More bumper retail results today with M&S reporting an increase in clothing and homeware sales over Christmas for the first time in two years. Surpassing expectations, sales in the division rose by 2.3 per cent. John Lewis also reported results this morning, revealing that Christmas sales increased by 2.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, a demand for fresh food helped Tesco over the festive period. According to the
BBC, the supermarket giant reported that Christmas like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of new store openings, grew 0.7 per cent in the UK, and were up by 0.3 per cent across the group as a whole.
In addition, Dunelm, the homeware retailer, has reported a 0.2 per cent rise in like-for-like sales over Christmas to £235.7 million, and Debenhams revealed like-for-like sales rose 3.5 per cent over the same period. Like-for-like sales at Mothercare rose 1 per cent in the 13 weeks to 7 January, and group revenues increased 12.3 per cent in the final quarter of 2016 at online electrical retailer AO World. Staying with online, ASOS reported record sales over Christmas. In the four months to the end of the year, retail sales rose 36 per cent to £605.7 million.
Lloyds
Lloyds Banking Group customers are continuing to experience problems with online and app banking. The
BBC reports that the problems have entered a second day, with customers across Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland affected by the glitch.
Economy
In evidence to the Treasury select committee, Mark Carney has indicated that the Bank of England may upgrade its forecasts for the UK economy.
According to
The Guardian, the governor said the Bank’s actions to avoid a market meltdown after the referendum were a key reason why Threadneedle Street might be raising its forecasts for a second time.
Meanwhile,
The Telegraph reports that the City has ‘ratcheted up the pressure on the Government by issuing a series of demands that banks and other financial firms want from a Brexit deal with Brussels, including a transition period to stop markets from falling into a tailspin’.
Driving
The Times reports on a study by the University of Leicester, commissioned by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, which reveals that hit-and-run accidents have risen to their highest level in at least a decade.
The research shows that more than 17,000 road accidents in 2015 involved a driver who failed to stop or left without giving any details. These included 77 fatal crashes. The analysts say that many drivers who failed to stop feared being trapped in a fraudulent compensation claim by other drivers or pedestrians.
Equity release
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The total value of equity release lending surpassed £2 billion for the first time in 2016 marking a landmark year for the sector, according to the latest figures from the Equity Release Council.
Overall lending reached £2.15 billion for the year, an increase of a third on 2015 with an additional £542 million of lending activity.
Money
New research from financial services provider 118 118 Money has found that 61 per cent of Brits wouldn’t feel comfortable talking to their children about any money worries.
In the YouGov study of 2,030 adults, the research found that 40 per cent would never talk to their children about their credit card debt. As well as this, almost half would be unwilling to speak to their children about gambling debt, with a further 42 per cent reluctant to discuss their unpaid fines.
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