Tesco’s Dunnhumby: Is Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP about to take a stake in the supermarket’s data business? March 15, 2015 Tesco could be about to sell off a majority stake in its data arm that was responsible for creating the Tesco Clubcard loyalty scheme. The world’s largest advertising firm, Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP, has made an offer for Tesco's Dunnhumby, Bloomberg reports. Tesco brought in Goldman Sachs in January to explore options for Dunnhumby as [...]
Morrisons could cut dividend as earnings slump March 12, 2015 THE DAUNTING task facing the new boss of Morrisons was illustrated on yesterday when UK’s fourth biggest supermarket reported its lowest annual profit in eight years and warned investors it would cut its dividend. The profit slump, a third straight decline, reflects Morrisons’ decision last year to spend £1bn on price cuts over three years [...]
Morrisons share price falls as it announces 23 store closures after losses mount and sales drop March 12, 2015 A bad morning for Morrisons. The supermarket announced it will close 23 stores and cutting its future dividend pay-out after reporting a large full-year loss and falling quarterly sales. Shares in the retailer opened one per cent down this morning. The trading environment is a tough one, Morrisons said, and it isn’t expected to get [...]
Tesco recovers from 18 months of slow sales March 10, 2015 TESCO has posted its strongest performance in 18 months, with sales up 1.1 per cent compared with 2014, according to industry data for the 12 weeks ending 1 March. The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel suggest that the major overhaul of strategy at the UK’s biggest retailer by new chief executive Dave Lewis [...]
Grocery price war continues: Tesco’s rebound hurts Asda as Aldi reaches record market share March 10, 2015 Tesco's return to growth is stealing market share from Asda, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel. The sector as a whole is still hugely competitive: the grocery price war has driven supermarket deflation to a record level of 1.6 per cent for the 12 weeks to March 1. Kantar estimated that this had [...]
Ocado sales jump 19.2 per cent as company says it expects to keep growing ahead of the curve March 10, 2015 The figures Ocado’s group sales jumped 19.2 per cent in the 12 weeks to 22 February, rising to £271.1m, from £227.5m during the same period last year. Meanwhile, retail sales were up a similarly impressive 15.2 per cent to £252.0m, two months after the company reported its first profit. Ocado said that on 22 February it had [...]
Coffee-to-go speculation at Tesco as another top executive departs March 9, 2015 TESCO yesterday lost another senior executive after the man in charge of its in-store dining, Michael Holmes, stepped down. Holmes served as the director of a number of Tesco’s businesses, including restaurant chain Giraffe, coffee shop Harris + Hoole, in-store restaurant Decks and Tesco’s Euphorium bakeries. The exit follows a string of departures that have [...]
City Moves for 10 March 2015 | Who’s switching jobs March 9, 2015 New Bridge Street The executive remuneration specialist has appointed Drew Matthews as partner. He joins from Tesco, where he was group reward director for the past three years. Matthews has also held consultancy roles at PwC, Deloitte, and Stern Stewart. Eaton Vance Management International David Morley has been appointed business development director, UK institutional at [...]
Tesco loses Harris + Hoole and Giraffe chief Michael Holmes amid Dave Lewis restructure March 9, 2015 Tesco has lost another senior executive, after the man in charge of its Harris + Hoole coffee shops and restaurant chain Giraffe stepped down. Chief executive of new food experiences Michael Holmes, the man behind Tesco’s strategy to offer dining experiences in-store in a bid to pull in customers, has fallen on the wrong side [...]
Morrisons to cut dividend and post lowest profit in eight years March 9, 2015 Morrisons is expected to signal lower dividend payouts on Thursday this week when the troubled supermarket chain is to report its lowest annual profit in eight years. The Bradford-based retailer has been hit hard by the fierce industry price war as all big four supermarkets battle it out to retain customers’ loyalty and fend off [...]