All City & finance articles – Page 547
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News
City confidence in retail grows as stores index surges 7% in a day
Retail shares bounced back this week with general retailers outperforming the market.
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Opinion
One year on the crunch still bites
August is the quietest month in the retail calendar, with most store chiefs taking well-earned holidays. Yet last August those chief execs – and indeed the world – were hit with something that made them put down their cocktails and dust off their blackberries.
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Opinion
Recession would be different this time
However we term the downturn, we are entering poorly chartered territory with out-of-date maps.
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News
Alliance Boots buys 25% of Athos Farma in Brazil
Alliance Boots has made its first foray into South America with its purchase of a 25 per cent stake in a Brazilian pharmaceutical wholesaler Athos Farma.
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News
Kingfisher agrees sale of Castorama Italy
DIY giant Kingfisher has agreed to sell its Castorama Italy business for €560 million ( 440 million) to French home improvement retailer Groupe Adeo.
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News
Government to pick grocery czar if talks fail
The Government will consider bringing in a grocery ombudsman itself if the Competition Commission cannot come to an agreement with the supermarkets.
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News
BRC slams Government over Crossrail costs
The British Retail Consortium has hit out at the Government for leaving retailers in the dark over the funding of the 16 billion Crossrail train service running across London, which was given the green light last week.
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News
Tesco to ramp up banking offer in stores following £950m RBS deal
Tesco is poised to roll out personal finance desks in about 200 of its Extra superstores after buying Royal Bank of Scotland’s 50 per cent stake in Tesco Personal Finance (TPF) for 950 million.
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News
Tesco: The city view
Tesco’s share price fell a little this week, reflecting what analysts said was the “full” price paid for Tesco Personal Finance.
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News
Woolies update and CBI figuresdo nothing to dispel retail gloom
Plummeting sales at Woolworths and a gloomy CBI survey kept the downward pressure on store shares, but a better-than-feared update from Next and director share buying at Marks & Spencer provided some reassurance.
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Opinion
Tesco can bank on its canny deal
Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy has been a banker as well as a shopkeeper for 11 years, so the retailer’s decision to take full control of its personal finance business was not a shock.
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News
Consumer confidence nosedives
Consumer confidence has plummeted to an all-time low as concerns over the economy and finances take hold.
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News
OFT invites comments on Co-op’s Somerfield buy-out
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has invited interested parties to lodge comments about the Co-operative Group’s 1.57 billion acquisition of Somerfield.
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News
Halfords: the city view
Car accessories and bikes retailer Halfords has bolstered its pole market position, revealing a total sales rise of 1.7 per cent, writes Nicola Harrison.
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News
Share bounce does little to ease pressure as City remains bullish
Retailers rallied after the misery of the past few weeks, but the mood among many sector analysts remained resolutely downbeat.
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News
All eyes are on Next as mid-market fears rise
The City will seize upon fashion retailer Next’s second-quarter update on Wednesday for signs of how bad high street conditions are.
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News
Blacks suffers like-for-like dip but revival plan starts to kick in
Blacks Leisure posted a 5.4 per cent like-for-like fall in group sales for the 19 weeks to July 12.
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Opinion
What goes up will come down
It was the week of the dead cat bounce, with some of the sector’s scrawniest-valued moggies being the biggest beneficiaries.
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News
Retail sales hit new low
Retail sales volumes dropped 3.9 per cent in June compared with May, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), representing the sharpest decline since its records began in 1986.
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News
Instore independent directors warn shareholders
Instore’s independent directors are continuing to warn shareholders not to accept Seaham Investment’s 5p-a-share offer.