As one fashion door closes the next one opens July 16, 2013 THERE has been a mass exodus in the retailing world lately – with British fashion label Nicole Farhi going into administration last week and two female retail powerhouses bowing out of their high-powered jobs this week. My-wardrobe.com founder Sarah Curran left her role as board member and face of the firm on Monday, and only yesterday [...]
Britain’s Facebook is already here but we lack the tools to identify it February 18, 2013 IT’S been described as “the $4.2 trillion (£2.7 trillion) opportunity”. According to the Boston Consulting Group, there will be 3bn internet users globally by 2016. If it were a nation, the internet-based economy would rank in the world’s top five. And the UK sits at the forefront, with 8.3 per cent of GDP now online [...]
Reflections on Tulchan’s demise at Marks & Spencer February 14, 2013 FOUR weeks ago I asked Andrew Grant of Tulchan a simple question. Had his firm been fired from the retailer Marks & Spencer as its external financial public relations adviser, following the leaking of its annual results which forced their rushed and premature publication? Grant, rightly known for being courteous, well-informed and straightforward, responded that [...]
G7 fails to halt currency wars February 12, 2013 INTERNATIONAL leaders yesterday failed in their attempt to reassure investors that a currency war would not be allowed to escalate, after a joint-statement failed to convince analysts and prompted sharp fluctuations in the foreign exchange markets. Finance ministers of the Group of Seven leading nations, known as the G7, sought to reaffirm their “commitment to [...]
Bumper Christmas boosts ASOS January 17, 2013 ONLINE fashion retailer ASOS yesterday said its retail sales rose 41 per cent to £78.1m in December, helped by a strong showing in its home market over Christmas. UK retail sales were up by a better-than-expected 34 per cent to £35.7m, driven by its decision to the trim prices of its own-branded products. International sales [...]
The Tipster | Punch Drunk January 14, 2013 ALTHOUGH shares in J D Wetherspoon are up by 24 per cent over the last year, continued pressure on its margins, and no major sporting events in 2013, mean that it may not be a cheerful year for the pub chain. ETX Capital quotes a price of 516.22p-519.78p. Shares in ASOS more than doubled in 2012. [...]
UK consumer price index is forecast higher January 13, 2013 UTILITY prices are expected to have lifted the UK’s consumer price index (CPI), the household spending index due out tomorrow along with a swathe of housing and retail data. “We expect CPI inflation to have edged up to 2.8 per cent year on year in December from 2.7 per cent, and retail price index (RPI) [...]
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 [...]
Markets lap up Irish debt as state recovers January 8, 2013 THE EUROZONE’S bailout fund raised funds successfully yesterday, issuing three-month debt at negative yields, indicating strong support for the paper. And Ireland’s government took a big step towards recovery, easily covering a €2.5bn (£2.04bn) issue of debt maturing in 2017. It received orders totalling over €7bn, a strong reception for the state’s first long-term issuance [...]
Best of the Brokers January 8, 2013 TUI TRAVEL Morgan Stanley yesterday downgraded the travel company from “equal weight” to “underweight” with a target price of 250p, expecting seasonal losses to be higher due to an accounting change and poor cash flow. However, the analyst still sees Tui Travel as a “well-managed business, with strong market shares in European tour operating” that [...]