China expansion and UK troubles take a slice out of earnings at Pizza Express April 30, 2019 Pizza Express reported a slump in underlying earnings this morning, as expansion in China and tough trading conditions in the UK hit the group. Read more: SSE talks to Talktalk over £1bn retail unit after scrapping Npower deal In the latest sign of distress within the casual dining sector, Pizza Express posted a 15.3 per [...]
Extra large order: Beyond Meat hikes offering ahead of float April 30, 2019 A vegan burger startup sent signs of confidence through Wall Street today after raising the price range and size of its initial public offering (IPO). Read more: Vegan startup Beyond Meat brings plant-based burger to the UK In a move that could value the group at almost $1.5bn (£1.15bn), Beyond Meat is set to price [...]
Sainsbury’s slips behind supermarket rivals after Asda merger blocked April 30, 2019 Sainsbury's sales fell behind those of rivals in the three months to the end of April, according to data released just a week after the supermarket's £7.3bn Asda merger was blocked. Sainsbury’s suffered a 1.2 per cent fall in sales compared to the same period last year, data group Kantar's statistics showed, while Aldi and Lidl [...]
Premier Inn owner Whitbread warns ‘acute’ political uncertainty will hurt growth after Costa coffee sale April 30, 2019 Whitbread today revealed profits have plummeted 40 per cent since the £3.9bn sale of its Costa coffee chain to Coca-Cola last year. Read more: Caffeine kick: Whitbread announces £2bn share buyback The figures Profit before tax at the Premier Inn owner slumped 39.1 per cent year on year to just £260m in its 2019 financial [...]
Greene King shares fall despite sales growth during bumper Easter April 30, 2019 Pub chain Greene King is set to post moderate sales growth for the full year after its strong Christmas trading carried over into the Easter period. The pub operator and brewer said it expects like-for-like sales growth of 2.9 per cent in the 52 weeks to 28 April, ahead of market expectations. Read more: Brewer [...]
Some investors are clearly living in a parallel universe April 30, 2019 Having watched the phenomenal “Avengers: Endgame” this weekend (no spoilers here), I did take a moment to think about parallel universes. To put it bluntly, it doesn’t take a genius like Tony Stark to work out that many market commentators are living in a parallel universe – that is, they can’t remember what happened 20 [...]
Can Just Eat deliver the City what it wants? April 29, 2019 On Wednesday morning most eyes in the City will be on Mike Coupe, the Sainsbury’s chief executive battling to keep his job. In the firm’s Holborn HQ the grocery veteran will set out his Plan B after the UK competition watchdog crushed his dreams of a merger with Asda. Read more: Shortsellers increase bets against [...]
MPs to ramp up pressure on Asda over ‘appalling’ wage shake-up plans April 29, 2019 Asda is set to face fresh pressure from politicians this week amid accusations that new pay proposals could leave thousands of workers financially worse off. Read more: Watchdog kills Sainsbury's-Asda merger: What went wrong? A campaign addressed to Asda demanding the grocery giant rows back on "unscrupulous contract changes" is set to be backed by a [...]
Visa and Mastercard agree deal with EU to cut card fees April 29, 2019 Mastercard and Visa have agreed to slash the fees charged for payments within the EU using debit and credit cards issued in a foreign country, the European competition watchdog said today. Multilateral exchange fees that are charged to retailers will be cut by around 40 per cent , which will “significantly reduce the costs for [...]
Board to hold crunch meeting over Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia restructure tomorrow April 29, 2019 Bosses at Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia are reportedly set to discuss the fate of the troubled fashion firm at a crunch meeting tomorrow. Read more: Sir Philip Green appoints restructuring specialists to Arcadia's board The future of the fashion tycoon’s retail chain, which includes brands such as Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, is set to be [...]
