M&S’s board still backs Marc Bolland but its patience will not last forever January 9, 2013 THIS was no ordinary trading statement. If Marc Bolland, the Marks & Spencer chief executive, had sold an item from his womenswear ranges last autumn every time the retailer’s advertising slogan had been parroted back at him, he’d have wiped the floor with the rest of the high street. Last night’s hastily-released quarterly trading update [...]
Best of the Brokers October 16, 2012 ASOS Morgan Stanley has started covering the online retailer with an “overweight” rating and a target price of 3,000p, cheering the firm’s superior sales offering and entrepreneurial management team. BT The telecoms group is Nomura’s top pick in the sector, with a “buy” rating and a price target of 260p. BT is set to benefit [...]
Best of the Brokers October 16, 2012 ASOS Morgan Stanley has started covering the online retailer with an “overweight” rating and a target price of 3,000p, cheering the firm’s superior sales offering and entrepreneurial management team. BT The telecoms group is Nomura’s top pick in the sector, with a “buy” rating and a price target of 260p. BT is set to benefit [...]
Profit hopes at Royal Mail pave way for float November 11, 2012 ROYAL Mail Group is expected to post a bumper set of profits tomorrow led by strong growth in its parcel delivery business – opening the door for a possible float of the state-owned business by government next year. The postal group, which increased operating profit after costs to £211m last year from £39m the year [...]
Royal Mail deliver the goods with profit leap November 13, 2012 ROYAL Mail yesterday fuelled government hopes of delivering the firm into private sector hands next year after posting a jump in profits on the back of the boom in online shopping. The group, which is 100 per cent owned by the taxpayer, posted operating profits of £144m for the six months ending 23 September this [...]
Ladies who power lunch are celebrated at One Marylebone November 29, 2012 SOME of the City’s best-respected women flocked to One Marylebone on Wednesday, to enjoy a slap-up lunch and give themselves a well deserved pat on the back. The excuse for such a decadent afternoon was Red’s fourth annual Women of the Year awards. Representing the business ladies at the ceremony were shortlisters Lynn Rattigan, deputy [...]
UK set to celebrate the official end of the recession after Games boost October 21, 2012 THE UK is this week expected to officially exit recession, with news from the Office of National Statistics set to confirm the double dip is over. The ONS will publish its first estimate of third quarter GDP, with analysts predicting impressive growth, due in part to the Olympics. Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said: [...]
Online retailers prepare for busiest day ever December 2, 2012 HIGH street shops and online retailers will face one of their fiercest battles yet for customers this Christmas, with today set to mark the busiest internet shopping day of the year. UK online sales will peak today – dubbed Mega Monday by City analysts – with Visa Europe expecting 6.8m transactions worth £320m to be [...]
Ocado investors prop up £36m capital raising November 19, 2012 OCADO’S shareholders ploughed more money into the online grocery chain yesterday to support a £36m placing that will keep the firm financially stable for at least 18 months. Existing shareholders including Jorn Rausing of the Tetra Pak dynasty and Ocado’s management team took up around 19 per cent of the shares placed, in line with [...]
The Tipster | Imperially smoked September 17, 2012 AFTER a difficult period in early September, investors in Imperial Tobacco will be hoping that Thursday’s update will give the company momentum. Share prices sit in the middle of its 52-week range, after being hit by Russia’s ban on smoking in public. But continued growth in emerging markets should give investors something to cheer about. [...]