Frasers Group is on sale – but you'll have to be brave to buy
Anyone prepared to look through near-term issues might find a lot to like. Frasers is not only a master of getting consumers to fill their baskets every time they shop in its sporting goods stores, but has also successfully moved upmarket.
What's truly exciting is the potential to be a much bigger name overseas, and it's this international growth potential that seems to have been missed by the market so far. Success in the UK lays the blueprint to apply its retailing expertise in multiple geographies, and diversification in terms of where and how it makes money is only a positive from an investment perspective.
Patience will be required, as the ongoing challenges from its latest results prove. Employment-related costs have gone up in the UK as a result of the most recent Budget, which means there is pressure to find new ways to save money and make operations more efficient.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Auto Blog
32 minutes ago
- Auto Blog
Pirelli's Latest High-Performance Tire Is 70% Recycled Materials – But Only Available For One Car
By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. A spin in the right direction While drivers tend to overlook tires until they need to be replaced, companies like Pirelli obsess over them. Constantly improving and iterating, Pirelli is now introducing a tire to market that features nearly three-quarters recycled components, suggesting that the future of high-performance tires can utilize used materials without compromising performance. The downside is that, at least for its first recycled tire, Pirelli is limiting production to a single tire size, which was developed specifically for a single vehicle. It was also developed as an OEM tire, and it's unclear whether Pirelli will produce them for the aftermarket. Pirelli P Zero tire — Source: Pirelli All about the 70% recycled Pirelli P Zero This new tire is part of Pirelli's commitment to making all natural rubber used in its European factories Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified by 2026. The tire maker previously released an FSC-certified tire in 2021. FSC certification is specific to the rubber used in the tire, which has to be certified as natural rubber and is an attestation that Pirelli exercised 'responsible management' of its natural rubber supply chain from plantation to production. In addition to FSC-certified rubber, the new P Zero utilizes recycled steel, which the company reclaimed in part from melted scrap metal. Rice husk-derived silica was also used in the P Zero, as the silica is a byproduct of rice production and is used in the P Zero's tread for enhanced handling in wet conditions. End-of-life tires were also included. To make the tires black, Pirelli used pyrolysis oil from scrap tires, which is obtained via a process of rapid heating and cooling that essentially extracts the oils from the used tires. The same pyrolysis oil derivative was used in the tire polymers. Finally, plant-based bio-resins help optimize dry and wet performance for the new P Zero. Autoblog Newsletter Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. Sign up or sign in with Google Facebook Microsoft Apple By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. If you want the new P Zero, you'll need a Range Rover Developed for JLR (Jaguar Land Rover), Pirelli states that the new tire will only be available in a 22-inch wheel size. The mostly-recycled P Zero will 'initially be available on selected' Range Rover vehicles, but it's unclear whether the tire will be an optional add-on for buyers or if it will be standard for Range Rovers with 22-inch wheels. It's not the first collaboration between JLR and Pirelli, either. In 2024, JLR equipped some of its cars with Pirelli tires that contained 110 percent FSC-certified natural rubber. The new P Zeros will feature FSC markings and a 'distinctive logo' denoting that the tires contain more than 50 percent bio-based recycled materials, which is verified by the third-party certification body Bureau Veritas. Range Rover Evoque — Source: Jaguar Land Rover Final thoughts There's no doubt Pirelli ran this tire through its paces, both virtually in its design and development phase as well as in real-world testing. If any company has mastered high-performance tire manufacturing, it's Pirelli. Even so, it's unclear how recycled materials will hold up over the long term, but if all goes well, we could be looking at a breakthrough in the future of tires. About the Author Nate Swanner View Profile
Daily Mail
35 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The sneaky way Anthony Albanese will turn Australia into a high-taxing European nation with new super tax
Anthony Albanese risks turning Australia into a high-taxing European nation with his plan for a radical new tax on superannuation savings, an investment group warns. The federal government wants to impose a new 15 per cent tax on unrealised gains on super balances above $3million, where capital growth would be taxed before assets are sold. Wilson Asset Management chairman Geoff Wilson said this departure from taxing capital gains after assets are sold would see Australia share a similarity with European nations, which are renowned for their high taxes and targeting the rich. 'Australia is proving to be no different from Norway, Spain and Sweden, where taxing unrealised gains led to capital exodus and therefore lower than expected tax revenue,' he said. In 2023, the Labor government announced that from July 1, 2025, 0.5 per cent, or 80,000, of super balances with more than $3million would be hit with a new 15 per cent tax on unrealised gains. This would be in addition to the 15 per cent tax on earnings that already exists for all super during the accumulation or working phase. The debut of a new tax on unrealised gains also marks the biggest change to the capital gains tax since it was introduced in Australia in 1985. Previously, European nations have been the main enthusiasts for taxing the notional or paper value of assets, based on gains during a financial year. Norway applies a 38 per cent unrealised gains tax on the wealth of those who leave. Sweden does a similar thing, but with a 30 per cent exit tax on unrealised gains. Spain also has an exit tax, based on unrealised gains, if someone with a large investment portfolio leaves the country to become a tax resident elsewhere. Germany during the 1970s and 1980s taxed unrealised gains on wealth, but the policy was notoriously difficult to administer. France still has a wealth tax that applies on assets worth more than €1.3million (AU$2.1million) of real estate assets, but it stops short of taxing unrealised gains. Other European nations, renowned for having higher income taxes to fund more services, do not touch retirement savings in the way Labor is proposing to do. US Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris last year campaigned to tax unrealised gains on wealth - but only for the ultra rich with assets worth US$100million (AU$152million) or more. Australia would be the first to apply an unrealised gains tax to superannuation, in a bid to raise $2.3billion a year in Budget revenue. Left-leaning crossbench senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie last year declined to back Labor's Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions bill, because they are opposed to taxing unrealised gains. The Greens back taxing unrealised gains but want the threshold reduced to $2million, but indexed to inflation. They hold the balance of power in the Senate, and Labor is still negotiating amendments with the minor party. The government has previously flagged giving Australians a year's notice from the time legislation is passed, with Mr Wilson noting panic selling was already occurring in self-managed super funds to avoid the potential new tax. 'Despite requiring Senate approval, the proposed tax on unrealised gains has already prompted a rush to liquidate assets ahead of the 30 June 2026 implementation date,' he said. Wilson Asset Management has proposed an alternative super tax strategy to Labor's plan to tax unrealised gains, in a submission to the government's Economic Reform Roundtable, where it argued it would raise $2.433billion in revenue. 'The outcome of the proposal would allow the government to increase tax revenue from high balance accounts without breaching the realisation principle of the tax act,' Mr Wilson said. 'Our proposal is in the national interest and a Budget-positive alternative to the government's proposed policy to tax unrealised gains in superannuation.' He proposes to keep the existing structure of taxing realised capital gains, but adding a new 15 per cent tax to balances of $3million to $6million. A 17.5 per cent tax would apply for balances of $6million to $10million, rising to 20 per cent for balances of $10million to $20million and 25 per cent for balances above $20million.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Salon owner 'ready' for key L'Oréal trademark dispute hearing
A salon owner says she is "ready to fight again" ahead of a crucial hearing in her long-running trademark dispute with global cosmetics firm L'Oréal. Rebecca Dowdeswell attempted to renew the trademark of her Leicester-based business - nkd - in 2022 but the French firm opposed the move.L'Oréal has its own trademark on a series of beauty products called Naked, and claims her use of the name nkd would cause "consumer confusion".The 49-year-old said she was feeling in a "much stronger position", now an Intellectual Property Office (IPO) hearing date had been set for the case. It will take place later this year. The mother of two, from Radcliffe-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, held the nkd trademark name since 2009, and it expired in said she had a six-month window to renew it but forgot, which she described as a "big mistake"."That six-month window ran into the start of Covid and chaos ensued for all businesses - including beauty salons - and I missed the expiry," she previously told the BBC."When I came to re-register the trademark, I was essentially starting from scratch, not renewing an existing one."She said L'Oréal objected on the basis it owned the Urban Decay make-up brand, which has a range of eye shadow palettes called added: "There has never been any evidence of consumer confusion. In 15 years of trading, no-one has ever said 'are you the same brand as Naked by Urban Decay?'"Ms Dowdeswell told the BBC the matter was due to be decided by the government's IPO, but that hearing had been IPO blamed the delay on "very significant" caseloads, in part due to said before Brexit, trademarks could be registered with either the European Union (EU) or the UK, or Brexit, 1.4 million trademarks that were with the EU transferred over to take effect in the to the BBC, Ms Dowdeswell - who has spent more than £30,000 contesting L'Oréal's opposition - said she had "enjoyed" a temporary break from the proceedings. "When I came to re-register them post-Covid, L'Oréal logged its objections and I've been having to defend myself for the last three years," Ms Dowdeswell said."It's been really stressful to deal with, but I've enjoyed metaphorically putting it away and having a break from it."In hindsight, I realised how much of a toll it took on me last year. On me personally with my family, my young children and with the business."I am ready to fight again. I think L'Oréal thinks I'm just going to go away - and I'm not." In response, a spokesperson for L'Oréal said: "We are wholly committed to resolving any misunderstanding there might have been with Rebecca Dowdeswell."From the beginning of our exchanges with her lawyers in 2022, we have communicated an offer that supports her business aspirations whilst respecting our longstanding trademark rights."We look forward to resolving this matter in a mutually agreeable way."The IPO confirmed a hearing date had been set for 5 added a decision would usually be expected about nine months Dowdeswell added: "To coin a phrase that L'Oréal knows very well, I've often asked myself - 'is it worth it?'"
