Topps Tiles predicts upturn despite seeing profit dive in tough trading June 2, 2010 TOPPS Tiles yesterday posted a ten per cent fall in first-half adjusted pre-tax profit as consumers curbed spending amid the downturn and said it expected trading in the retail sector to remain tough. The company, which sells wood and tile flooring from 309 stores in Britain, said total revenue for the first seven weeks of [...]
Price hike Britain January 18, 2011 Fears were growing last night that Britain faces an explosion in the cost of living, with spiralling inflation threatening to erode savings and squeeze households already facing higher taxes. The consumer price index (CPI) shot up in December at the fastest rate since the Office of National Statistics (ONS) began reporting it in 1996, the [...]
WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR BOTH UK RETAIL SALES AND CONSUMER SPENDING? May 16, 2010 PHILIP SHAW | INVESTEC “Our suspicion is that pre-election jitters could have had a negative impact on shoppers, as it appears to have had in the Nationwide measure of consumer confidence. We are pencilling in decline of 0.5 per cent on the month but would warn that the monthly series is unpredictable.” PETER DIXON | [...]
Car production soars by 44pc May 20, 2010 CAR production in Britain jumped by 44 per cent in April compared with the same month last year. A total of 98,290 cars were made in the month as the industry emerged from recession. Commercial vehicle production also rose – increasing 40.8 per cent to 10,777, according to the society of motoring Manufacturers and Traders. [...]
Wolseley is confident as profits rise December 7, 2010 WOLSELEY, the world’s largest plumbers and builders merchant, posted a 39 per cent rise in first-quarter trading profit, helped by top-line growth in all regions. The FTSE 100 company said underlying operating profit rose to £159m in the three months to end-October, with like-for-like revenue up four per cent to £3.47bn. “This is a business [...]
Wolseley is confident as profits rise December 7, 2010 WOLSELEY, the world’s largest plumbers and builders merchant, posted a 39 per cent rise in first-quarter trading profit, helped by top-line growth in all regions. The FTSE 100 company said underlying operating profit rose to £159m in the three months to end-October, with like-for-like revenue up four per cent to £3.47bn. “This is a business [...]
Shock fall in September retail sales October 21, 2010 THE high street suffered a shock fall in retail sales last month, raising fears that consumer spending is slowing even before the austerity measures really begin to bite. Headline retail sales fell by 0.2 per cent for a second consecutive month in September after a downwardly-revised drop of 0.7 per cent in August. Economists had [...]
Political uncertainty unnerves consumers April 14, 2010 THE impending general election and the recent Budget have caused British consumers to lose confidence in both the current economic situation and their expectations for the coming year, the Nationwide consumer confidence survey will show today. According to the monthly report, the overall index fell by nine points to 72 last month from 81 in [...]
Markets slump on fears of double-dip June 29, 2010 MARKETS on both sides of the Atlantic plummeted yesterday as doubts over the strength of the global recovery and the possibility of a Europe-wide cash crisis triggered fears of a re-run of the 2008 recession when investors sold all but the safest assets. The FTSE 100 crashed 3.1 per cent, closing at 4914.22 – its [...]
Our nation of shoppers is not about to quit the habit yet July 14, 2010 SINCE the onset of the recession, the pressure has increased to turn the UK economy into a manufacturing centre of excellence and at the same time become a nation of savers. But has the nation really turned its back on its former favourite pastime, shopping? Well, the hard data would suggest no. According to the [...]