – its highest ever level, [...]
Ashley fails to derail House of Fraser takeover April 7, 2014 HOUSE of Fraser’s sale to a Chinese conglomerate is set to go ahead, despite Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley’s efforts to scupper the deal, City A.M. understands. Chinese powerhouse Sanpower Group agreed to buy 89 per cent of the department store chain on Friday, in a deal valued at around £450m. Sportswear magnate Ashley has [...]
Letters to the Editor – 11/06 – Ofsted inspections, Best of Twitter June 10, 2014 Ofsted inspections [Re: Should schools be subject to snap Ofsted inspections, yesterday] Ofsted has demonstrated that it is incapable of looking after the interests of children and young people. Labelling schools that were judged “outstanding” a few months ago as “inadequate” now confirms that its judgements are capricious: its inspectors go into schools to look [...]