Brace for “hard rebalancing” of UK economy in 2017 January 23, 2017 The fall in the pound will result in a “significant readjustment” of the UK economy away from consumer spending and towards exports, regardless of the results of the Brexit negotiations. Economists at Ernest & Young says UK exports will increase by as much as 3.3 per cent this year, and 5.2 per cent in 2018, [...]
These are the key trends in retail in 2017 – and who will benefit from them January 16, 2017 The Christmas reporting season isn't over yet – the market is awaiting updates from Dixons Carphone and WH Smith – but the figures that have been reported so far have indicated some of the key retail trends investors should watch out for this year. Read more: Brexit vote boosts Hugo Boss The outlook for the UK consumer [...]
House of Fraser posts first profit in a decade April 13, 2016 House of Fraser has posted a return to profit for the first time since 2006, as the venerable department store business goes from strength to strength under its Chinese parent. The figures Sales were up 4.2 per cent to £1.3bn for the year to 30 January, with online sales up 26.8 per cent. They now account [...]
These analysts are not impressed by M&S’ trading update January 12, 2017 And it looked like things were going so well. Marks and Spencer started off the trading session on a high, jumping five per cent at the open when the retailer beat expectations with its like-for-like clothing sales. But M&S lost its shine as the day wore on, and its share price is now up just 0.8 per cent [...]
Halfords and N Brown share price drops after UBS downgrade, blaming Brexit, Amazon and currency woes March 21, 2016 Shares in Halfords and N Brown have dropped sharply today after analysts at UBS slashed their ratings for both retailers in a bearish note on the sector. The Swiss bank's research arm, UBS Evidence Lab, has warned of on a whole shopping basket of challenges facing retailers this year, including short-term uncertainty over Brexit, wage inflation, currency and the increasing dominance of Amazon. [...]
EU referendum: Wages would rise in the event of a Brexit, Lord Rose admits during heated exchange with Andrew Tyrie’s Treasury select committee March 3, 2016 He might be campaigning to keep Britain in the European Union, but Lord Rose might have inadvertently scored an own goal when he admitted yesterday that a Brexit would result in higher wages for domestic workers. The former head of Marks & Spencer, who is leading the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, told MPs yesterday [...]
Christmas spending splurge fails to push high street sales into positive territory January 6, 2017 High street shops ended a disappointing year with a dismal performance during the festive season, failing to land positive sales despite bumper spending in the week before Christmas. Christmas fell on a Sunday this year, meaning shoppers had an extra day to spend, but like-for-like sales growth on the high street still came in at [...]
More boardroom shake-ups at Tesco and Marks & Spencer March 4, 2015 THE BOARDROOM clear out at supermarket giant Tesco continued yesterday, while high street icon M&S announced a new board role for its current chairman. Tesco, the UK’s biggest retailer, said non-executive director Gareth Bullock would retire from the main board today, but remain on the board of Tesco Bank. The company beefed up its board yesterday [...]
Fruit juices, drinks and smoothies might not be one of your “five a day” according to new sugar study March 24, 2016 Just a few weeks after it was revealed how much sugar was lurking in your Starbucks coffee drinks and a fortnight since George Osborne announced a sugar tax on soft drinks, it seems fruit juice could be another villain too. The authors of a new study have even gone so far as to suggest that [...]
Marks and Spencer loses appeal against former landlord BNP Paribas December 2, 2015 You know that times are tough for retailers when they are prepared to fight for every penny they could put back in the piggy-bank. Marks and Spencer (M&S) has today lost a long-running battle against its former landlord BNP Paribas after the Supreme Court dismissed its appeal to claw back £1.1m of rent it claims it overpaid. In July 2011, [...]