Online retailer Mobile Fun has appointed corporate finance firm Altium Capital to advise on a possible trade sale. Managing director Mohammed Hussain said he felt the “timing is now right to find new shareholders for our growing and profitable online business”. In the financial year ending 31st March, Mobile Fun’s total revenue exceeded £10 million, with the company expecting to exceed £12 million this year. Hussain aims to build the business to achieve £25 million annual retail sales by 2017, with accelerated international expansion a central part of his strategy.
The Guardian has seen evidence that The Hut Group, which operates Zavvi and MyVitamins.com, has closed its warehouse in Guernsey only to shift some operations to a site outside Chicago, USA. This follows the chancellor’s decision to remove low-value consignment relief (LVCR) from products shipped via the Channel Islands. According to the piece, The Hut sends goods “on a 7,000-mile round trip to the US before they reach customers in Britain”.
Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds have agreed to extend the online grocer Ocado’s existing £100 million capital expenditure facility for a further 18 months. In addition, the company raised new equity of £35.8 million through a share placing. Commenting on the funding, chief executive Tim Steiner
said, “We are delighted that Ocado has achieved such strong endorsement from both its institutional and other shareholders and its lenders who support our confidence in our business model and growth prospects.”
Although total sales dipped 1.4 per cent to £126 million at Majestic Wine as a result of reduced involvement in the wholesale drinks market, pretax profit increased by 3.9 per cent to £9.2 million. The company saw strong growth in online sales in the first half of the year to 1st October and now account for 9.8 per cent of UK retail sales.
Referring to online shopping, Jerry Storch, Toys R Us chief executive, told the Financial Times it was “very ungreen”. According to him, “driving a truck down a country lane in rural Connecticut to deliver a package is hardly the greenest way of product delivery to occur”. The article does note, however, that “the energy use and carbon emissions of home delivery compared with store shopping depend on several factors: the vehicles used, distance travelled, number of products bought, failed deliveries, and returned goods”. The conclusion of the piece: the jury’s out.
LondonLovesBusiness profiles Joe Murray and Richard Tucker of WorldStores in a piece title “How we’re making a £500m business without looking
abroad”.
Also from the Financial Times, toy retailer The Entertainer is looking to open shops in central Europe and the Middle East.
Tesco’s group strategy director Michael Fleming has become the latest to leave his post, reports the Daily Mail. Replacing him is Sergei Spiridonov from the consultancy McKinsey.
US-based flash-sales website Zulily, which launched in the UK last year, has secured $85 million in series D funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. According to a piece in Forbes, this investment now values the company at $1 billion.
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