Economy
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Feb- 2016 -15 February
January sees best overall footfall performance in two years
Retail footfall in January has recorded growth of 1.2% compared with the same month last year – its best performance since January 2014. That’s according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor which found the increase was significantly above the 2.2.% decline seen in December…
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12 February
Counterfeiting costs UK jewellery and watch industry £138m a year
The jewellery and watch sector in the UK loses £138m every year as a result of counterfeit products in the marketplace, according to new figures. The two new reports from the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) – the EU’s largest intellectual property agency – said the jewellery…
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11 February
Gold demand resilient in 2015 says World Gold Council
Global gold demand in 2015 was virtually flat compared with 2014 at 4,212 tonnes (t), according to the World Gold Council’s latest Gold Demand Trends report. Despite a challenging start to the year, gold demand rebounded in the second half of 2015 as a result of sustained buying from central banks…
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4 February
Jewellery and watch profits soar 53% for LVMH
The Jewellery and Watch division of luxury products group LVMH has reported a 53% profit jump in 2015. The company’s jewellery division saw revenue jump from €2.78bn (£2.13bn) in 2014 to €3.31bn (£2.154bn) in 2015, an increase of 19%. Organic revenue growth was 8%, meaning the group benefitted from exchange…
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3 February
Shop prices fall 1.8% in January
Overall shop prices in the UK fell 1.8% in January compared with the same month last year, new figures figures show. That’s according to British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen’s monthly Shop Price Index, which found the fall was down from the 2% fall in December and in-line with the…
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2 February
Polished diamond prices rise for third consecutive month
Prices of polished diamonds have continued to rise in January as shortages continued to support the market, which also saw a boost from the holiday season. That is according to the latest RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI) which found the price of 1-carat, GIA-graded diamonds rose 0.9% during the month. RAPI…
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1 February
Retail growth steady but expected to slow next month
Retail sales were steady over the year to January beating retailers’ expectations of a slight slowdown, according new data from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The organisation’s latest monthly Distributive Trends Survey of 126 companies found that 41% of retailers said that sales volumes were up in January on…
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Jan- 2016 -29 January
Unseasonable weather damages independent retail sales in Q4
A “dramatic reversal of fortunes” in the last three months of 2015 has brought an end to an 18 month run of turnover growth for independent retailers. The British Independent Retailers Association’s (BIRA) Sales Monitor for the fourth quarter of 2015 found unseasonably warm and wet weather, falling footfall, falling…
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28 January
De Beers rough diamond sales slump 39% in 2015
Rough diamond sales for De Beers slumped 39% to 19.9 million carats in 2015, according to the firm’s parent company Anglo American. In its production report for the fourth quarter of 2015, the company said that the drop in sales was due to a 12% fall in production to 28.7…
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26 January
De Beers sells £380m worth of diamonds in first sale of 2016
De Beers has announced it sold $540m (£380m) worth of rough diamonds in the first sales cycle of 2016 – more than doubling the value achieved in the final sales cycle of 2015. The company, which holds 10 sales cycles each year, said that the sales achieved was a “significant”…
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