Ian Pollard – Persimmon – Strong Growth As Sales Decline

NEXT plc NXT first quarter trading to the 27th April was saved only  by online sales which rose by 11% and are forecast to continue to grow at the same rate for the remainder of the year. Full price retail sales for the quarter fell by 3.6%. The picture for the remainder of the year […]

Ian Pollard: Fastjet On The Brink

Fastjet plc FJET admits that it has not received the additional funding which it needed by the end of October if it was to continue operating, It has however been able to continue operating beyond that deadline due to some improvement in trading and cash generation. This has allowed it further time to continue discussions […]

Ian Pollard – Next #NXT online sales save the day

Next pc NXT Full price sales in the second quarter were up 2.8% on last year and ahead of the 1% expected at the time of the May update. Next believes believe that this over-achievement  was due to the prolonged period of exceptionally warm weather, which greatly assisted  sales of summer weight products.Expectations for the […]

Ian Pollard – Next #NXT Saved By Online Growth

Next NXT Full price sales for the 14 weeks to the 7th May have risen by 5% compared to last years figures mainly due to online sales jumping by 18.1% whilst retail fell foul of the high street malaise with a fall of 4.8%. First quarter sales were better than expected helped by the recent […]

Ken Baksh – January 2018 market Report……New challenges and opportunities!

by Ken Baksh Ken has over 35 years of investment management experience, working for two major City institutions between 1976 and 2002. Since then he has been engaged as a self-employed investment consultant. He has worked with investment trusts, unit trusts, pension funds, charities, Life Fund,hedge fund and private clients. Individual asset managed have included direct […]

Ian Pollard – Next #NXT succumbs to High St woes

NEXT NXT colder weather and a big rise in online sales helped Next to beat expectations for full price sales in the 54 days between 1st November and the 24th December, with a rise of 1.5% as against an expected fall of -0.3%. Within that figure however, retail sales were a disaster with a fall […]

450,000 British Companies Financially Distressed

Begbies Traynor BEG  announces doom and gloom for many British companies with 450,000 of them suffering from signs of financial distress, even before the effects are felt of any interest rate rise on Thursday. The number has risen by 27% from a year ago and 250,000 have become “zombie” companies with no net worth and […]

NEXT- Another Special Dividend As Decline Continues

NEXT plc NXT does not expect any recovery during the remainder of the current financial year despite second quarter full price sales having risen by 0.7% compared to the first quarter when they were down 3%. Retail sales for the half year to 29th July were down by 7.4% whereas Directory sales rose by 11.4% […]

Next Celebrates Falling Profits With a Special Dividend

Next NXT Celebrates its weak trading performance by announcing a special dividend of 45p per share to be paid on the 1st August. Total sales for the 13 weeks to to 29th April fell by 3% as mayhem on the high street continued. On a like for like basis, new space which added 1.6% to […]