There is further evidence of consumers reining in their spending after Home Retail Group (HRG), the biggest household goods retailer, said sales fell 9.6% in the 13 weeks to the end of May. Shares in HRG sank 11% after the announcement – a 2½ year low – after it said trading conditions were challenging and [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is regarded as a barometer of British retailing, today reported weaker sales, fuelling fears about consumer spending. The renowned employee-owned chain said sales in the week to 28 May fell 0.8% to £55 million. The company has bucked the trend when it comes to retail sales over the last few [...]
According to housing intelligence group, Hometrack, house prices in England and Wales fell at their fastest annual pace since October 2009 last month. According to Hometrack, house prices fell by 0.1% on the month and are 3.7% lower on the year. House prices have now fallen for 10 consecutive months, according to the group. Hometrack [...]
Figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed a sharp fall in UK car production for the month of April, disrupted by supply shortages, resulting from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Japan’s three major carmakers (Toyota, Nissan and Honda) all have operations in the UK, with the latter halving its [...]
Persimmon, which is the UK’s largest housebuilder by market value, has today reported a 12% rise in sales reservations in the first three months compared with a year ago. Furthermore, the housebuilder said its order book had risen to £1.14 billion – up from the £565 million at the start of the year. The figures [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today reported a rise in UK retail sales for the month of March. According to the ONS, sales volumes registered a surprise rise of 0.2% on a monthly basis – driven by strong food and non-store sales. However, other sectors which performed well included garden stores and toy [...]
Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase, has today reported a 9.5% fall in pre-tax profits as conditions on the High Street remain challenging. Profits fell to £265.2 million in the 12 months to 26 February compared with £293 million in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, revenue was almost 3% lower on [...]
Supermarket giant Tesco has today announced overall pre-tax profits were £3.5 billion for the year to 26 February – an 11.3% rise on a year ago. Profits were 30% higher in Asia at £570 million with sales up 21% to £11 billion, driven by a strong performance in Thailand and Korea. Today’s results represent the [...]
British retailing giant Marks and Spencer (M&S) has today reported like-for-like sales, which strip out new store openings, grew 0.1% in the 13 week period to 2 April. The figures were marginally better than expected and sent shares up 13.3p today to 353.5p. The 127-year-old retailer which sells clothes, food and homewares said general merchandise [...]
Newcastle-based housebuilder Bellway has today reported a 26% rise in first-half profit and experienced strong activity in home buying since the start of 2011. The housebuilder, which is the fifth largest by market value, said pre-tax profits came in at £24 million for the six month period to the end of January – compared with [...]
Next, which is Britain’s second largest fashion retailer, has today said consumers are tightening their purse strings in the face of soaring inflation and Government spending cuts. The retailing giant announced record profits but has warned of challenging times ahead for the High Street. It shares jumped 5% earlier today after posting record profits of [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has today revealed sales of previously owned homes in the US plunged to a low not seen since April 2002. The industry body said sales dived 5.2% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.88 million units – suggesting the housing market is still depressed. Economists had [...]
Department store group Debenhams said like-for-like sales fell 1.5% (excluding VAT) in the 26 weeks to 26 February. Despite the fall, the no. 2 department store (after John Lewis) said it was well placed to manage the uncertainty surrounding the economy, which is squeezing household incomes due to soaring inflation. It said it will focus [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is regarded as a barometer of British retailing, today reported an improvement in weekly sales – boosted by the half-term school holidays. The renowned employee-owned chain has reported five consecutive weeks of lacklustre sales but in the week to 26 February, sales rose 7.2% to £54 million. Selling director David [...]
Persimmon, which is the UK’s largest housebuilder by market value, has announced full-year underlying pre-tax profit jumped to £95.5 million compared with £7 million in the previous year. The company said it sold more homes at higher prices and it is “encouraged” by the group’s performance in the first two months of the year, with [...]
Music, books, DVDs and games retailer, HMV, has watched its shares plummet 20% today after the firm issued another profits warning. It also revealed it would currently fail to meet the conditions of its loan agreements in April. The retailer, which also owns Waterstone’s bookshops, in January said it was struggling to meet the terms [...]
Discount clothing retailer, Primark, has today warned of a slowdown in consumer spending, as Britons prepare to cut back amid rising unemployment and higher inflation. According to Primark’s parent group, Associated British Foods (ABF), “a noticeable slowing down of UK consumer demand” is evident despite strong trading in the first three months of the financial [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed a sharp fall in sales of new homes in the US for the month of January. According to the Commerce Department, new single-family home sales fell 12.6% on a monthly basis to an annual rate of 248,000 units. On an annual basis, January sales were down 18.6%. However, the [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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