LAURA SLATTERYlooks back at the week in business
Commodity watch
AB Foods, the company behind the Primark (aka Penneys) clothes stores, has been forced to cut its earnings forecast, in part because the rising cost of cotton is eating into its margins.
The company, like fellow fast-fashion merchants HM, has decided to absorb higher prices rather than pass them on to consumers. Retailers with less price-sensitive customers, like Next, have warned they will raise prices, however.
Cotton surged on markets late last year as a result of adverse weather conditions and better pay terms for workers in cotton-producing countries. The good news for budget-conscious browsers is that cotton futures have slumped in recent months.
Shop talk
While gamers threaten legal action against Sony for its unprecedented data loss, it’s not been a great week for another corner of the games industry. Computer games retailer Game Group, with 14 outlets in the Republic, has suffered a sharp drop in full-year profits as intensifying competition from supermarkets and digital downloads meant gamers had less reason to cross their many thresholds.
Pretax profits fell to £23 million, down from £84 million the previous year. “Game is on a journey,” said chief executive Ian Shepherd, declining to specify over how many levels the journey would take place.
21
The percentage of the Irish adult population that visited LinkedIn.com in March, the site’s second- highest penetration rate in the world, according to Comscore.
"When you are involved in a networked business like this, this sort of danger exists"
Sony tries to deflect the fire of gamers whose personal data was stolen in a PlayStation data breach.
STATUS UPDATE
Travel suggestion:Press release of the week from Aloha Holidays: "President Barack Obama is visiting Ireland . . . Why not return the compliment and visit his native Hawaii?"
Goosebump flights:A UK watchdog has told Ryanair to kindly stop advertising February and March flights to north European destinations with a picture of a bikini-clad model.
Discount frenzy: Soon there will be even more money-off offers to peruse, consider, then ultimately ignore, as Facebook has announced it will launch Groupon-rivalling deals.
THE QUESTION
Who are the commercial winners and losers of today's royal wedding?
The marriage of William and Kate is predicted to add as much as £620 million (€696 million) to the UK economy in tourism revenue and sales of food and drink, according to retail analysts Verdict Research. However, this will be more than cancelled out by lost productivity on the day, estimated at £6 billion.
Merchandise sales are forecast to be anything from £18 million-£45 million, but it’s not all about the union jacks. The kind of protesting-too- much wedding refuseniks who insist on buying “I couldn’t care less about the royal wedding” mugs are all good news for designer Camila Prada.
She created the mugs in a protest against consumer culture but has ironically seen so much demand from consumers that a suspicious PayPal almost closed her account. Graphic designer Lydia Leith has also clocked up 8,000 orders for her royal-wedding-themed sick bags.
The designer of Kate Middleton’s dress will doubtless receive a flood of orders from future brides, but with Savile Row tailors busy kitting out the Abbey guest list, this is a wedding with many fashion victors. As she settles in her pew, Victoria Beckham will be looking smug for a reason.
For media, a prime broadcasting pitch near Westminster Abbey will cost £60,000. Broadcasters will hope to enjoy bumper ratings and ad rates – although ITV is set to lose money as it has had to junk its ad breaks.
