Moss Bros Rings Warning Bells For The High Street
The latest high street retailer to sound the warning bells for the UK economy is suit company Moss Bros, reporting a fall of 1.5% in like for like sales over the last 19 weeks. The company expect this situation to deteriorate further with forecasts of a near 4% drop in like for like sales for the full year. While many observers of the UK economy have been expecting a sudden fall in the UK economy, the management of Moss Bros see more of a progressive worsening of the retail environment.
The company itself has been the subject of much takeover speculation over the last few months but it seems that possible suitors have walked away for the time being. When you consider that trading conditions are set to worsen and money will be tight for the next 12 months at least, why would you jump in and buy a company which will likely be cheaper in 12 months time.
This is a reflection of the stock market at the moment, with many investors content to sit on the sidelines for the time being and pick up ‘bargains’ further down the line. Many people believe that a sudden rush of takeovers will signal the bottom of the UK economy, but that appears to be some way off.
Share this..
Related stories
Fury over Google's UK tax situation
It has been revealed that Internet giant Google would appear not to have paid any tax on UK advertising revenues of £1.6 billion in 2008. In a perfectly legal arrangement, Google has diverted all of its UK advertising earnings to an Irish subsidiary which saved the company an estimated £450 million in corporation tax for 2008. However, the revelation by the Times newspaper has certainly attracte...
Read MoreBritish Chamber Of Commerce Warns Member Of Recession
The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has warned its members that the UK is set to head into recession over the next two or three quarters with zero or negative growth expected in the next quarter and negative growth in the following two. Technically a recession is when there is negative growth for two consecutive quarters, so in all honesty that does not seem too far away.
However...
David Blanchflower attacks Mervyn King
David Blanchflower, the former Bank of England policy maker, has today launched a stinging attack on Mervyn King suggesting that vital information was withheld from other MPC members at the height of the financial crisis. This is by far and away the most damning accusation aimed at Mervyn King and while unsubstantiated at the moment there have been rumours of an overbearing and over controlling cu...
Read MorePostal workers union takes on Royal Mail
Bill Hayes, the Postal workers union leader, has today set the cat amongst the pigeons with a comment that he is "stronger than Scargill" which is a direct comparison to Arthur Scargill who was the bane of the UK government in the 1980s. This will do nothing to improve the reputation of the Labour Party which is effectively at the beck and call of the unions due in the main to the party's difficul...
Read MoreUK government to cave in on banking bonuses
The UK government looks set to cave in on banking bonuses in excess of £1.5 billion for majority-owned Royal Bank of Scotland with the board of the bank threatening to resign if the UK government blocked the bonus pool. The head-to-head between Royal Bank of Scotland and the Treasury has given hope to other banking institutions which are under pressure to reduce their bonus payments in the short...
Read More