Co-op profits soar after supermarket sells 180 pizzas for every minute of football during the World Cup September 14, 2018 Co-op's profits soared in the first half of the year after the supermarket sold more than 180 pizzas for every minute of football played during the World Cup. Sales increased to £5bn, up 10 per cent on the first half of 2017, also driven by its £143m acquisition of Nisa in May. Pre-tax profits almost [...]
Co-op profits soar after supermarket sells 180 pizzas for every minute of football during the World Cup September 14, 2018 Co-op's profits soared in the first half of the year after the supermarket sold more than 180 pizzas for every minute of football played during the World Cup. Sales increased to £5bn, up 10 per cent on the first half of 2017, also driven by its £143m acquisition of Nisa in May. Pre-tax profits almost [...]
Iceland’s banned palm oil advert could win over middle class shoppers as supermarkets prepare for Christmas November 13, 2018 Iceland could get a shot in the arm from its banned Christmas advert by appealing to middle class shoppers, according to consumer research firm Kantar Worldpanel. The supermarket's advert, which caused a storm on social media when it was deemed “too political” to be aired by Clearcast, could be exactly what the store needs to reach out to [...]
Lloyds Bank stars as FTSE 100 rockets in Q1 April 9, 2019 By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. After a great first quarter for stock markets, we assess the best and worst blue-chips of 2019 so far. It’s been a storming start to 2019 for the FTSE 100 index, with popular interactive investor stocks including Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY), Next (LSE:NXT) and Tesco (LSE:TSCO) among those on [...]
10 shares to generate £10,000 income in 2019 February 11, 2019 Four years ago, we asked how much an individual would need to invest in order to generate an annual income of £10,000 from corporate dividend payments. Rising yields have allowed us to reduce the amount each year and still meet the income objective, but 2018 proved a stiffer test and requires some explaining. First, big [...]
Supermarket sweep: Which FTSE 100 grocer is the best buy? August 14, 2018 British supermarkets haven’t had an easy ride lately. There’s been plenty for them to worry about – the biggest being the rising cost of imports as sterling has continued to slide (the pound dropped to €1.11 and $1.28 last week). A weak pound has tightened profit margins. And with heavy competition from discount retailers, passing [...]
FTSE 100 and sterling climb on Brexit delay possibility and US-China trade tensions easing December 12, 2018 The FTSE 100 is up one per cent today despite blue-on-blue infighting in the Tory party seeing Prime Minister Theresa May face a threat of a no confidence vote this evening. Conservatives will vote in a secret ballot tonight on whether they wish May to remain leader or whether she should stand down, after she [...]
McColl’s sales still impacted by Palmer & Harvey collapse September 4, 2018 Sales at convenience retailer McColl's have struggled to pick up for another quarter as the company still grapples with the collapse of wholesaler Palmer & Harvey. The figures Total revenue in the 13 weeks to 26 August was up 0.6 per cent, but like-for-like sales slipped 0.9 per cent due to continued supply chain disruption. [...]
We live in a material world, so let’s embrace Black Friday – and freedom November 23, 2018 Today is Black Friday: a day that conjures up images of keen shoppers scrambling to be first in the door at 5am to secure that half-price LED 50-inch TV, while scrums of people fight tooth and nail for the last discounted kettle. This is how we usually characterise this annual sales fest, ever since Asda [...]
Aldi and Lidl continue to attract customers – so what impact will Tesco’s budget chain Jack’s have? September 26, 2018 Recently Tesco unveiled its first Jack’s discount store. With a strong emphasis on Britishness and home-grown products, the brand is seen as a challenger to the German supermarkets, Aldi and Lidl. I have often talked in this column about the growth of both Aldi and Lidl, and YouGov BrandIndex data points to the continued improvements [...]