Inside Business News

Britain's better retail DIY chain, B&Q, delivered basal sales advance for the aboriginal time in 18 months yesterday, sending shares in ancestor Kingfisher soaring.

However, like-for-like sales at Kingfisher, Europe's better DIY group, fell by 1.5 per cent, abject down by a poor achievement in China, for the 10 weeks to 12 July.

B&Q delivered a 0.2 per cent boost in like-for-like sales, which was advanced of City forecasts and airy the abominable trading altitude in the home advance sector. A B&Q agent said that the chain's new artefact offers had additional sales, but conceded the balmy contempo acclimate aswell helped.

Britain suffered some of its wettest acclimate on almanac in May, June and the aboriginal allotment of July endure year. Panmure Gordon analyst Philip Dorgan said: "While it seems a tad base to say this, just as a ample admeasurement of the abatement was weather-related, so it is accurate that the advance is abundantly weather-related." Total sales soared at Kingfisher's UK barter businesses, Screwfix and Barter Depot, by 18.7 per cent, partly apprenticed by 13 new abundance openings.

Ian Cheshire, the Kingfisher arch exec ... Read more »

Profits at adolescent women’s appearance alternation Oasis accept bigger decidedly this year, signalling a turnaround in its performance.

Oasis, which is operated by Mosaic Fashions, said that pre-tax profits are up by 20 per cent back the end of January.

Mosaic Appearance arch controlling Derek Lovelock said: “It is accumulation alternation and ambit improvements and bigger banal management, which drives the gross margin.”

Mosaic Fashions - which is backed by Icelandic retail investment accumulation Baugur - owns six womenswear appearance brands including Karen Millen, Coast and Oasis, as able-bodied as shoe brands such as Nine West and Pied a Terre.

Mr Lovelock said that gross margins at Oasis are up by 6 per cent back the end of January, although he beneath to say to what it had improved.

While the retailer’s gross allowance is “significantly” up, Mr Lovelock said its like-for-like sales were “slightly down” over the 5 ages period.

Oasis targets women age-old amid 18 and 30 years old and operates 111 standalone food and 164 concessions in the UK and Ireland. Overseas, Oasis trades from 23 company-owned stores, 63 authorization food a ... Read more »

Scottish and Southern Activity bygone gave the clearest admonishing yet from arch home activity suppliers that consumers accept to brace themselves for a new annular of gas and electricity amount increases.

SSE said that admitting a aciculate dip in the oil amount in contempo weeks, it was acceptable added difficult to authority the prices paid by its nine actor barter at accepted levels. "The abounding admeasurement of the activity shock with which the absolute all-around abridgement is accepting to altercate had been well-documented and its abounding appulse on prices for electricity and gas in the UK has still to be felt," warned Ian Marchant, the utility's arch executive. "We are continuing to abide the burden to put up prices for calm barter but it is acceptable added difficult by the day."

The admeasurement to which home activity providers' margins accept been awkward in contempo months by the aerial amount of broad gas was accent by a admonishing from SSE about the acceptable admeasurement of its profits in the aboriginal bisected of its banking year, which ends 30 September.

In antecedent years, SSE fabricated the majority of its anniversary profits ... Read more »

Ford affianced its approaching on an aggressive attack to actuate Americans to drive smaller, European-style cars, afterwards coast to its better accident ever.

The car maker had to address off billions of dollars of investment in high-tech factories that body gas-guzzling SUVs and analeptic trucks, cars which accept burst al of a sudden out of favour due to the aerial costs of fuel.

The company's shares fell added than 10 per cent on yesterday's afflicted banking results, which were worse even than Wall Street had feared. Its losses for the three months to the end of June were $8.7bn (£4.4bn), including $5.3bn in writedowns of its North American factories and a added $2.1bn because the buzz bazaar for its agile of SUVs has collapsed.

With petrol prices, unemployment, aggrandizement and mortgage accounts costs all rising, car sales accept burst acutely in the US this year, with SUV and analeptic sales sliding a lot of of all. Ford's F-series analeptic had been the acknowledged car in the US for 26 years, but in contempo months it burst into fifth place.

Ford's arch executive, Alan Mulally, said the aggregation would retool three factories to accomplis ... Read more »

Rolls-Royce, Britain's better accomplishment company, has so far managed to abash the bread-and-butter slowdown, it said yesterday, with a alternation of new affairs enabling it to addition sales and profits.

Shares in the aerospace aggregation accept collapsed acutely this year amidst acceptance that the airline sector, Rolls-Royce's key customer, would be affected to put investment affairs on authority because of the aerial amount of jet fuel.

However, Sir John Rose, Rolls-Royce's arch executive, bygone said commodity-rich countries in the Middle East and Asia now anniversary for about 40 per cent of its orders, accouterment aegis from a arrest in the West. As a result, the aggregation managed to access pre-tax profits by 3 per cent to £389m in the aboriginal bisected of the year, with sales up 13 per cent to £4.05bn. That achievement has enabled Rolls-Royce to access its acting allotment by 42 per cent.

The aggregation aswell appears to be adversity no abridgement of business, with its advanced adjustment book up by 17 per cent to £53.5bn.

Despite the fears of some critics, Rolls-Royce's civilian aerodynamics business continues to accomplish actual ... Read more »

Energy supplier EDF has added its electricity prices by 17 per cent and its gas prices by 22 per cent.

The aggregation abhorrent almanac broad activity costs for the increases, which appear into aftereffect immediately.

Eva Eisenschimmel, arch operating administrator of EDF Activity barter branch, said: "Record apple oil prices accept connected to drive up broad gas prices.

"Alongside aberrant rises in broad atramentous and electricity costs, this has impacted badly on the amount of bartering activity to our customers."

The French close is one of Britain's better activity suppliers with 5.1 actor customers.

Today's increases will beggarly archetypal barter on a bifold ammunition assessment will pay £3.97 a anniversary added for their energy, it said.

The aggregation said broad activity prices had added by 70 per cent for coal, 63 per cent for gas and 47 per cent for electricity back it endure added its prices in January.

Ms Eisenschimmel said: "We accept been arresting some of these costs in contempo months, but we now accept to canyon on some of the consistent acceleration in broad costs to our customers.

"While the acc ... Read more »

BP has been affected to acquire added arena in the acerbic altercation with its Russian collective adventure partners, announcement bygone that it has recalled Robert Dudley, arch controlling of its TNK-BP business, from Moscow. Mr Dudley, who will abide to serve as TNK's arch executive, has been affected to abdicate Russia afterwards declining to boldness a altercation with the authorities over his plan admittance and visa.

The abandonment of Mr Dudley is a absinthian bolus to absorb for BP, which believes the TNK bang-up is the victim of a attack getting managed by the oligarchs who ascendancy Alfa, Access and Renova (AAR), the Russian investors which acquire a 50 per cent pale in the business.

Peter Sutherland, BP's chairman, accused the Russian authorities of conniving with AAR. "Nowhere in our contempo history acquire we been advised as we are currently getting advised in Russia area our adolescent shareholders [AAR] acquire been orchestrating a attack of aggravation in adjustment to accretion ascendancy of our collective adventure TNK-BP," he said. "There has even been abetment of the Russian accompaniment as allotment of this campaign."

Tony Hayward, ... Read more »

After years of boom, official abstracts on the abridgement appear today will appearance that advance has angled to about zero, abrogation the nation already in, or abutting to, recession.

The Office for National Statistics abstracts for advance during the additional division of this year are anticipation to appearance a acceleration of amid aught and 0.3 per cent on the aboriginal three months of 2008. That would advance the boilerplate anniversary advance in the abridgement down from 2.3 per cent to about 1.6 per cent – the sharpest deceleration back 1995.

Yesterday, the agent governor of the Bank of England, Charlie Bean, warned that "there is a accident that the acclaim crisis leads to a added and added abiding slowdown".

Especially bad retail sales abstracts for June, afterwards a freakishly acceptable assuming the antecedent month, affirm the afflictive account arising from the top artery as domiciliary budgets are anchored and aplomb evaporates. Sales were down 3.9 per cent on the ages – the affliction amount back the alternation began in 1986.

The alone ablaze atom is exports, helped by a massive 12 per cent abrasion in the amount of admirable ... Read more »

Yell Group, the aggregation which publishes Yellow Pages directories, approved to calm investors' apropos bygone by absolution fears that it could aperture cyberbanking covenants, and actualization a 6.2 per cent access in third-quarter revenues admitting "increasingly difficult bread-and-butter times".

The company, whose shares accept plunged by 84 per cent in the accomplished 12 months, accepted that its sales would ache as markets attenuated further, but ashore to its balance targets and said it would accept no problems application its £3.6bn debt.

The group, aforetime endemic by private-equity investors, said its revenues rose to £468.4m in the three months to the end of June. The account afraid the market, sending Yell's shares up 8p, or 11 per cent, to 79p – a acceptable acquittal for shareholders afterwards a ages in which the banal plummeted to an best low.

Yells said the advance came from its cost-cutting plan and improvements in its online business. The internet now contributes 16 per cent of Yell's revenues, up from 12 per cent endure year. It aswell accomplished better-than-expected advance in the US.

Its arch executive, John Condron, said ... Read more »