Primark boosts revenue with new store openings but warns on like-for-like sales drop February 25, 2019 Primark said today it expects half-year sales to grow four per cent compared to last year, driven by new store openings, but the budget fashion retailer will post a two per cent drop in like-for-like sales. In the UK sales were up two per cent, while Eurozone sales jumped five per cent with strong growth in Spain, France, Italy and Belgium. However, [...]
Hammerson full-year results in tomorrow’s City focus February 24, 2019 City eyes are set to focus in on Hammerson tomorrow morning, when the embattled shopping centre landlord releases a crucial set of profit results that come against a backdrop of activist pressure and industry challenges. The listed property company, which owns flagship shopping centres such as The Bullring in Birmingham, is set to face scrutiny over [...]
Laura Ashley tells investors that it has not received a takeover bid February 24, 2019 Embattled British retailer Laura Ashley confirmed this evening that it has not received any takeover offers, as speculation mounts over a potential bid from entrepreneur Michael Flacks. The textile design company’s chairman said today that the group had no intention of selling its controlling stake following a Sunday Telegraph article which said that Flacks is [...]
Private equity player KKR reportedly circling Asda following Sainsbury’s deal setback February 24, 2019 US private equity house KKR is reportedly mulling a bid for Asda after a ruling last week by the competition regulator that could stymie its proposed tie-up with fellow big four supermarket Sainsbury’s. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said last week that a deal between the two supermarkets could lead to "a substantial lessening [...]
Kraft Heinz share price plunges as SEC probe and losses spook Wall Street February 22, 2019 Consumer goods giant Kraft Heinz’s share price plunged almost 30 per cent this evening as a probe from US investigators and widening quarterly losses spooked investors. Shares in the company plummeted on Wall Street this afternoon as the firm wrote down the value of its Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands by $15bn (£11.5bn) and reported [...]
London house prices to fall three per cent after a no-deal Brexit February 22, 2019 House prices in London could dip three per cent after a no deal Brexit, new research has found. In the event of Britain and the EU failing to reach an agreement, housing prices in London could fall three per cent in the six months following the 29 March deadline, according to a Reuters poll out today. Read [...]
Chickens come home to roost for Mike Coupe as Sainsbury-Asda deal dies February 22, 2019 | City Talk Mike Coupe was a happy chappy back in April. Notably he was caught on camera humming the lyrics to the gold digger's song – 'we're in the money' etc, after announcing a supermarket mega merger like no other. This week however the companies' complete lack of understanding of the Competition and Markets Authority has come [...]
HMV Tunbridge Wells becomes seventh store to reopen after closure threats February 22, 2019 New HMV owner Doug Putman reopened another of the chain’s stores earmarked for closure this morning. In the seventh reopening since 27 closures were announced earlier this month, HMV Tunbridge Wells is pulling up its shutters after Putman secured his latest rental renegotiation deal. The Canadian entrepreneur has been looking to strike deals with landlords [...]
The UK’s best and worst supermarkets: How did Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi and Lidl do? February 22, 2019 The big four supermarket chains have lost ground to budget rivals in a survey of shopper satisfaction, as customers grow increasingly dissatisfied with the the quality of in-house labels. Read more: Watchdog may block Sainsbury's-Asda merger Aldi and Lidl outperformed the big four with customer satisfaction scores of 68 and 66 per cent respectively, according to [...]
Big cheese: Dairy Crest shares soar after Saputo’s £976m bid February 22, 2019 Utterly Butterly and Cathedral City Cheddar cheese brand Dairy Crest is set to be taken over in a deal worth almost £1bn, the group announced this morning. Canadian dairy giant Saputo, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, is expected to snap up the London-listed firm for roughly £976m. The deal price of 620p in cash [...]
