Tech rout slams UK online giants April 8, 2014 BRITISH technology shares were pummeled for a second day yesterday as waves of uncertainty surrounding the sector continued, despite a recovery across similar stocks in the US. The FTSE 100 dropped for the second day in a row, falling over 32 points to 6,590.69, hampered by the poor performance of tech stocks. The top tech [...]
Property to join milk on sale at grocer Morrison March 10, 2014 SUPERMARKET chain William Morrison is this week set to sweeten its drop in profits with a property sell-off that could raise £500m for investors. The grocery giant, which has already said its Christmas sales were disappointing, is forecast to report annual pre-tax profits of between £734m and £805m, down from £879m in 2013 and the [...]
City Moves for 5 March 2014 | Who’s switching jobs March 4, 2014 DAC Beachcroft The law firm has announced the appointment of Ruth Connorton as a commercial contracts partner. She specialises in non-contentious procurement matters. Connorton joins from Eversheds, where she was head of procurement law. Ashburton Investments The investment management firm has appointed Swati Jain to its London-based distribution team. She was most recently at IIFL Wealth, where [...]
These festive victors have found a way of winning online and in store January 16, 2014 Argos, Primark, Halfords, Homebase, Dixons and Ocado: the raft companies who saw sales leap over the Christmas period, and present a stark contrast to the big names (M&S, Tesco and Morrisons) that reported gloomy – and sometimes grim – results last week. It's become something of a cliche to keep emphasising the need for transition [...]
Bottom Line: Family will struggle to get backers to bite February 12, 2014 INVESTORS in Morrisons clearly aren’t convinced that a private equity prince is waiting in the wings ready to swoop with a buyout offer for the struggling supermarket. After an initial leap upwards – recovering little of the downwards slump it has seen over the past two year – shares closed just 0.25 per cent higher, [...]
London Report: Retailers reveal where tills rang for Christmas January 12, 2014 RETAILERS are expected to reveal where UK shoppers showed their Christmas cheer, with a round of results in contrast to last week’s gloomy December tidings. Figures out this week from retailers such as Argos, Asos, Dixons, Ocado and Primark are expected to show increased sales. The successes are in contrast to the sales dips seen [...]
Tesco slashed the price of milk. Here’s how dairy farmers have responded March 3, 2014 Dairy farmers have accused Tesco of sparking a price war with its supermarket rivals that will cause further damage to an already fragile dairy industry, after the retail giant slashed the price of milk. Britain’s biggest food retailer delivered a fresh broadside in the battle for customers’ loyalty after cutting the price of a four [...]
Morrisons sets date for online grocery service November 21, 2013 MORRISONS is to begin delivering groceries to online customers in Warwickshire from January before eventually reaching Londoners’ doorsteps this summer, as the supermarket plays catch-up with rivals. Speaking to investors yesterday at a salmon-packing factory in Stratford, chief executive Dalton Philips unveiled how it plans to lure customers away from competitors’ long established online businesses. [...]
Here’s what 3 banks are saying about Tesco’s latest turnaround plan February 26, 2014 Tesco’s shares are down more than four per cent, after the supermarket chain scrapped its profit margin target and laid out plans to invest in lowering its prices, prompting analysts cuts their ratings and price targets. Deutsche Bank cut its earning before interest and tax (EBIT) forecast of a £50m decline in the year to [...]
Bottom Line: Supermarket needs to focus on web and sales, not real estate January 12, 2014 THE debate being waged over whether Morrisons should sell some of its freehold estate surely misses the point about the grocery chain’s future. There is nothing wrong with the structure of Morrisons’ estate that a little tinkering can not remedy. And it will remain, as it has insisted, “overwhelmingly freehold” – that is as long [...]