Financial Times: The Week: “And there's been another setback for RoyalDutch/Shell. Its huge liquefied natural gas project, Sakhalin-2, off the east coast of Russia, has been hit by the rising cost of raw materials, Russian inflation and environmental concerns, and will be delayed by at least eight months. Its cost has doubled to $20bn.”: Saturday 16 July 2005

Published: July 16 2005

RETAILERS

Another venerable name is set to disappear from the high street following the sale of Littlewoods to Associated British Foods for £409m. Primark, ABF's discount clothing division, will put its fascia on 40 of the 120 Littlewoods stores acquired from the Barclay brothers, with the remainder being sold to space-hungry retailers, most likely to include Philip Green and New Look.

The disposal won't signal the end of the Littlewoods brand, however. It will continue as a home shopping and online business under the guise of Littlewoods Shop Direct Group. David Simons, chairman of Littlewoods, recognised some consumers would miss the high street presence but explained change was inevitable: "You do feel some sense of nostalgia but you can't live on nostalgia, and the future is in home shopping."

Confirming the switch of shoppers from the highway to the super highway were results from Asos, the online fashion retailer. Pre-tax profits at the fast growing Aim-traded group, which sells cheaper versions of clothing worn by the stars - As Seen On Screen - more than doubled to £880,000 as the spread of broadband speeded up the shopping experience.

Nick Robertson, chief executive of Asos, which appears to have rectified the logistical problems that led to a profit warning in March, acknowledged the importance of easy access. "People have it at home and work, and you can see the traffic spikes, especially at lunchtime, when people have a bit of time to browse."

Too many browsers and not enough buyers appears still to be the problem at Marks and Spencer. Stuart Rose, chief executive of the struggling retailer, insisted at the group's annual meeting that he was not dismayed by recent trading, in spite of delivering news of a seventh straight quarter of falling sales. M&S's UK retail sales were down 3.1 per cent - food sales climbed 5 per cent but non-food was down 10.3 per cent. Mr Rose said he was confident he could turn sales around, but admitted things could get worse before they get better.

RESOURCES

Thunder and hurricanes don't mix. That's the message from the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Dennis proved a thorough menace to BP, battering the oil giant's flagship deep-water platform, the vaingloriously named Thunder Horse. The world's largest semisubmersible rig, which cost more than $1bn (£568m), was left listing by up to 30 degrees after the storm swept over it on the way to the US mainland. BP's shares dipped 2.3 per cent on the news.

And there's been another setback for RoyalDutch/Shell. Its huge liquefied natural gas project, Sakhalin-2, off the east coast of Russia, has been hit by the rising cost of raw materials, Russian inflation and environmental concerns, and will be delayed by at least eight months. Its cost has doubled to $20bn.

CONSTRUCTION

Two of the best known names in UK home building alluded to the chains restricting the housing market. For McCarthy & Stone, the UK's biggest retirement home builder, it was timid grannies, concerned about putting their own dwellings up for sale, that was restraining turnover. Most of McCarthy's customers have to sell their own assets in order to buy the builder's product, and after the warning its shares lost 1.3 per cent for the week.

Investors were less understanding of Bovis Homes considered a sector star. Its stock fell 5.4 per cent after it said reservations were down 3 per cent, also shackled by a slow second-hand market. "People want to buy our detached homes but they have to sell their own first, and it's taking a lot longer to sell there," lamented Malcolm Harris, chief executive.

SPECIALITY FINANCE

Biggest faller in the mid-caps was Provident Financial, the doorstep lender, after it warned of hardship at Yes Car Credit, its used car sales and financing business. Yes, unflatteringly featured in a BBC documentary in March, is now expected to make a loss of up to £20m, compared with pre-tax losses of £2.7m for 2004. Problems at the unit, hit by a slowing used car market and difficulties collecting payments, prompted analysts to chop profits forecasts by 8 per cent to about £200m. In a sign that investors sometimes heed bankers' calculations, shares in the Bradford-based group were also cut back by 8 per cent.

TRANSPORT

Ryanair, Europe's biggest low-cost airline, said advance bookings were down by about 8,000 a day from the expected 100,000 after London's bomb attacks. But Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said experience of earlier atrocities showed the dip would be fleeting: "There is some hit for the first couple of days and then afterwards it picks up."

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