Morrisons supermarket takes a bite out of £3bn sandwich market November 2, 2015 Morrisons is going head-to-head high street chains such as Pret a Manger and EAT by launching its own range freshly made sandwiches, as the embattled chain looks to revive sales at its stores. Britain’s food-to-go market is expanding rapidly along with changing consumer habits and is now worth around £6bn, with the sandwich market worth around [...]
Italy’s Franklin & Marshall to launch its second London store November 2, 2015 Vintage Italian sports retailer Franklin & Marshall is to open its second UK store in Wembley Park’s London Designer Outlet (LDO) next month after launching its debut store in Covent Garden last year. The company, known for its varsity jackets and vintage polo shirts, announced today that it will open a 1,301 square feet outlet [...]
Prime residential London rents post sharpest annual fall in two years November 2, 2015 PRIME central London residential rents reported their steepest monthly decline in two years in October, research out today claims. Knight Frank’s latest monthly index released today shows rental values fell by 0.5 per cent compared with the previous month and slowed to 1.5 per cent growth year-on-year. That compares with May’s three-year high of 4.5 [...]
Standard Chartered results 2015: Asia-facing bank to post third-quarter performance amid capital-raising reports November 2, 2015 Standard Chartered is expected to post another drop in profits tomorrow, as new chief executive Bill Winters struggles to turn around the ailing Asia-facing bank. The results come amid increased speculation that Standard Chartered is looking to raise at least $4bn (£2.59bn) from investors. Bloomberg first reported last week that Standard Chartered management had met [...]
New Linklaters report: European banks face major credit risks over bad loans November 2, 2015 European banks are still holding onto an estimated €826bn (£588bn) of non-performing loans, despite increased oversight, according to a new report out today. Global law firm Linklaters estimated that since the European Central Bank (ECB) introduced its Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) last November, non-performing loan (NPL) volumes across European banks have remained high, reducing only [...]
HSBC third-quarter results 2015: Investors await details on bank’s restructuring and relocation November 2, 2015 Investors will be looking for further indications of whether HSBC will relocate from London when Britain’s biggest bank reveals its third-quarter results today. It was reported last week that HSBC was considering moving its headquarters to the United States, rather than Hong Kong as previously anticipated. Management are expected to update investors on the review [...]
Selfridges’ tills ring with record full-year profits November 1, 2015 Selfridges has post record profits of £155m for last year as the upmarket department store chain pushed ahead with its online expansion overseas and expanded its UK stores. The retailer, which has just unveiled its famous Christmas window displays on Oxford Street – this year inspired by the 12 signs of the zodiac – said [...]
Commerzbank chief Martin Blessing to leave in October 2016 November 1, 2015 Martin Blessing, chief executive of Commerzbank, has today announced he will step down from his position when his contract expires in October 2016. Blessing has been on the bank’s board of managing directors for 15 years and has held the chief executive post since 2008. Commenting on his decision, Blessing said: “I was delighted to [...]
UK challenger Metro Bank could do more fund-raising instead of an IPO November 1, 2015 Leading challenger Metro Bank is considering scrapping its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) next year in favour of more rounds of private fund-raising. Metro Bank, which has been in business since 2010, said in its third-quarter results announcement last week that it “continues to target” a listing for next year. But the bank's founder and [...]
Oil giant Chevron to cut around 10 per cent of its workforce October 30, 2015 The figures Oil giant Chevron said announced it could cut between 6,000 and 7,000 jobs and slash its capital budget by 25 per cent as low oil prices continued their rampage across the sector. Chevron now plans to spend between $25bn (£16.2bn) to $28bn next year, and expects to further slash spending in 2017 and 2018. It reported net [...]