Sales at Boots have fallen further in the UK as it struggles with brutal conditions on the high street and lower funding from the NHS, which impacts its prescriptions. The chemist chain is closing 200 shops to keep a lid on costs. It posted a 2.1% fall in sales in the fourth quarter. Pharmacy sales were down 1pc, while retail sales declined 2.7%. Boots’ owner, US-based Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), said profits for the enlarged company were down by almost 10pc, primarily because of its lacklustre performance in Britain. Alexander Gourlay, co-chief operating officer, said it expects the 200 shops to shut by the end of next year.
Embattled Aston Martin Holdings (AML) suffered a fresh blow as one of the banks which shared a £30m pay-out from advising on the luxury car maker’s disastrous float urged investors to dump its shares. Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) cut its rating on Aston from neutral to sell, slashing its target price from 550p to just 400p in the process – 79% less than the stock’s value when it went public. Aston floated a year ago with the shares priced at £19.
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) has warned it may be forced to slash even more jobs after a brutal three months in which profits fell almost a fifth. Interim chief executive Noel Quinn threatened to wield the axe again just weeks after it emerged the bank was planning to cut 10,000 roles, and blasted the lender’s performance as “not acceptable”. It came as HSBC announced profits of $4.8bn (£3.7bn) for the third quarter – down 18% on the same period last year. Only $100m of that figure was generated outside Asia, piling pressure on divisions to up their game in Europe and the US. The poor results have increased fears over job cuts.
The accounting scandal surrounding Goals Soccer Centres (GOAL) has deepened after the five-a-side operator called in fraud investigators. Evidence has been handed over to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) just days after the company’s stock was delisted from the London Stock Exchange amid problems with its accounts. In August, Goals uncovered “improper behaviour within the company”. This followed its shares being suspended in March after unearthing an unpaid VAT bill of at least £12m. Goals’ board put the company up for sale during the summer is it struggled to get to the bottom of what it termed “historical accounting errors”.
Questor: we’ve yet to strike gold with our miners but this Australian business could be the answer. Questor share tip: QE is back in earnest and gold could be the beneficiary so Resolute Mining (RSG), which recently added a London listing, is worth a look
