Retail successes and failures in the US April 23, 2014 Primark is making its first foray into the US, which has in the past proved to be a tough market to crack and one often described as the graveyard of UK retailers. However alongside a number of failures there have been several success stories. BurberryBurberry has proved to be one of the biggest British retail [...]
What you need to know before the open May 21, 2014 A lower open for European markets this morning, with stocks expected to fall further from highs recently seen, following US and Asian counterparts. We've got central bank minutes out later today from both the Bank of England and Fed. Corporate news SSE’s reported a 9.6 per cent rise in profit before tax, to £1.55bn, despite [...]
Apple preparing for iWatch launch with another high profile hire July 5, 2014 Apple appears to be gearing up for the impending launch of its iWatch with another high profile hire, poaching a senior executive from Swiss luxury watch brand Tag Heuer. Tag Heuer, part of luxury goods group LVMH, announced that vice president for sales Patrick Pruniaux will be leaving the company on Monday 7 July to join [...]
Luxury brands’ share prices are falling today. Here’s why June 6, 2014 Yesterday's shock results from luxury stalwart Prada have had a knock-on effect this morning. The brand lost over six per cent, hitting a two-year low, after announcing a surprise fall in quarterly sales and suggesting a possible slashing of its full-year guidance. And this morning, it's dragging down other major luxury retailers with it. Shares [...]
Best of the Brokers for 14 April 2014 April 14, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com RIO TINTO UBS thinks the mining group is a “buy” and has a target price of £40 ahead of a production update tomorrow. The broker thinks iron ore output will be eight per cent down on the previous quarter, due to tough weather [...]
London Report: Royal Mail set to deliver first annual results May 18, 2014 YEARLY results for Royal Mail this week are likely to inflame anger over the company’s issue price, as analysts expect a significant profit leap. JP Morgan said recently it “remains bullish” and set a target price of 756p a share – a huge jump from the 330p offer price. In economic news, the Bank of [...]
BSkyB CEO Jeremy Darroch is set on change July 7, 2014 Chief executive Jeremy Darroch tells David Hellier how he is bent on encouraging even more people to fall in love with Sky Talking about the way BSkyB has changed over the years, its chief executive Jeremy Darroch says: “You don’t keep being successful by doing things in the same way.” As he speaks, [...]
Women’s watches: fashion houses May 23, 2014 Chanel J12 White Classic, £3,300, chanel.com There are many subtle nuances of snobbery in the world of watches. One particular favourite is when a group of watch journalists gather and someone inevitably asks: “what are you wearing?” Those with Swiss-made, in-house movements look down on those whose watches contain an off-the-peg one. Those wearing [...]
How the FTSE 100 is being undermined by the strong pound April 24, 2014 The mood music for the British economy has been sounding all the right notes this year. But one section of the business community are not tapping their feet – stocks listed on the UK’s top share index the FTSE 100. According to a new note from investment bank Deutsche Bank, business analyst have revised down [...]
City squeezed by stronger pound April 28, 2014 BRITISH investors will lose out on billions of pounds due to soaring sterling, raising fears the currency will undermine the competitiveness of City-based multinationals and hammer shareholders. Scores of UK blue chip companies who report their profits in dollars are set to deliver smaller sterling payouts to investors this year after the pound climbed to [...]