Aldi has promised a fresh supermarket price war after Tesco (TSCO) vowed to be the ‘cheapest in town’ with its discount chain Jack’s. The German grocer pledged to be never beaten on price after raking in record sales of £10billion in the UK and Ireland last year, an increase of 16.4%. Aldi is planning to open 130 stores over the next two years – taking the total to more than 900 – as demand for its low-cost groceries continues to soar.
Nearly £860 million was wiped off Royal Mail’s value after its chief executive warned profits would be far lower than expected. Just four months after taking over at the postal service, Rico Back said he was ‘very disappointed’ with the way the business was performing. The 64-year-old German said profits this year would come in between £500 million and £550 million, significantly below the £694 million Royal Mail (RMG) made last year. He blamed a 7% fall in the number of letters being posted, dismal productivity and problems keeping a lid on costs.
has sacked all of House of Fraser’s top directors and management after the £90million takeover of the department store. The chain, which is run by tracksuit tycoon Mike Ashley, said it had dismissed all former directors and senior management following calls for an investigation into its collapse in August.
Aldi has promised a fresh supermarket price war after Tesco (TSCO) vowed to be the ‘cheapest in town’ with its discount chain Jack’s. The German grocer pledged to be never beaten on price after raking in record sales of £10billion in the UK and Ireland last year, an increase of 16.4%. Aldi is planning to open 130 stores over the next two years – taking the total to more than 900 – as demand for its low-cost groceries continues to soar.
Ryanair Holdings (RYA) share price fell to a two-year low in early trading today after the airline warned investors that its profits would be 12% lower than expected. The cut-price airline blamed a string of strikes, falling passenger numbers and rising fuel prices for the downgrade, which sent its shares down by more than 8% to around 12p. Ryanair pilots and cabin crew took strike action in September, knocking passenger numbers and costing the firm in passenger compensation.
The future of a London-listed gold mining company, which had one of its precious metals shipments seized last year over an employee pay row, is hanging in the balance. Avocet Mining (AVM), which owes £22.9 million to activist investor Elliott Management, sank 36.7%, or 4.38p, to 7.57p as it warned it could be wound up in order to pay off its heavy debt pile. If it does get broken up and its assets sold, the company added, shareholders would likely be left with nothing since all money would go to paying back the loans.
Big Sofa Technologies Group (BST) announced it is raising £1.7 million to expand. It issued 56.2 million new shares at 3p each to raise the cash. This was a heavy discount to the firm’s 7.1p share price on Friday, pulling it down by 52.5%, or 3.72p, to 3.38p. Broker Novum Securities is set to buy 33.3 million of the new shares, while research firm Ipsos will scoop 11.2 million and a group of directors and a former director will bag 11.7 million.
Housebuilders were put on the back foot by the Prime Minister’s plans to levy a new tax on foreign homebuyers. Theresa May announced over the weekend at the Conservative Party conference that property buyers who don’t pay tax in the UK could face a surcharge of between 1% and 3%. Since most foreign property buyers purchase homes in London – where up to 50% of buyers are not UK taxpayers, according to UBS – builders which focus on the capital suffered most. FTSE 100-listed Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) slumped by 124p, to 3555p. Persimmon (PSN), which has eight developments in the London area, fell by 47p, to 2318p. Taylor Wimpey (TW.), which also has eight apartment block developments in central London, dropped by 3.4p, to 168.4p. Gregor Kuglitsch, an analyst at UBS, said: ‘From the perspective of the homebuilders, we think an additional tax would likely have to be absorbed through price reduction.’ May said the extra stamp duty, cash from which would be used to tackle homelessness, should help push house prices down for UK buyers. The going rate for a flat in Battersea Reach, one of Berkeley Group’s recent London developments, ranges from £690,000 to £1.25 million.
easyJet (EZJ) dipped 92p, to 1222p, and British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) by 17p, to 643.2p, after smaller competitor Ryanair warned its financial performance would be less impressive than expected due to rising fuel costs and persistent strike action.
Rentokil Initial (RTO) gave the FTSE some support, after it revealed it was buying Mitie’s pest control division for £40 million. The firm, the UK’s largest pest control business, crept up 3.6%, or 11.3p, to 329.7p. Outsourcer Mitie Group (MTO), on the other hand, edged down by 1.2% or 1.7p to 145p, even though it said the sale would free up funds for investment in its core branches.
