Retail

Philip Green tucks away £1.2bn Arcadia payout

20 Oct 2005

The UK retail tycoon hardly needs the money and he hasn t got any targets on his radar screen. But the refinancing makes sense from a private equity perspective and does not leave the fashion group noticeably undercapitalised.

Nestle should gear itself up

20 Oct 2005

The Swiss food giant is performing well across the board even in the US, where Cadbury and Kraft are struggling. A fresh buyback is a positive step too. But Nestle could do more if only it could be persuaded to part with its prized tripleA rating.

Meagre Somerfield bid adds to retail gloom

14 Oct 2005

Investors will be relieved Apax didn t pull out, leaving the UK supermarket high and dry. After all, that s what it did to Woolworths. Still, the £1.1bn offer is just 4% higher than one Somerfield already turned down. Not a great sign for other wouldbe retail bid targets.

Burberry’s new boss has tough job ahead

12 Oct 2005

With the UK luxury group s growth slowing dramatically, Angela Ahrendts will find it all the harder to live up to Rose Marie Bravo s legacy. Burberry now trades at discount of over 20% to luxury stocks. That doesn t look too steep given the huge potential overhang on the stock.

Philip Green eats humble pie

12 Oct 2005

Well almost. The outspoken UK ragtrade billionaire has axed this year s dividend at Bhs, following a fall in sales. Rivals may chuckle but only for a moment. Green s problems at Bhs are indicative of tough times everywhere.

M&S in sight of 400p

11 Oct 2005

After languishing below Philip Green s proposed bid price for a year and a half, the UK retailer s stock is now almost there. M&S has clearly made good progress in Q2. But its shares won t rise much further unless Rose can show he has fixed the business permanently.

Boots’ structure a total fudge

10 Oct 2005

It s not just that Alliance s Stefano Pessina will be in charge of strategy, integration and acquisitions without reporting to the CEO. Pessina s girlfriend will run the wholesale division and sit on the board. No wonder the CEO doesn t like the jibe that he is only a COO.

M&S investors bet on a recovery

9 Oct 2005

The UK retailer s stock has outperformed the sector, and is now higher than it was during Philip Green s attempted bid. M&S may well be trading better. But it isn t yet clear that this is the beginning of a turnaround.

Wal-Mart sued for stealing hip designs

5 Oct 2005

Chic outfitter Anthropologie says WalMart copied its styles and sold them at a knockdown price before the retailer could distribute them. Setting aside the merits of the case, this suggests WalMart is learning a trick or two from quickfashion retailers like Inditex and H&M.

Boots investors pin their hopes on an LBO

4 Oct 2005

Shareholders are blowing raspberries at the UK chemist s merger with Alliance Unichem. They ve bid up Boots stock on hopes of a rival bid. On paper, an LBO is possible. But if Boots were such an obvious target for private equity, it would surely have been taken out already.

Boots deals its way out of a strategic hole

2 Oct 2005

The UK chemist s planned £6.5bn tieup with Alliance Unichem will help it diversify and protect its turf from the likes of Tesco. That may not be a panacea to Boots' problems. But the deal looks fair and goes a long way to addressing them.

Tesco sounds bum note on UK retail market

20 Sep 2005

The market leader is always cautious about the outlook, and this time it sounds especially gloomy. But tougher times will make it easier for the more efficient UK retailers to press home their advantage.

Tesco should stick to what it knows

19 Sep 2005

The UK retail giant is reportedly considering a bid for Albertsons, the $16bn US supermarket group. But Albertsons would bring a whole host of problems. And it isn t as if Tesco is anywhere near running out of growth.

Morrison faces potentially damaging strikes

15 Sep 2005

The UK supermarket group says it can cope with strikes at five distribution centres. But unions say the strikes could lead to empty shelves. Morrison s management seems to have yet again behaved in an autocratic and confrontational manner. Recovery still looks a long way off.

Dixons frustrates the bears

7 Sep 2005

The UK electrical retailer is a leading indicator for the British high street. Investors were expecting its latest update to be diabolical. Their worst fears have not been realised. But the trends are still heading in the wrong direction.

Carrefour sees light at the end of the tunnel

1 Sep 2005

The French retailer s domestic margin has been hit by price cuts, which caused net profits to fall by almost 7%. But Carrefour s customers are returning. The group has finally started to reverse its long market share decline.

M&S’s Rose loses right hand man

18 Jul 2005

Charlie Wilson s job was to cut costs and improve the supply chain and that part of the turnaround plan has largely been completed. But his defection looks bad for M&S, coming just days after the UK retailer reported its seventh consecutive quarterly fall in sales.

M&S hit by slowdown

13 Jul 2005

Sales are sharply down, especially in general merchandise. Granted that s partly because M&S hasn t yet gone into the summer sales. So the effect will be mitigated by better margins. But the UK retailer's muchhoped for turnaround is a long way away.

London attacks a wake-up call for retail LBOs

11 Jul 2005

It is hard to tell what effect the events in London will have on retail spending patterns. But they may trigger a rethink of one of the bigger M&A fashions leveraged bids for retailers.

ABF pays £400m for Littlewoods

11 Jul 2005

Having walked away from Danone s sauces business, this is George Weston s first deal as CEO of the familycontrolled UK food group. The acquisition makes sense. Primark, ABF s discount clothing retailer, is defying the UK high street gloom and should continue to do so.