German discounter Aldi pledges to pay all UK staff above National Living Wage October 26, 2015 Aldi has set out to trump its supermarket rivals on pay by announcing today that it will pay all UK staff "significantly" above the living wage. The discount food retailer said all UK employees will be paid at least £8.40 an hour, and £9.45 in London from February 2016. This is ahead of the government’s national living wage of £7.20 an [...]
Sugar tax debate: Sainsbury’s ready meal contains more sugar than a can of Coca Cola, reveals Public Health England October 25, 2015 Who says you can't have too much of a good thing? Well, some supermarket ready meals contain almost twice as much sugar as those often-vilified cans of fizzy drinks. Sainsbury's crispy sweet and sour chicken, is the worst offender, with 61.2g of sugar in a 400g serving, which is the equivalent to almost 13 teaspoons. [...]
Best of the Brokers for 21 October 2015 October 21, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com POUNDLAND Investec has initiated coverage of Poundland with a “hold” rating and a target price of 300p. The broker said near-term profit benefits from the integration of 99p Stores are expected to return Poundland to 20 per cent growth or more in 2017 [...]
The nightmare before Christmas: Aldi and Lidl hammer Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco October 21, 2015 Britain's biggest supermarkets are facing a crunch Christmas as the pressure from German discounters Aldi and Lidl is ramped up, with experts warning of a bloody battle for this year’s festive season. The German duo have both seen growth rates return to over 17 per cent in the past three months, according to data from [...]
The nightmare before Christmas October 20, 2015 Aldi and Lidl hammer British supermarkets BRITAIN’S biggest supermarkets are facing a crunch Christmas as the pressure from German discounters Aldi and Lidl is ramped up, with experts warning of a bloody battle for this year’s festive season. The German duo have both seen growth rates return to over 17 per cent in the past [...]
Trouble for the big four supermarkets as Aldi and Lidl growth speeds up again October 20, 2015 German discounters Aldi and Lidl both saw growth rates return to over 17 per cent over the last three months, dashing hopes for the Big Four that a slowdown earlier in the year may have been part of a longer term trend. The cut-price chains have been the fastest-growing grocers in the sector for some time now. But in [...]
Asda backtracks on London expansion plans as it seeks to revive flagging sales October 19, 2015 Asda has become the latest supermarket to backtrack on store opening plans after scrapping ambitions to expand in London in favour of reviving deteriorating sales at existing stores. US-owned supermarket chain said it is “temporarily” slowing down the planned expansion of smaller format stores in London as well as its programme to develop more stand-alone petrol [...]
Tesco Now trademarked: Is one-hour delivery on its way? October 19, 2015 Tesco has filed a trade mark for the name Tesco Now, fuelling speculation that it's considering offering customers deliveries within the hour. Filed on 29 September and spotted by the Grocer, the trade mark covers five different food areas and the delivery of goods. The move follows the introduction of Amazon's Prime Now service, which can [...]
Commodity crunch to hit UK dividend growth next year October 19, 2015 The commodity crunch is set to stifle dividend-growth in London-listed companies next year. Total dividend growth is expected to slow three per cent to £89.8bn in 2016, way below a 6.8 per cent projected increase to £87.2bn this year, according to a report by Capita Asset Services. "The concentration of global mining firms listed on the UK stock exchange [...]
UK grocery sector shows green shoots of recovery as distress levels fall October 19, 2015 Britain’s supermarket sector is showing signs of recovery, according to new research from Begbies Traynor that reveals the number of companies struggling to stay afloat declined for the first time in over two years. The business recovery specialist’s latest Red Flag Alert research, which monitors the health of UK companies, shows levels of “significant” financial [...]