UK retail sales post modest rise

21 July 2011 Last updated at 11:30 GMT Retail analysts say shops have introduced their summer sales earlier than usual Retail sales recovered slightly in June as stores started their summer sales early to attract customers, official figures have shown.

Like-for-like sales excluding petrol were 0.8% higher than May, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Compared with June 2010, sales were up 0.2%.

It comes after sales declined by a revised 1.5% in May from April.

Marks and Spencer is one of the main retailers to have already cut prices.

'Under pressure'

Philip Shaw, economist at investment group Investec, said: "The retail sales figures were much as we expected, with a strong bounce back in June partly reflecting early summer sales.

"That really implies that sales could fall back in July because of the change in timing of High Street discounting."

Mr Shaw added: "The overall assessment is that consumer spending remains under pressure."

Continue reading the main story

At best, the majority of retail outlets are limping along and it is only a matter of time before more fall by the wayside”

End Quote Brian Johnson Insolvency practitioner The official ONS figures come a week after the British Retail Consortium said early summer price discounting had slowed the rate of sales decline on the High Street.

The continuing weakness in the retail sector comes after a number of well-known names have gone into administration.

Firms that have had to call in administrators in recent months include Jane Norman, Habitat, Focus DIY, Homeform, TJ Hughes and Oddbins.

Other retailers such as Carpetright, HMV, Thorntons, JJB Sports, Comet and Blacks Leisure have shut stores.

Brian Johnson, an insolvency practitioner at chartered accountants HW Fisher, said the retail sector was "one of the busiest areas of our business right now".

He added: "At best, the majority of retail outlets are limping along and it is only a matter of time before more fall by the wayside."

Income squeeze

The weakness in the retail sector comes as consumers are struggling with higher fuel and food bills, and job insecurity.

ONS figures last month showed that UK households have seen the biggest fall in their disposable income for more than 30 years.

It said that in the year to the end of March real incomes - adjusted for inflation - fell 2.7%, a fall not seen since 1977.

It comes as UK petrol prices are at near all-time highs, and three of the big six energy companies have said they will be raising their electricity and gas bills in the coming months.

At the same time, the latest ONS data showed that food prices last month were 5.8% higher than June 2010 - the biggest annual rise since March 2009.

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Kingfisher sales hit by B&Q fall

21 July 2011 Last updated at 09:37 GMT Kingfisher says times are tough for UK retailers Sales at Kingfisher's 330-store DIY chain B&Q have slumped, with the company warning of "challenging" trading conditions.

Like-for-like sales at B&Q in the 11 weeks to 16 July fell 6.7%.

Overall, Kingfisher's UK sales dropped by 5.5% with a good performance by trade supplier Screwfix offsetting some of the downturn at B&Q.

Kingfisher said B&Q was hurt by rival Focus DIY going into administration and cutting prices to clear stocks.

Ian Cheshire, Kingfisher's chief executive, said: "These are testing times for retailers."

Sales at Kingfisher's two French chains, Castorama and Brico Depot were much stronger, adding 3.7% on a same-store basis during the 11 weeks.

Across Kingfisher's outlets in Poland, China, Spain and Russia, like-for-like sales added 1.4%.

Group-wide same-store sales were up 0.5%.

Despite the difficult trading conditions in the UK and Republic of Ireland, Mr Cheshire added that it provided "an opportunity for strong businesses such as ours to strengthen their position".

"We expect to emerge from this year in excellent shape and well prepared to start delivering the next phase of our growth plans," he said.

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Blacks Leisure sees sales fall

15 July 2011 Last updated at 09:43 GMT Blacks closed 88 stores in 2009 Blacks Leisure, the camping and outdoor clothing retailer, has said it may need to raise more capital after disappointing sales.

Debts at the troubled company have "increased signficantly" because of depressed consumer spending and normal seasonal trading patterns.

Sales of camping gear, clothing and hiking boots fell nearly 10% in recent weeks, the company said.

However trading in May and early June was better than the previous year.

Blacks expects that it can strike a deal with Bank of Scotland to increase its banking facility to ?40m. The company also said it was looking at ways of strengthening its overall capital structure to support "plans for development and growth".

The company - which operates the Blacks Outdoor and Millets chains - has struggled in recent years and has been the subject of takeover rumours. It closed 88 stores in 2009.

It confirmed that Julia Reynolds would start as chief executive from 1 August. Mrs Reynolds was formerly head of Figleaves, a lingerie website, and previously had worked at Tesco.

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Volkswagen sets 4m sales record

15 July 2011 Last updated at 10:52 GMT Volkswagen has sold more than 4 million vehicles during the first half of the year, a record for Europe's largest carmaker.

Deliveries increased by 14% on the same period last year, led by strong growth in Asian markets.

Volkswagen, headquartered in Germany, includes the Skoda, Seat and Audi brands, as well as VW. Its shares rose 1.3% in early trading in Frankfurt.

Sales in Asia grew 19% to 1.26m, mostly in China, the region's largest market.

European sales grew 9.3% overall, thanks to continued high growth in central and eastern Europe.

Sales in North America rose 21% to 319,000 vehicles, and by 11% to 455,000 in South America.

Volkswagen's sales boss Christian Klinger predicted that VW would continue to do better than other carmakers, but cautioned: "Success in the second six months won't be automatic. Plenty of hard work lies ahead to keep our deliveries during the second half of the year at a high level."

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Burberry sees strong sales growth

13 July 2011 Last updated at 08:59 GMT Burberry said it was targeting the "younger luxury consumer" UK fashion brand Burberry has unveiled a 34% increase in revenues in its latest quarterly results.

The clothes retailer, famous for its camel, red and black check pattern, reported revenues of ?367m for the three months to 30 June, slightly ahead of expectations.

The firm highlighted strong sales of outerwear and large leather goods.

Sales in the Asia-Pacific region were up by more than 60%, helped by its expansion in China.

The latest steps in Burberry's overseas growth has included new stores in Hong Kong, Sydney and Chennai, as well as a joint venture in Saudi Arabia.

The strong sales figures sent Burberry's shares about 5% higher in early London trading, making it the best performer in the FTSE 100.

Chief executive Angela Ahrendts said she was "pleased" with the results, and said the firm would focus on using its global presence and digital technology for "marketing to the younger luxury consumer".

"While mindful of global macro challenges and increasingly tough comparatives in the balance of the year, we remain confident in our strategies and will continue to drive profitable growth," she added.

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SSE halts all UK doorstep sales

8 July 2011 Last updated at 11:45 GMT SSE said commission-based doorstep selling was "no longer an effective way" to gain customers Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has halted all of its doorstep sales activity in the UK, with the loss of up to 900 jobs.

The move comes two months after a court found SSE's sales agents had used misleading sales scripts when talking to people on their doorsteps.

The firm said commission-based doorstep selling was "no longer an effective way" to gain customers.

It will continue other activities such as online and direct mail sales.

SSE was found guilty at Guildford Crown Court in May of tricking people into switching from their existing energy firms, between September 2008 and July 2009.

It had claimed they were paying too much to their current suppliers when this was not the case.

SSE was found guilty on two counts out of seven charges brought under the unfair trading practices regulations.

Suspended

The company, which is appealing the conviction, announced it had decided to suspend all of its doorstep sales activity, with immediate effect.

Continue reading the main story

The reality is that the world has moved on. We understand that fewer people are willing to engage with traditional doorstep sellers”

End Quote Alistair Phillips-Davies SSE It now expects to close permanently its existing doorstep sales operations, "subject to consultation with affected employees".

The energy supplier cited low confidence in the way companies sold energy on the doorstep, and the way in which sales staff were remunerated, as reasons why commission-based doorstep selling was no longer an effective way to gain customers for the long term.

SSE also said the sales process "rightly" required increasingly significant customer safeguards and customers had "a growing need for objective information and help" to enable them to use efficiently the energy they bought.

The company plans to continue its venue, telephone, online and direct mail sales and customer advice activities and extend its range of affinity partnerships, which include M&S Energy.

Energy advisers

It also intends to establish over the next year a nationwide network of community-based energy advisers.

Alistair Phillips-Davies, generation and supply director of SSE, said: "By encouraging customers to switch suppliers, commission-based doorstep sales have played an important and useful part in the development of Britain's competitive energy supply market.

"The reality is, however, that the world has moved on. We understand that fewer people are willing to engage with traditional doorstep sellers."

He added: "Changes in products, services and processes mean the energy market has matured to a stage where we believe that commission-based doorstep sales is no longer a sustainable way of securing energy customers for the long term.

"Energy companies need to earn and retain trust."

SSE said it would be consulting with potentially affected employees over ways of avoiding compulsory redundancies.

It said its objective was to minimise the number of jobs lost, through the retraining and redeployment within SSE of as many employees as possible.

'Vigorous' campaign

Surrey County Council trading standards office, which successfully prosecuted SSE in May, said it had been "vigorously campaigning" for the last five years to encourage householders never to deal with cold-calling doorstep traders.

Kay Hammond, from Surrey County Council, commented: "There are plenty of ways for companies to promote their services but we do not believe cold calling should be one of them.

"We advise anyone approached by an unsolicited salesperson on their doorstep to decline their offer."

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WH Smith reveals 4% fall in sales

7 July 2011 Last updated at 06:56 GMT WH Smith operates more than 1,000 stores Sales at book and stationery retailer WH Smith have fallen, with both its High Street stores and its Travel stores seeing a drop.

Like-for-like sales, which strip out changes in store space, in the 18 weeks to 2 July were down 4% on a year ago.

But WH Smith said gross profit margins were continuing to grow and said it was confident about its full-year results.

It added that it had returned ?44.9m to shareholders of the ?50m share buy-back programme announced last year.

WH Smith currently operates over 1,000 stores, primarily in the UK, comprising 581 High Street stores and 532 Travel outlets at airports, train stations, hospitals, workplaces and motorway service areas.

Book retailers have faced increasing competition from online retailers and from the rising popularity of e-books.

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Slump in sales at HMV continues

30 June 2011 Last updated at 08:58 GMT HMV is attempting to refocus its struggling business on new technology sales Sales and profits at struggling High Street music retailer HMV have continued to decline.

The UK firm said like-for-like sales from continuing operations fell 14.5% in its results for the year to April.

The firm hardly broke even, with profit before tax of just ?200,000. Ignoring exceptional items, such as the cost of numerous store closures, underlying profits fell 61% to ?29m.

The retailer is attempting to refocus its business on new technology sales.

Some 150 stores are to be refitted by September, in time for the Christmas sales period.

With sales of CDs and DVDs being undermined by competition from supermarkets and online downloads, HMV is expanding into live ticketing, and digital music and equipment.

Tough task

"We continue to operate in a challenging macro environment, and the core retail markets in which HMV trades also remain difficult," said the company.

"However, we have taken decisive action to restructure the group, and have a clear strategy for transforming HMV into a broad-based entertainment business."

The firm has sold its Waterstone's book stores and its Canadian music retail business - both of which were performing better than its core HMV UK stores.

HMV confirmed a huge impairment charge in connection with the Waterstone's sale of ?112m, pushing it into a post-tax loss of ?122m.

Continue reading the main story Nick Bubb, equity analyst at Arden Partners, said: "It's all about the success of the focus on new technology. [The strategy] has done well in six stores, but can it work in 100?"

"Management credibility is extremely thin," he added, after four profit warnings this year, and a previous failed strategy to diversify into clothes retailing.

Mr Bubb thinks the business will be lucky to break even this year, and has "pretty obviously got off to a bad start already".

The latest set of poor figures had been widely anticipated by the market, and the company's share price rose 2.5% in early trading on Thursday.

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Warm weather boosts lager sales

29 June 2011 Last updated at 10:42 GMT Sales of Tennent's lager increased by 4% compared to the same time last year Unseasonally warm spring weather helped boost sales of the Scottish lager, Tennent's, according to its owner.

Sales of Tennent's between March and May were up 4% on the same period last year.

Dublin-based C&C Group said Tennent's recorded a robust performance - revenue from sales of Tennent's grew faster than the volume of sales a result of price rises.

It added that good progress continued to be made in the Republic of Ireland.

Overall, the company's outlook for the months ahead was less optimistic.

C&C, whose other brands include Magners and Bulmers, said trading in June had been relatively weak compared to last year because of poor weather. In 2010, June sales were also boosted by the World Cup.

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Japan's retail sales recovering

28 June 2011 Last updated at 01:03 GMT Japanese consumers have refrained from spending in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami Retail sales in Japan fell less-than-forecast in May as the country starts to recover from the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.

Retail sales fell 1.3% in May compared with the same month last year, according to the latest government data.

However, compared with the previous month, retail sales rose by 2.4%.

Analysts said that the numbers were an indicator that the Japanese economy was starting to recover.

"The pace of decline has slowed, reflecting a quick recovery from the damage to supply chains," said Hioshi Miyazaki of Shinkin Asset Management Company.

Natural factor

While improving supply chain conditions have played their part in better output from Japanese factories, analysts said that natural factors such as the weather was also playing a part.

"Summer clothing seems to have sold well due to the hot weather in May," said Junko Nishioka of RBS Securities.

"This trend may continue in June and beyond," she added.

Mari Iwashita of SMBC Nikko Securities added that a change in weather may have a positive affect, not just on retail sales but also on other areas of the economy.

"A hot summer could result in more spending, especially with corporations allowing employees to take longer summer holidays." said Mr Iwashita.

"The picture may not be bad if summer bonuses are spent domestically, such as on travel," he added.

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Nike profits and sales increase

27 June 2011 Last updated at 22:07 GMT Nike saw an increase in sales in two key markets: America and China Sportswear group Nike beat analysts' forecasts to post a jump in quarterly profits and revenues after increasing sales in all key markets.

The world's largest athletic shoe company said profits for the three months to end-May rose 13.8% to $594m (?371m) on revenues up 14% to $5.8bn.

Nike's shares rose almost 4% to $84.6 in after-hours trading on Wall Street.

It followed disappointment in the prior three months when Nike's results fell below expectations.

Despite the increase in profits, analysts warned about Nike's margins falling to 44.3% from 47.4%, which the company said was mainly due to higher raw material costs.

Although sales rose in all Nike's markets, the biggest increase came in America and China, which the company has said are key to its growth.

Analysts said the increase in sales was spurred by greater confidence among consumers. During the recession Nike cut costs severely.

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Comet sales fall as revamp begins

22 June 2011 Last updated at 07:13 GMT Kesa wants to transplant the success at French subsidiary Darty to loss-making Comet in the UK UK electronics chain Comet saw a 6.8% slump in sales in the last 12 months, pushing it into a 10m-euro (?9m) loss.

But the poor showing did not prevent parent Kesa from chalking up a 2.3% rise in adjusted profits before tax, to 93.2m euros, for the year to April.

Comet's poor performance contrasted with Kesa's French unit, Darty, which saw 5% growth in sales for the year.

"We have a strong turnaround plan for Comet to restore its profitability," said chairman David Newlands.

"In parallel, we are examining strategic alternatives to ensure the best overall value for shareholders."

Store closures

The turnaround would involve implementing at Comet the "processes that underpin the Darty concept", according to Kesa's full-year results statement.

The company said it had been particularly successful in developing its online sales business, although it said the launch of a new web platform for Comet - which it intends to develop further - had disrupted sales at the UK business in the second half of its financial year.

Kesa is thought to be considering eventually selling off its loss-making UK business, with any sale expected to involve the closure of some of Comet's 250 stores.

The parent company confirmed that "17 of its Comet stores will be closed or exited, nine will be right-sized and seven will be retained and refurbished in the next three years", with nine closures during the current year.

A sale of Comet would probably also result in the delisting of Kesa from the London Stock Exchange, leaving the holding company with a listing in Paris.

Kesa said that Comet had "lost a small amount of market share in a market estimated to have been flat, particularly in large white goods".

The Anglo-French group's full-year adjusted profits slightly beat market expectations of a 90m euro figure, but still fell short of the company's own forecast.

"We have made progress against our strategic agenda despite the challenging market conditions," said chief executive Thierry Falque-Pierrotin.

He added that he anticipated markets would continue to be challenging during the current year.

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Property sales 'subdued in May'

21 June 2011 Last updated at 10:09 GMT The housing market has been relatively subdued in recent months Property sales in the UK remained at a relatively low level in May and lower than the same month a year ago, new figures show.

Some 68,000 homes were sold in May, down 2,000 on the revised total of a month earlier, according to HM Revenue and Customs data.

The total was also 3,000 down on the same month a year ago.

Lenders say there is little chance of a rebound in the coming months, judging by mortgage data.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders said on Monday that it expected lending for home loans to be "relatively flat" during the coming months.

This view came despite gross mortgage lending in the UK rising by 12% in May, compared with April, to ?11.3bn. The figure was 1% higher than in May 2010.

Property market commentator Henry Pryor said the low level of sales could have a knock-on effect on related industries.

"Much of the wider economy relies on a healthy housing market with money spent in the High Street on home improvements as people buy and sell," he said.

"Many jobs in the building and decorating businesses rely on a healthy turnover as well as those more directly employed like mortgage brokers, conveyancers and estate agents."

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Whitbread sales lifted by Costa

21 June 2011 Last updated at 07:11 GMT Costa Coffee sales were helped by branch openings and new customers joining its loyalty scheme Strong sales and store openings at Costa Coffee have helped Whitbread weather the weak UK retail market.

Total sales at its coffee chain in the last three months were 22.5% up on a year ago, pushing group sales up 9.2%.

Its Premier Inns chain also did well thanks to strong sales in London, with 8% growth.

But trading at its restaurants was hurt by "a more difficult casual dining market" in the rest of the country, chief executive Andy Harrison said.

Like-for-like sales at its restaurants, which ignore the effects of new restaurant space, fell 1.4% compared with a year ago.

Expansion plans

The overall sales figures were largely in line with analysts' expectations, and have come ahead of Whitbread's annual general meeting, which is due to start later on Tuesday.

Business was "adversely affected by the extended Easter and Royal Wedding holiday", Mr Harrison added, with trading recovering well at Costa and Premier Inn afterwards.

Costa was boosted by the opening of 73 new branches during the period, as well as new customers joining its loyalty scheme.

Ignoring the new store openings, like-for-like sales at Costa were up 4%, and adjusted for the value of new loyalty points given away, they were up just 1%.

The hotel and restaurant group plans to open another 300 Costa Coffee outlets over the next year, a 15% increase, and to add 4,000 rooms to Premier Inn, which is a 9% increase.

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Tesco sales grow but UK subdued

14 June 2011 Last updated at 08:22 GMT Sales in its UK home market remain in the doldrums, Tesco's latest results show Tesco has reported strong sales growth overseas for the first three months of its financial year, but the UK remains subdued.

Group sales were up 7.3% versus a year ago, excluding petrol and ignoring the dampening effect of the stronger pound.

The result was driven by international demand - notably in Thailand (up 8%), China (6.4%) and Eastern Europe.

In contrast, UK like-for-like sales excluding petrol and the effect of VAT fell 0.1%.

That was worse than the 0.6% growth expected by market analysts, and Tesco's share price fell five pence to 402p at the start of Tuesday trading in London, while the rest of the market rose.

Tesco makes about two-thirds of its sales and profits in the UK.

"Tesco was always going to be swimming against the tide with this update," said Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.

He said that market expectations had been too high, given the anaemic UK retail environment.

"In all, Tesco seems to be seen as tomorrow's story. The planks to its strategy are in place, particularly in furthering international diversification."

Plus points

The 0.1% fall in UK sales was nonetheless an improvement on the three months before, when like-for-like sales - which exclude the effect of changes in shopfloor capacity - were down 0.7% from a year ago.

Tesco blamed the "cautious consumer environment" and the burden of high fuel costs for the weak underlying growth figure, but said that it was still doing better than rivals.

However, there were some plus points in the UK market.

Continue reading the main story The firm pointed to an "excellent performance" in newly opened stores - which are excluded from the like-for-like figures. Overall UK sales excluding petrol were up 4.9%.

And sales of its "Finest" food range rose 10%, as "customers seek out quality alternatives to eating out".

Meanwhile, Tesco Bank saw a 20% increase in revenue.

Tesco plans to start offering mortgages through its rapidly developing financial services arm later this year.

'Good start'

Tesco also reported a continuing strong turnaround at its loss-making "Fresh n Easy" US business, where like-for-like sales growth accelerated to 11%.

But some individual national markets did underperform the UK, such as post-earthquake Japan (down 6.4%) and the recession-hit Irish Republic (down 3.9%).

The results give a first indication of how the supermarket chain has fared since its long-time chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy, stepped down in March.

His replacement, Philip Clarke, said: "Tesco has made a good start to the new financial year, despite consumer sentiment in many of our key markets remaining subdued.

"Uncertainties remain, but with early, encouraging signs of better performance emerging in both the UK and US, I am confident that this start will provide the platform for another year of growth."

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Sainsbury's sales growth 'solid'

15 June 2011 Last updated at 08:19 GMT Sainsbury's has seen modest sales growth Supermarket group Sainsbury's has reported "solid" sales growth for the past three months in what it describes as a "tough consumer environment".

Like-for-like sales - which ignore the effect of new stores - excluding fuel rose 1.9% in the 12 weeks to 11 June.

The retailer said it had benefited from Easter shopping, good spring weather and the royal wedding.

But it said higher fuel costs were reducing the amount of money people have available to spend.

The company's budget range - Basics - is its fastest growing brand.

Sainsbury's also saw strong growth in its smaller convenience store business, which grew by 20%.

"We've delivered a solid sales performance, in line with our expectations, in spite of the continued tough consumer environment," said Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King.

Sainsbury's first quarter sales figures in its trading update included VAT. On Tuesday, comparable figures from Tesco showed a 1% rise in UK sales for the 13 weeks to 28 May.

Excluding VAT, Tesco's UK sales were down 0.1%. Sainsbury's told the BBC that when VAT was excluded its sales were up 0.9%.

Upbeat mood

Sainsbury's said that sales of clothing and non-food items grew faster than food.

It said that trading conditions remained "very competitive, reflecting the challenging economic backdrop".

"We expect this to be the case throughout the year," it added.

Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said: "The update has narrowly missed estimates, but the company itself was noticeably upbeat about the latest performance.

"In particular, management was at pains to point out that its non-food offerings grew faster than food and, indeed, ahead of the Tesco number yesterday - albeit that Sainsbury is coming from a lower base."

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US retail sales slip back in May

14 June 2011 Last updated at 21:51 GMT Car sales fell at their sharpest rate in more than a year US retail sales fell in May for the first time in almost a year, due in large part to a sharp drop in car sales, official figures have shown.

Sales fell 0.2% from the month before to $387.1bn ($236.2bn).

Car sales fell 2.9%, partly due to supply issues caused by March's earthquake in Japan.

Despite the fall, analysts said sales were better than expected and highlighted the increased spending against a year earlier.

"Although autos posted their largest decline since February of last year, car sales are still up 5.4% from May 2010," said Vimombi Nshom at IFR Economics.

"Overall, sales are 7.7% higher than total transactions conducted 12 months ago."

Taking car sales out of the equation, retail sales actually rose by 0.3% on the previous month, the Commerce Department figures showed.

Weak recovery

The sales figures were welcomed by the markets, with the main Dow Jones index closing up 123.1 points, or 1.0%, at 12,076.1.

Investors viewed the data as a welcome relief from some poor recent economic statistics.

Last week, the Federal Reserve said growth had appeared to slow in several regions across the US in May.

The manufacturing sector was notably sluggish, the Fed said, due to the disruption to supply chains from Japan's earthquake.

Earlier this month, official data showed that US employment growth slowed sharply in May, with only 54,000 net new jobs added during the month. Markets had expected a rise of 150,000.

The US housing market also remains depressed.

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Weapons sales

2 June 2011 Last updated at 23:01 GMT By Jorn Madslien Business reporter, BBC News Manufacturers expect large orders to be placed during this month's Paris air show On the face of it, the Paris air show - to be held later this month - is all about the civil aviation and space industries.

But the biennial exhibit is at least as much about billions of dollars of military spending.

A broad range of companies, ranging from small component makers to giant defence and security firms such as Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Finmeccanica and Northrop Grumman, will fill the 130,000 square metres (1.4m sq ft) of exhibition space in the chalets and halls on the edge of Le Bourget airport's runway.

With more than 200 official delegations from 88 countries, many in the arms industry are expecting their order books to be dramatically boosted this year, industry officials and military officers have told BBC News.

Military conflict obviously bolsters arms sales, because it uses up weapons and ammunition, and there has been plenty of it in recent months.

Conflict uses up weapons and ammunition, which need to be replaced

In particular, several countries that are normally not actively involved in armed conflicts are now in a position where they will need to restock bombs, ammunition and weapons following months of action in Libya and conflict elsewhere in the region, an executive at an international arms company told BBC News.

Orders from these countries could top several hundred million - and perhaps even billions - of dollars, industry officials predict.

At the same time, many procurement officers have been impressed by the accuracy of some of the weapons used in Libya, an officer involved in bombing missions told BBC News.

These include laser-guided bombs designed to hit and destroy armoured vehicles without causing much collateral damage, he said, predicting demand for such hi-tech weaponry to be strong at this year's show.

Tense region

Many of the new orders are expected to come from countries outside the Middle East that have been involved in missions there.

But demand for weapons from the Middle East and North Africa is also expected to remain strong in the wake of the Arab Spring.

"Interstate and internal tensions provide drivers for demand," according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

An Asian arms race and border tension have kept spending high in the region

Wealth in the region, resulting from strong economic growth on the back of soaring global oil prices, has bolstered arms sales to the Middle East in recent years.

In 2010, the region spent $111bn (?68bn) on military expenditure, a 2.5% rise on 2009, with the bulk of the purchases made by Saudi Arabia.

By comparison, global military spending rose just 1.3% in real terms last year, the slowest growth rate seen in about a decade - though the total spent remains eye-watering at more than ?1.6 trillion.

Big importers

But although much of the focus will be on the Middle East this year, the industry's biggest growth markets are actually in relatively peaceful parts of the world.

In 2010, "the region with the largest increase in military spending was South America", according to Sipri.

"This continuing increase in South America is surprising given the lack of real military threats to most states and the existence of more pressing social needs," observes Carina Solmirano, a Sipri Latin America expert.

In Asia, an arms race rather than outright war is driving weapons sales, with rivalries and border tension between Pakistan, India and China. India was the world's largest arms importer in 2010.

Big spenders

The US remains the world's biggest military spender

The US remains by far the biggest military spender, however, and although spending slowed last year it grew at more than twice the rate of the global average.

The US accounted for 43% of the world's military spending last year, up 2.8% on 2009 and a whopping 81% higher than it was in 2001.

Europe also remains a big spender, though overall military spending here fell 2.8% last year when compared with 2010.

Politically, it is becoming increasingly hard for European governments to spend vast sums on military action abroad at a time when ballooning budget deficits are forcing all sorts of spending cuts at home.

This year's Paris Air Show will take place at Le Bourget exhibition centre on the outskirts of Paris from 20 to 26 June 2011

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Warmer weather boosts B&Q sales

2 June 2011 Last updated at 09:31 GMT Kingfisher Group's chief executive Ian Cheshire says the company could not become complacent and needed to work hard to keep sales strong

B&Q-owner Kingfisher has said it made a "strong" start to the year, with the warm weather helping to boost sales of barbecues and goods for the garden.

Total sales for the 13 weeks to the end of April rose by 3.3% to ?2.73bn compared with a year earlier.

The group said higher sales and improved margins also helped to increase profits.

However, the retailer warned that the year as a whole would be "tough" for retailers, especially those in the UK.

Sales in the UK and the Irish Republic rose by 1.8% to ?1.19bn, while those in France were up 4.1% to ?1.1bn.

B&Q saw sales rise by 1.5% to ?1.1bn, with garden furniture and outdoor paint selling particularly well, reflecting the warmer weather.

Barbecue bonus

"[We've] worked really hard on margins and costs so when we do see a bit of a sales improvement, which I think [in this case] is seasonally led and we wouldn't necessarily count on this continuing into the second quarter, we definitely see it on the bottom line," Kingfisher chief executive Ian Cheshire told the BBC.

"Maybe [customers] are buying things a bit earlier this year - barbecues are being bought in April and May rather than June and July."

However, he added that sales of some indoor goods were "down quite substantially".

Despite the improvement in sales and profits, shares in Kingfisher fell more than 3% in morning trading in London.

"General market malaise and some inevitable profit taking have hit Kingfisher shares," said Richard Hunter at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers.

However, he said the company's shares had risen 26% in the past year and remained a "strong buy" in the eyes of the market.

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Bloomsbury sees e-book sales jump

27 May 2011 Last updated at 06:56 GMT Bloomsbury chief executive Nigel Newton says the industry is seeing a revolution Publisher Bloomsbury says its sales of e-books has soared as the worldwide popularity of electronic readers rises.

Its comments came as it reported pre-tax profits for the 14 months to 28 February of ?4.2m.

E-book sales were ?1.5m, up from ?79,000 last year, with chief executive Nigel Newton saying they were changing the face of the publishing industry.

"Demand for digital delivery, including e-books, is increasing significantly," Mr Newton said.

"It will change the publishing business model, creating one worldwide market," he added. "The publishing world is handling its own revolution."

Bloomsbury reported profits for a 14-month period as it is changing its financial year. In the 12 months to 31 December 2009 months profits were ?7.1m.

Total group sales were ?103.4m for the 14 months to February, compared with ?87.2m during 2009.

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