Standard & Poor’s cuts Tesco to junk January 14, 2015 Standard & Poor's (S&P) today downgraded Tesco to junk status, suggesting the ratings agency is unconvinced by the turnaround strategy unveiled by new chief executive Dave Lewis last week. The grocer's senior long-term credit rating was lowered to BB+ from BBB-. It is unlikely to go any lower than this however, with S&P saying the [...]
Tesco’s share price nears pre-overstatement level for the first time in four months January 14, 2015 Tesco's share price is nearing the level it was before the supermarket admitting to overstating its profits in September, thanks to a sustained rally in the last month. Shares in the UK's largest retailer have risen more than 30 per cent since mid-December and at pixel time this morning the business was up 2.1 [...]
Is Waterstones about to buy Tesco’s Blinkbox Books? January 13, 2015 Another portion of Tesco’s failed venture Blinkbox could be about to be carved off and sold on. Waterstones looks set to buy Blinkbox books, after Tesco sold Blinkbox Movies to TalkTalk and Blinkbox Music to Guvera. Tesco made the decision to sell Blinkbox as part of a turnaround plan aimed, unsurprisingly, at reversing the poor [...]
Tesco to scale back presence in Hungary January 12, 2015 TESCO said yesterday it is to shut 13 stores in Hungary “to secure the profitability” of its local business as the beleaguered retailer continues on its cost-cutting drive. The supermarket giant has over 200 stores in Hungary, where it has operated since 1995 and has grown to be its third-largest employer serving 3m customers. But [...]
Tesco to shut stores in Hungary in cost-cutting drive January 12, 2015 Tesco is to close 13 stores in Hungary in a bid to secure the long-term profitability of its local operations. The beleaguered supermarket is in recovery mode after a devastating year marked by profit warnings, high-profile departures and a plummeting share price which fell to its lowest point for a decade. Tesco still [...]
Tesco share price rallies as chief Dave Lewis wins over City funds, but Moody’s issues junk rating January 8, 2015 Tesco boss Dave Lewis won the cautious backing of stock-pickers yesterday as he unveiled radical plans to cut hundreds of millions of pounds worth of costs in a bid to revive the fortunes of the troubled supermarket. Shares rallied 15 per cent, marking their biggest one-day gain in six years. Yet lenders to the retail [...]
Tesco store closures: Councils digest shock as Chesnut HQ staff move to Welwyn Garden City and outlets shut January 8, 2015 While investors rejoiced, councils and local planning authorities were left reeling yesterday after Tesco announced it would close its Cheshunt HQ, some existing stores and shelve new planing projects amid a raft of changes aimed at cutting costs. Britain’s biggest supermarket said staff at its north London base would move to its offices in Welwyn [...]
Tesco mulls dumping data arm Dunnhumby in asset sell-off January 8, 2015 Britain’s largest supermarket Tesco said yesterday it could sell off its Dunnhumby data business as it announced plans for widespread cost-cuttings and asset sales. The retail titan said it had appointed Goldman Sachs to explore the options for Dunnhumby – the company that helped to create Tesco’s customer clubcard scheme in 1995. Those options could [...]
Halfords share price plunges as chief executive Matt Davies poached by Tesco January 8, 2015 Shares in bikes-to-car parts retailer Halfords plunged 8.5 per cent yesterday after Tesco announced it had poached chief executive Matt Davies to head up its UK and Ireland business. The former Pets at Home boss was hired in 2012 to lead a turnaround of the tired chain, which had issued nine profit warnings in the [...]
Tesco boss Dave Lewis: Drastic he may be but let’s not forget dapper January 8, 2015 Drastic Dave Lewis had his day in the spotlight yesterday, reeling off a list of admittedly quite drastic measures in a bid to save Tesco. But the one question The Capitalist wanted to ask was, how does Tesco boss Drastic Dave Lewis feel about constantly being called drastic? Maybe one day he’d like to be [...]