Below are the key headlines from today’s updated papers, featuring the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
Primark primed for growth as profits leap — but snubs push into online. Primark’s top brass on Wednesday said there is no stopping the fashion chain’s rapid expansion — but disappointed fans keen to see it begin selling online. Finance chief John Bason said: “There’s a lot of space left to open — not in the UK. We’re going into central and eastern Europe. I don’t think we’ll run out of opportunities.” The budget retailer, owned by Associated British Foods (ABF) , saw sales increase by 4.4% for the half year to March 24, thanks largely to opening stores in Europe and the US. Same-store sales, which exclude sales from new stores, fell 1.5%, dragged down by Germany, where the business has been struggling.
Celebrity collaborations, social media ‘influencers’ and young shoppers with a ‘high propensity’ to spend their cash online helped the Boohoo.com (BOO) group enjoy a surge in sales last year. New figures reveal that revenue at Booho’s PrettyLittleThing brand jumped 107% to £374.4million in the last year, while sales at Nasty Gal rose 96% to £47.9million. Across all its operations, online-based Boohoo’s revenue increased by 48% to £856.9million in the year to 28 February, and pre-tax profit jumped 38% to £59.9million. Turnover rose 37% in the UK and 64% internationally. Boohoo said it had increased active customer numbers by 9% to 7million and expanded its social media presence, a crucial marketing tool for the company that uses celebrities, social media influencers and reality TV stars to market its clothes. The company’s gross margins improved by 190 basis points to 54.7% as a result of tighter control over stock and ‘refinement of the customer proposition.’
Andy Briggs leaves Aviva (AV.) after missing out on top job. Andy Briggs, the head of Aviva’s UK insurance business, is stepping down after losing out on the top job to the group’s new chief executive Maurice Tulloch. Despite leaving that role immediately, he will remain with the business until Oct 23 to support an “orderly transition”. Mr Briggs joined Aviva’s board in 2015 following the insurer’s acquisition of Friends Life, where he was chief executive. While analysts said it was not surprising to see Mr Briggs depart after his involvement in the search for a new chief executive, they said it was too early to predict where he might go next. An Aviva spokesman said Mr Briggs would be prohibited from taking up a new role until after October.
Loungers seeks a cosy £80m with Aim listing. The neighbourhood café-bar operator behind the Lounge and Cosy Club brands has shrugged off sector fears and Brexit uncertainty to raise more than £80 million via a listing on the junior Aim market. Loungers, which operates 146 outlets across England and Wales, said that trading in its shares would start on Monday at 200p, valuing the company at £185 million, or £212.5 million including debt, a little below pre-listing estimates of at least £250 million. To ensure the success of the placing, the company has not only cut the price but also the amount raised. The proceeds of £83.3 million, of which £61.6 million is new money, compare to an original target of more than £100 million. Existing investors are selling shares worth £21.7 million, fewer than planned.