Sainsbury loses legal battle over Tesco Price Promise campaign
10th Nov 2014 16:08
J Sainsbury has lost a legal battle on claims Tesco's Price Promise marketing campaign was misleading, unfair and unlawful. The UK supermarket complained that Tesco had unjustly compared its own-brand prices to Sainsbury's products. The group appealed a decision by Sir Hayden Philips, the Advertisi
Read moreAldi set to create 35,000 jobs as part of UK expansion
10th Nov 2014 15:48
Discount supermarket chain Aldi has announced it intends to create some 35,000 new jobs in the UK. On Monday, the German firm unveiled plans for a £600m investment, which would see the number of stores across the country doubled to 1,000. "This includes plans to create at least one apprenticeship p
Read moreSector movers: Sainsbury drops, but Tesco lifts supermarket sector higher
10th Nov 2014 14:51
Shares in J Sainsbury were in the red on Monday but the wider UK food and drug retail sector was the best-performing category on the back of gains from much larger rival Tesco. Tesco, the largest retailer in the UK with a market capitalisation of around £15.7bn, was trading nearly 4.7% higher at 193
Read moreLondon midday: Mining stocks push FTSE 100 to five-week high, Serco drops
10th Nov 2014 11:27
UK stocks started the new trading week on the front foot with mining shares resilient despite some mixed economic data from China overnight. However, Serco was the standout mover with the FTSE 250 outsourcing stock losing as much as a third of its value after a profit warning and proposed rights iss
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Tesco, Sainsbury, Standard Chartered
9th Nov 2014 13:59
Challenger banks Tesco Bank and Virgin Money are leading a drive to make banks charge for so-called free current accounts. They told the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that it should force through such a requirement to enhance competition and avoid the potentially misleading impression for
Read moreSector movers: Supermarket stocks advance as Morrisons shares jump
6th Nov 2014 14:30
Supermarket shares surged on Thursday after third-quarter results from Wm Morrison were warmly-received, sending the food and drug retail sector firmly to the top of the pile on London's stock market. Morrisons' share price was up 7.6% at 174.8p in afternoon trade after the company reported improvin
Read moreLondon midday: UK retailers rise on Morrison results, but markets flat ahead of ECB
6th Nov 2014 11:44
The London stock market was more or less flat by Thursday lunchtime, erasing earlier losses after a well-received update from Morrison's boosted shares in the retail sector. However, upside was being limited ahead of a number of risk events expected before the weekend, including a European Central B
Read moreThursday broker round-up UPDATE
6th Nov 2014 10:01
Amec: UBS cuts target price from 1185p to 1150p, while its buy recommendation remains unchanged. Afren: Liberum Capital cuts target price from 121p to 95p and stays with its hold recommendation. Antofagasta: Canaccord cuts target price from 790p to 760p and reiterates a hold recommendation. Associ
Read moreLondon open: UK stocks fall ahead of policy decisions from BoE and ECB
6th Nov 2014 08:28
A flurry of blue-chip company announcements and upcoming policy decisions by the Bank of England (BoE) and European Central Bank (ECB) kept investors cautious on Thursday morning, with UK stocks trading in the red early on. The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 6,517, having jumped 1.3% to the previous sess
Read moreLondon close: Shares tread water after central banks sit tight
6th Nov 2014 08:25
A lack of action by Europe's central banks left London shares treading water on Thursday, although supermarkets provided a boost. The European Central Bank left its base rate unchanged at 0.05% but addressed fears about the lacklustre Eurozone economy by saying policymakers would take more action on
Read moreFuel companies should lower UK prices, says government
6th Nov 2014 06:46
Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has demanded that fuel companies lower their prices in response to the recent falls in the cost of oil. Addressing the Highlands & Islands Branch of The Energy Institute in Aberdeen on Thursday, he will say that people will "rightly be angry" if they a
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Readacross from Ryanair lifts Easyjet and IAG
3rd Nov 2014 16:04
A strong performance by Ryanair helped lift shares in sector peers Easyjet and IAG. Ryanair's first-half net profits flew 32% higher to €795m thanks to a strong summer and the budget airline's customer charm offensive. More bad news out over the weekend didn't stop Tesco's share price rising on Mond
Read moreLondon close: Weak Eurozone manufacturing data drag shares lower
3rd Nov 2014 15:24
Weak European manufacturing data dragged London shares lower on Monday despite a rise in the sector's fortunes in the UK. The Eurozone Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for October fell to 50.6 from 50.7 previously with both Germany and Italy declining while France improved sligh
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: Tesco, Employers, Scotland
3rd Nov 2014 06:52
Tesco is understood to be considering a partial flotation of its Edinburgh-based banking arm as the beleaguered group seeks to recover from its £263m accounting error. The supermarket, which is facing a criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into the scandal, could also look at spinning
Read moreTesco considers £1bn bank flotation
2nd Nov 2014 15:23
Tesco is reportedly contemplating the £1bn sale of its banking arm to boost capital. The troubled retailer is currently being probed by the Serious Fraud Office for a £263m black hole in its profit margin. According to the Sunday Telegraph, sources now claim that to generate missing funds, the comp
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