Wetherspoon shares hit as execs leave October 14, 2010 JD Wetherspoon yesterday surprised investors by announcing the departure of two of its top executives. Finance director Keith Down and chief operating officer Paul Harbottle are to leave the pubs group “in due course” said a statement, which offered no explanation for the sudden shake-up. Wetherspoon’s has weathered the economic downturn well, with Down considered [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS October 14, 2010 THIRD OF ADULTS WITHOUT SAFETY NET Almost a third of adults have less than £249 set aside as a financial safety net and 19 per cent have no savings at all to fall back on, according to new research from HSBC. This is equivalent to just five days average take home pay while the recommended [...]
Asos sees sales surge by 47 per cent October 14, 2010 Online fashion retailer ASOS said it was on track to meet full-year profit forecasts after a 47 per cent surge in second-quarter sales. ASOS, which launched a US website last month, also said it expected to launch French and German versions by the end of the month. Retail sales jumped to £69.7m in the three [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 13, 2010 PwC The accountancy firm has appointed three new senior managers to its business continuity team, part of the risk assurance practice. Tom Buchanan, who previously worked at Barclays and Tesco, joins the crisis management team. James Cooke joins from Deloitte to focus on IT disaster and service recovery planning, while James Crask (pictured) will develop [...]
Waitrose director:sales growth will continue for years October 12, 2010 UPMARKET grocer Waitrose expects annual sales to rise by a double-digit percentage for years to come, despite a tough economic backdrop, driven by new store openings, its managing director said yesterday. Mark Price, speaking at the annual conference of grocery industry body the Institute of Grocery Distribution, said conditions for consumers were likely to be [...]
M&S profits up but warns over future October 7, 2010 MARKS & SPENCER said yesterday that its sales were rising but that “it is far from clear” what impact forthcoming government cuts would have on its customers. Like-for-like sales in the UK, which strip out the impact of sales from new stores, rose by 5.3 per cent in the three months to the beginning of [...]
Non-food lifts J Sainsbury October 6, 2010 J SAINSBURY yesterday reported a sales rise in the second quarter as it pinned its hopes on catching Asda by rapidly expanding store space. The UK’s third largest chain behind Tesco and Asda, said non-food items were fuelling its performance. Sainsbury’s saw a 2.9 per cent like-for-like increase in sales in the period, which also [...]
Sainsbury’s October 6, 2010 SAINSBURY’S was a little more low key about its sales rise and consumer sentiment than Tesco which posted sales figures earlier in the week. With Sir Terry Leahy signing off with his last set of results it is hardly surprising that Tesco has stolen some of Sainsbury’s thunder. However, Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King echoed [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 6, 2010 NORTHERN FOODS JP Morgan Cazenove has moved its rating on Northern Foods back to “underweight” with a new downgraded price target of 40p. The broker says the food manufacturer’s growth and profitability are dependant upon its relationship with UK food retailers and its ability to control its costs. The broker says Northern is likely to [...]
Christmas will come early to the high street October 6, 2010 HIGH-STREET retailers have every reason to be cautious right now. If it isn’t the government squeezing households’ disposable incomes with one hand and hiking VAT with the other, then surges in the prices of commodities such as cotton, which is at a 15-year high, are threatening margins. Only last month Next chief executive Simon Wolfson [...]