Boohoo boss to step down as review launched that could spark breakup

about 17 hours ago

Boohoo’s chief executive is stepping down as the online fashion retailer launches a strategic review of its brands, which include Debenhams, Karen Millen and PrettyLittleThing, that could result in a breakup of the company.Shares in Boohoo fell 7% on Friday as investors reacted to news of the surprise departure of John Lyttle, who joined from Primark in 2019 and has agreed to remain in post until a successor is found.The company, which has cut jobs amid widening losses and falling sales in the face of competition from rivals such as the Chinese online fast fashion retailer Shein, also said it had agreed a new £222m debt facility with its bankers.Announcing the business review on Friday, the company said: “Given the transformation of the group, the board of directors of Boohoo Group have decided to undertake a review of options for each division to unlock and maximise shareholder value.“The board believes that the group remains fundamentally undervalued following the developments of recent years, which have created a business with five core brands, addressing a diverse global customer base.

”Boohoo has a market value of £404m and its share price has slumped by almost 90% over the past five years.“The board is focused on ensuring it takes the right steps to drive Boohoo Group in the interest of all its stakeholders,” said Mahmud Kamani, its executive chair and co-founder.“The business has evolved over the last few years and has an offer that is much wider than our original focus on young fashion.The time is now right to consider options with regard to corporate structure, with the aim of maximising shareholder value,” he added.Russ Mould, the investment director at the broker AJ Bell, said: “The starting gun has been fired on the break-up of Boohoo … Selling Karen Millen and Debenhams is the obvious starting point, leaving Boohoo with a sharper focus on a younger target market.

”Boohoo also provided a trading update showing that adjusted profits fell by a third to £21m in the six months to the end of August, while revenues fell 15% to £620m.Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionThe UK, which accounts for the lion’s share of Boohoo’s business, reported a 2% fall in sales.The US slumped by 18% and the rest of the world fell by 21%.“The likes of Shein and Temu are making this a fiercely competitive market, and it’s taking a toll,” said Derren Nathan, the head of equity research at the analysts Hargreaves Lansdown.“Chief executive John Lyttle is to step down after a five-year tenure.

With the shares down nearly 90% in that period, few investors will be crying over his departure,The group is exploring options to maximise shareholder value, but any successor will need to lean heavily on the tiller from day one to turn this ship around,”

recentSee all

Care home chain Care UK sold to US property investment company

One of Britain’s largest care home chains, Care UK, has been sold to an American property investment company, the Guardian can reveal, in a deal that comes as private providers lobby the government for a greater role in the NHS.Care UK, which operates more than 150 residential homes for older people, has been the subject of sale speculation since 2018.The private equity firm Bridgepoint Advisers, which paid £420m for the company in 2010, had previously tried and failed to sell the chain, which employs about 10,500 staff and was founded in 1982. It said in its 2019 accounts that it had spent £2.5m on financial advice for an “abortive” sale process

about 14 hours ago

UK firms in ‘significant financial distress’ hits record levels; Gold rises over $2,700/ounce – as it happened

A record number of UK firms are fighting for their financial survival as the uncertain economic outlook hits business confidence.Restructuring specialist Begbies Traynor has reported that there were 632,756 UK businesses in ‘significant’ financial distress in the third quarter of this year – a 32% rise compared with a year earlier.Significant’ financial distress increased in almost every one of the sectors covered by the latest Red Flag Alert survey.It rose particularly rapidly among utilities companies (+19.3%), food & drug retailers (+10

about 16 hours ago

Quit if you don’t like our office-working policy, Amazon executive suggests

A senior Amazon executive has suggested that staff who do not like the company’s new five-days-a-week office-working policy should quit.The head of the tech company’s cloud computing business told an internal meeting that if employees did not support the change they could look for a job elsewhere, according to a transcript reviewed by Reuters.Matt Garman, the chief executive of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) unit, said nine out of 10 workers he had spoken to supported the policy, which is effective for all office-based staff from 2 January, barring those with exceptional circumstances.He indicated that anyone unhappy with the retreat from home-working should leave. “If there are people who just don’t work well in that environment and don’t want to, that’s OK, there are other companies around,” said Garman, in the comments reported by Reuters

about 19 hours ago

AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery reaching ‘tipping point’, says watchdog

Child sexual abuse imagery generated by artificial intelligence tools is becoming more prevalent on the open web and reaching a “tipping point”, according to a safety watchdog.The Internet Watch Foundation said the amount of AI-made illegal content it had seen online over the past six months had already exceeded the total for the previous year.The organisation, which runs a UK hotline but also has a global remit, said almost all the content was found on publicly available areas of the internet and not on the dark web, which must be accessed by specialised browsers.The IWF’s interim chief executive, Derek Ray-Hill, said the level of sophistication in the images indicated that the AI tools used had been trained on images and videos of real victims. “Recent months show that this problem is not going away and is in fact getting worse,” he said

1 day ago

New York Liberty 80-82 Minnesota Lynx: WNBA finals Game 4 – as it happened

First, the glass-half-empty way of looking at it …Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu struggled. A lot. They finished the game shooting 10-for-36. From 3-point range: 0-for-9. Stewart still had a double-double with 11 and 11, including six offensive rebounds

about 4 hours ago

New Zealand beat West Indies by eight runs: Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final – as it happened

New Zealand are into their first Women’s T20 World Cup final since 2010 after withstanding an all-round onslaught from Deandra Dottin to claim a tense eight-run win over the West Indies.Dottin shone to dump out England in what was effectively a quarter-final this week and claimed four for 22 as New Zealand put up 128 for nine after deciding to bat first on another clammy evening in Sharjah.After New Zealand spinner Eden Carson claimed the wickets of Qiana Joseph, Shemaine Campbelle and Stafanie Taylor, and captain Hayley Matthews holed out off Lea Tahuhu, the Windies were on 55 for four in the 11th over.Dottin, though, muscled three sixes in an over off Tahuhu to bring the equation down to 34 off 24 balls, only to then top-edge a sweep off Amelia Kerr to depart for 33 off just 22 deliveries.West Indies needed 11 off the last five balls but Suzie Bates, bowling her first over of the tournament, held her nerve, castling Zaida James to ultimately seal victory for the White Ferns

about 13 hours ago

sportSee all

;