Monday April 28, 11:03 AM
Sector movers: Mixed fortunes for retailers
LONDON (ShareCast) - Britain's giant supermarkets face a third price-fixing investigation after the Office of Fair Trading started a probe into the pricing of health, beauty and groceries. Last week the OFT raided the premises of Tesco
(LSE: TSCO.L - news) , Asda (NYSE: WMT - news) , Sainsbury (LSE: SBRY.L - news) 's and Wm Morrison and is said to have seized hundreds of emails between retailers and specific suppliers. Asda and Wm Morrison confirmed that the OFT visited their head offices, adding they were happy to assist. Reports this morning also said Sainsbury's and Tesco were also co-operating. Relations between the retail sector and the OFT have become increasingly fraught in recent months as the regulator has a launched a series of high profile price-fixing investigations. Last week the OFT named eleven retailers alongside two tobacco companies in a probe into cigarette price -fixing. If found guilty in any of these investigations, the companies involved could face fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover. Online fashion retailer ASOS (LSE: ASC.L - news) expects pre-tax profit for the year ended 31 March to be 'slightly' ahead of market forecasts. Pre-tax profit before a one off charge of about £1.1m relating to the closure of the group's old warehouse is 'significantly' ahead of market expectations, ASOS added. Sales have increased by 90% to about £81m for the year, while sales for the 4 weeks to 27 April are up 80% year-on-year. Gross margins will be in line with previous guidance. "Despite the uncertain economic conditions, I remain optimistic about the prospects for ASOS," said chief executive Nick Robertson. "We continue to benefit from the increasing popularity of online shopping and we have made considerable investments in management, infrastructure, product ranges and marketing to support and sustain future growth," he added. Top performing sectors so far today
Industrial Metals 10,012.60 +2.82%
General Retailers 1,536.80 +2.36%
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 2,085.30 +2.35%
Personal Goods 7,823.70 +2.13%
Automobiles & Parts 4,603.90 +2.01% Bottom performing sectors so far today
Mobile Telecommunications 3,571.80 -1.09%
Food & Drug Retailers 4,917.00 -0.98%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 2,868.60 -0.76%
Software & Computer Services (CSVI.PK - news) 435.40 -0.66%
Aerospace and Defence 3,416.30 -0.27%
|
Send Article by Email
