How Sainsbury’s, Tesco and even discounters Aldi and Lidl reined in property expansion plans and ended the supermarket turf wars May 6, 2015 In the never-ending quest for growth, for decades supermarkets held a major arsenal in their weaponry – land. But not any more. Sainsbury's today revealed it took a £682m writedown on its property portfolio in another sign the decades-long land grab by supermarkets has failed to pay off. Tesco's property writedowns run into the billions [...]
More changes on the Tesco board as Ken Hanna and Stuart Chambers quit May 5, 2015 It's all-change at Tesco at the moment: following the appointment of Dave Lewis as chief executive and John Allan as chairman, two of the supermarket's non-executive directors have decided to step down. More on this story: Is Sainsbury's about to have its Tesco moment? Ken Hanna and Stuart Chambers, who have served on the board for [...]
Aldi and Lidl expansion plans speed ahead of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda in supermarket wars with five times as many planning applications May 5, 2015 Rival German discounters continue to outpace the UK's "big four" in the supermarket wars with ambitious plans for expansion five times the rate of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and Asda combined. While Tesco and Morrisons have been forced to shutter stores in the midst of declining sales and squeezed margins, Aldi and Lidl have submitted plans [...]
Cost of the weekly shop declines as supermarket price war rages on May 5, 2015 The cost of the average weekly grocery shop plunged by eight per cent year-on-year in May as fierce competition between the grocers continues to impact the market. Research by mySupermarket’s Groceries Tracker showed that a basket of 35 staple products across all major grocers cost a total of £86.69 in May, down from £93.87 12 [...]
Tesco moves £90m media account to WPP’s Mediacom ending 20 years with IPG’s Initiative April 30, 2015 Tesco boss Dave Lewis has done some more kitchen-sinking, ditching the company that has been in charge of placing its advertising for the last 20 years. The beleaguered supermarket has switched its media planning and buying account – worth £90m a year – to WPP's Mediacom from IPG's Initiative after a review, MediaWeek reports. It's [...]
Tesco paves way for Dunnhumby sale with end to exclusive Kroger deal April 27, 2015 Tesco has taken a major step forward in paving the way for a sale of its lucrative Dunnhumby data business after agreeing a deal with US retailer Kroger to loosen an existing partnership which prevented the firm from expanding stateside. The joint venture with Kroger had been a thorny sticking point in any potential sale [...]
Tesco share price falls as Fitch downgrades its long-term rating April 24, 2015 Credit ratings agency Fitch has downgraded Tesco's long-term rating to BB+, from BBB-. Shares in the supermarket were down 1.1 per cent to 222.6p in mid-afternoon traading after the ratings giant said its decision reflected a "weakening outlook for the group's near term profitability in its core UK operations". The news comes days after Tesco [...]
Dave Lewis admits long road ahead for Tesco recovery April 22, 2015 Tesco boss Dave Lewis admitted yesterday that he faced a larger task than expected turning around the struggling supermarket giant, as it reported the worst results in its 96-year history. Lewis – known as “Drastic Dave” for his radical overhaul of businesses at Unilever and now at Tesco – acknowledged that the task of turning [...]
Historic Tesco loss sparks share price slump: Dave Lewis has to move from “drastic” to “dynamic” April 22, 2015 2007: TESCO’S PEAK MARKET SHARE 31.7% MARKET SHARE MARCH 2015 28.4% Shares in Tesco slumped by five per cent yesterday after the retail giant capped a year of profit warnings, accounting scandals and fraud investigations by posting one of the biggest losses in corporate history. Britain’s biggest supermarket made a statutory pre-tax loss of £6.4bn [...]
Back to basics for Tesco: Dave Lewis’s plan has a fighting chance of success April 22, 2015 If Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis takes any pleasure in yesterday’s apocalyptic-sounding headlines, it will be the knowledge that the “kitchen sinking” is complete – surely there can be no more bad news for the retailer to announce. Such a huge loss – £6.4bn in the year to the end of February, and one of [...]