Clarke to become chief executive at Asda while Bond steps up to chairman May 11, 2010 CHIEF operating officer of Asda, Andy Clarke, has been appointed to the role of chief executive and president of the US-owned supermarket. His promotion follows last month’s announcement by Andy Bond that he would step up to become part-time chairman at the retailer. Clarke joined Asda in 1992 but left in 2001 for roles at [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 10, 2010 ITV Nomura maintains a “neutral” recommendation of ITV and forecasts the television company to grow about 1.5 per cent ahead of 2009, partly because of growth from the World Cup this summer. Nomura no longer expects a “big bang” statement on ITV’s strategy and instead expects an announcement in due course. J SAINSBURY RBS said [...]
Sainsbury’s expects to ring up profit rise May 9, 2010 J SAINSBURY is this week expected to say its pre-tax profits grew 15 per cent to £595m, but analysts believe it will avoid giving an update on sales amid tough conditions. Sainsbury’s, the third-largest supermarket chain in the UK by market share, is tipped to hand staff a bonus pool of £70m following a buoyant [...]
Andy Clarke set to land Asda chief executive role May 6, 2010 ASDA is tipped to promote its chief operating officer, Andy Clarke, to the top job next week following chief executive Andy Bond’s decision to step aside. Clarke is understood to have been selected ahead of several internal candidates including Darren Blackhurst, Asda’s punchy trading director. Blackhurst has now resigned after five years at the Wal-Mart [...]
FTSE falls for fourth day as fears over scale of Greek crisis continue to weigh May 6, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading shares fell for the fourth straight session yesterday, led by banks and miners weighed by uncertainty over euro zone debt concerns, as Britain’s electorate went to the polls. The FTSE 100 index closed down 80.94 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 5,260.99 just above a support level of 5,259 given by analysts. The [...]
Choosing the most suitable card is not a zero-sum game May 6, 2010 WHEN Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank announced earlier this week their offer of 0 per cent interest on balance transfers for the first 16 months, it threw the cat among the pigeons. The two banks, both UK subsidiaries of National Australia Bank, leapt straight to the top of the best-buy comparison tables with the deal, [...]
Banks and champagne are out, but the Tory big beast is still standing May 4, 2010 KEN Clarke has gone awol. He left the last campaign stop at the same time as his chief of staff, who has long since arrived, but is nowhere to be seen. “He insists on driving himself,” one aide tells me, with an exasperated look. Eventually, forty-five minutes after we’re supposed to meet, he storms into [...]
Bolland takes the helm as M&S chief May 4, 2010 A NEW era was ushered in at Marks & Spencer yesterday as former Morrisons chief Marc Bolland took the hot seat at the retailer. The Dutch executive faces the pressure of living up to a £15m remuneration package as he takes on the challenges of shaking up the company’s clothing range. Modernising the stock while [...]
Asda fights poor sales with best price guarantee April 28, 2010 ASDA yesterday unveiled a money-back price guarantee after poor sales growth. The chain is offering to refund shoppers who find that a basket of comparable goods would have been cheaper at Tesco, Morrisons or Sainsbury’s. Asda increased its sales by only 2.5 per cent in the 12 weeks to 28 April, compared with rises of [...]
PANTHER BOSS ON A TRIP INTO NOSTALGIA April 26, 2010 ANDREW Perloff, the eccentric chairman of property firm Panther Securities, has something of a cult following among City investors due to his penchant for using company results statements as an excuse to reminisce at length about life’s little quirks. But yesterday’s final results announcement was a corker even by Perloff’s own standards, ranging from fervent [...]