Tiktok To Take On Instagram With Photo Sharing App

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In the meantime happy reading!

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GENERAL?

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Retailers face mounting pressure as insolvencies surge by 19% - Rising interest rates, escalating costs and restrained consumer spending have cast a shadow over retail, leading to a surge in insolvencies.?2,195 retailers collapsed in the year up to January, marking a 19% increase compared with the previous year. Notable casualties include The Body Shop , Ted Baker , MATCHESFASHION LIMITED , FARFETCH and wilko , the DIY and homeware chain that faced administration in August, prompting the closure of 400 stores.

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ON THE UP?

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Self-storage giant Shurgard Self Storage to buy UK’s Lok'nStore Self-Storage for ￡378m - One of Europe’s biggest self-storage companies has offered ￡378m to shareholders of London-listed Lok’nStore to buy it off the stock exchange. A deal which the two companies’ boards announced would give Shurgard access to Lok’nStore’s 43 self-storage shops which are scattered across England and Wales.

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UNIQLO overseas growth drives profits up 11% - Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is set to post a robust quarterly profit as its overseas units make up for slowing growth within its home market Japan. Analyst forecasts compiled by LSEG indicate an 11% year-over-year rise in operating profit in the three months through February, reaching $753.4m.

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Darktrace shares rise as quarterly annual recurring revenue grows - Shares in Darktrace rose 8.7% to 472.71 pence each in London on 11th April. The Cambridge, England-based cybersecurity company said at constant currency rates, annualised recurring revenue at March 31 was $731.1m, representing growth of 24% from $583.6m a year ago. Revenue in its third quarter jumped 24% to $176.1m from $139.2m a year prior.

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US brand The Wendy's Company 's to create 400 jobs as it beefs up UK expansion - The chain, famous for its square burgers, returned to the UK in 2021 after a 20-year hiatus. It has since opened around 30 restaurants, delivery kitchens and drive-through locations, with a further nine due to launch this year.

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特易购公司 ’s profit surges as lower prices draw in consumers – Tesco has traded in line with raised expectations, posting a total operating profit of ￡2.8bn for the full year. Chief Ken Murphy thanked a slew of price cut schemes for the lift, which saw profit exceed the board’s expectations by ￡50m last year.??Group sales were up 7.4% year-on-year to ￡61.5bn, while adjusted operating profit for retail grew 11% to ￡2.8bn.?Overall adjusted operating profit, which included the contribution from Tesco Bank rose 12.8% to ￡2.8bn.

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Home Bargains pushes ahead with store expansion plans as profits rise -?The Liverpool-based discounter saw its turnover jump 10.2% from ￡3.4bn to ￡3.7bn in the year to 30 June, according to accounts filed with Companies House.?Pre-tax profits rose 12.4% during the period, up from ￡293m in 2022 to ￡332m.

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Enterprise RENT A CAR SA creates almost 1,000 UK jobs as sales near ￡2bn - The Surrey-based company increased its average headcount in the year to July 31, 2023, from 5,120 to 6,054. The new financial results also show that Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s turnover increased from ￡1.3bn to ￡1.8bn in the year while its pre-tax profits grew from ￡163.6m to ￡202.8m.

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IN THE DOLDRUMS

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Poundland & Dealz sales dip as it overhauls general merchandise - Poundland owner Pepco Group warned the trading environment “remains challenging” as it reported a dip in like-for-likes following a tough comparative period last year. The discount giant posted an 11% jump in group sales to ￡2.73bn on a constant currency basis for the six months to 31 March. However, on a like-for-like basis, sales fell 2.5%.

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Trading resumes in Revolution Bars Group PLC after firm secures ￡12.5m in emergency fundraising - Troubled Revolution Bars has announced an emergency multi-million-pound fundraising backed by serial hospitality investor Luke Johnson. In a statement published after markets closed, the owner of Revolution, Revolución de Cuba and Peach Pubs , said it planned to raise up to ￡10.5m for a placing and up to ￡2m via the placing and open offer.

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UK’s biggest pubs group Stonegate struggles to refinance ￡2.2bn debt pile - Stonegate Pub Company, which has a network of more than 4,400 UK pubs and bars including the Slug and Lettuce Leeds and Be At One chains, said it had not yet agreed new loans to replace debt due for repayment in June 2025.?While talks with potential lenders are understood to be under way, the failure to agree a new facility by the time the company published its annual report left it with no choice but to issue an alert about its financial position.

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The Sun loses ￡66m amid costs from phone-hacking scandal - Its online audience also dropped by 4 million readers as the newspaper continued to grapple with the fallout from the phone-hacking scandal.?Total losses at the Murdoch-owned tabloid have now reached ￡515m over the past five years, amid declining print sales and the high cost of paying damages to victims of illegal information gathering.?The Sun is still facing a number of lawsuits including one brought by Prince Harry in a case that is due to go to trial before the high court next year.

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M&C Saatchi Group has “much more to do” ahead of new CEO arrival - Profit fell during the last 12 months of last year, ?as client marketing budgets were squeezed amid the cost of living crisis, the agency said in a statement to markets.?However a host of transformation measures underway since Byng-Thorne took over are beginning to bear fruit, with multi-million cost savings across the business.?Net revenue was down 2% year-on-year to ￡252.8m and operating profit slumped 8% to ￡32.4m.?M&C Saatchi also said it achieved 216 new business wins including World Health Organization , Porsche AG , 阿迪达斯 , 耐克 , Revlon , and 麦当劳 .?

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ONES TO WATCH

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US licensing partner joins race to buy up remaining assets of embattled Ted Baker - Ted Baker’s American licensing partner is reportedly the lead contender to take control of the business’s embattled British arm.?OSL, which was appointed to run Ted Baker’s American arm over a year ago, is eyeing up a deal which could see the business take over dozens of shops.

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TikTok to take on Instagram with photo sharing app - The company said it was working on a "dedicated space" for images and text.?Some users have received notifications saying their photo posts will be shared to a new "TikTok Notes" app unless they opt out.?It is the latest example of social media firms imitating each others' products - including Instagram launching Reels, a TikTok-like video tool, in 2020.

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TAG : Travel agent for Jay-Z, Rihanna and Lady Gaga sold to ECI Partners - A former investor in the likes of Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury, Games Workshop and National Express has acquired a travel agent that arranges the itineraries for the likes of Jay-Z, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and the Foo Fighters.?ECI Partners has snapped up The Appointment Group (TAG) after Apiary Capital put the London-based company up for sale with a price tag of ￡100m towards the end of 2023.?TAG was founded by John Gianquitto and Maurice Veronique in 1988 and specialises in booking flights, hotels and other travel arrangements for pop groups, comedians, celebrities and their entourages. The business employs more than 450 people across the world.

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Charlotte Tilbury owner Puig seeks ￡2.1bn Spanish IPO - Charlotte Tilbury-owner Puig is looking to raise more than ￡2.1bn (€2.5bn) through an initial public offering, making it the biggest stock market listing in the beauty sector in years. The Spanish beauty group, which owns 14 brands and several fragrance licences, is planning to list on the Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao and Valencia stock exchanges.?

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Revolution Bars close to finalising rescue fundraising – This would provide a stay of execution as it cobbles together plans that will result in the mass closure of its venues. Revolution, whose shares were suspended last week after it said it was unable to publish its interim results, is hoping to announce that it has secured roughly ￡10m equity funding commitment from investors including Luke Johnson, the leisure entrepreneur.

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