Johnson & Johnson defies baby powder asbestos concerns to beat first quarter forecasts April 16, 2019 Shares rose at Johnson & Johnson this afternoon as the world’s biggest healthcare company beat revenue and profit forecasts for the first quarter. Read more: Johnson & Johnson share price falls as baby powder probe intensifies The New York-listed firm withstood concerns about asbestos in its baby powder which surfaced late last year, which drove poor [...]
Struggling mattress firm Eve Sleep unveils new finance chief as turnaround plan continues April 16, 2019 Eve Sleep threw open the curtains this morning to reveal its new chief financial officer will be Tim Parfitt, former finance boss at furniture retailer Loaf. Read more: Don't hit snooze: Eve Sleep calls on Apple to kill snooze button The struggling mattress seller said Parfitt would start in the role in mid-June, replacing outgoing [...]
Amazon hit with thousands of fake five-star reviews, research finds April 16, 2019 Thousands of suspicious and unverified reviews have cropped up on Amazon for five-star rated tech products from unheard of brands. The reviews were often posted on the same day or in the same short period of time, according to consumer magazine Which, with identical reviews left for the same product on Amazon and in some [...]
Tesco and Dunelm defy retail gloom April 16, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. Impressive updates from Tesco and Dunelm show opportunities still exist in the embattled retail sector. A big hike in the Tesco (LSE:TSCO) dividend and an “incredible” trading update from Dunelm Group (LSE:DNLM) today combined to remind Brexit-weary investors there is life in the retail sector after all. The near-doubling [...]
Card Factory sales flat as high street footfall drops April 16, 2019 Card Factory saw sales remain flat last year as high street footfall levels dropped, the greetings card company announced this morning. The figures Card Factory’s like-for-like sales dipped 0.1 per cent while overall revenue rose 3.3 per cent to £436m in the year to the end of January 2019. Underlying earnings fell 4.9 per cent [...]
Alibaba co-founder defends controversial 12-hour working days and calls overtime a ‘huge blessing’ April 15, 2019 Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma sparked controversy this afternoon after defending the 12-hour working day. Read more: Ecommerce billionaire named China's richest man The billionaire tycoon, who has a personal wealth estimated at roughly $40bn (£30bn), has doubled down on his view in favour of the “996 system”, which refers to a working schedule of 9am [...]
Monsoon Accessorize ‘will close dozens of stores’ across UK in latest setback for high street April 15, 2019 Fashion retailer Monsoon Accessorize is reportedly planning a spate of store closures using a controversial insolvency mechanism, in another blow for Britain’s embattled high streets. Read more: Revealed: All 15 LK Bennett stores set to close in Chinese sale The chain, which trades from nearly 270 stores across the UK, could announce “dozens” of closures [...]
New ‘super fast’ economic indicators suggest UK economy slowdown April 15, 2019 New “super fast” government economic indicators suggested the UK economy lost momentum in March, with more firms reporting a fall in turnover than an increase. Read more: UK stats body to receive £9m for 'super fast' economic indicators Today saw the first release of a range of faster indicators compiled by the Office for National Statistics [...]
Retail and casual dining bounce back in March amid sunny spring weather April 15, 2019 Britain's pubs and restaurants cheered a recovery in trading last month, as warmer weather boosted the nation’s appetite for drinking and eating out. A bounceback from cold, snowy weather last year saw collective like-for-like sales in restaurants and pubs grow by nearly four per cent in March, new data released today by the Coffer Peach [...]
Activist investors turn their backs on troubled retailers April 15, 2019 While activist investors are known for their interest in underperforming businesses, there is one sector in the UK so troubled that even opportunistic shareholders are now turning their backs: high street retailers. Such are the difficulties facing Britain’s bricks-and-mortar retail giants that many have become "too distressed to attract activist interest", according to a new [...]
