MedicAnimal.com, which announced the acquisition
of PetSupermarket earlier this month has completed a £10
million Series C funding round led by Balderton Capital,
alongside Iris Capital and existing angel investors from Europe,
the US and Asia. This latest investment allows MedicAnimal.com to
hire new talent, strengthen its UK position in online pet
supplies and further expand into continental European markets.
Simon Calver, the new chief executive at
Mothercare told investors he was “up for
the challenge” of returning Mothercare to profitability
after the maternity and nursery retailer posted pretax losses of
£102.9 million in the year ending March 2012, compared to a
profit of £8.8 million last year. “We have a long way to go,
and the plan to bring the UK business back to acceptable levels
of profitability will take three years. We need to invest in
eCommerce, be ruthless with our nonstore cost base and use our
scale and growth worldwide to drive sourcing economies and pass
these savings onto the customers to improve our value for money
around the world,” he said in a statement delivering the
company’s financial results.
Department-store chain House of Fraser said
earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation
declined 16 per cent to £58.6 million in the year to 28th
January due to investment in a second distribution centre.
Uncertainty in the economy and the unseasonably warm autumn were
also to blame for the slump. During the year, House of Fraser
relaunched its website, which helped online sales soar 92 per cent
to become the company’s largest “store”, representing
7.4 per cent of sales.
As announced on 26th April, ASOS’ retail sales
for the full year were up 49 per cent to £481.6 million, with
international sales doubling to £283.7million in the 12
months to 31st March 2012. Profit before tax and exceptional
items were up 43 per cent from £28.6 million to £40.9
million. Releasing the company’s audited results this morning,
chief executive Nick Robertson said he is positive for the year
ahead, adding that ASOS remains committed to its goal of
achieving £1 billion in sales from five major markets by 2015.
More people are struggling with catalogue debt than issues with
mortgages and payday loans say debt advice charity the Money
Advice Trust. Its “National Debtline” received more
than 25,000 calls for help from people struggling to keep up with
payments last year and a further 7,000 calls were taken in the
the first quarter of 2012.
Share