Tesco: Here’s who is eyeing up its South Korean business Homeplus September 8, 2015 Embattled retailer Tesco has reportedly invited five private equity firms, and one department store chain, to bid for its South Korean unit Homeplus which is valued at around about $6bn (£3.9bn). US-based KKR and Carlyle Group are among the potential runners and riders, according to a report by Reuters. London-based CVC Capital Partners, Hong Kong-based Affinity Equity Partners and [...]
Ex-Sainsbury’s boss Justin King takes on first big role since leaving September 7, 2015 The former chief executive of Sainsbury's, Justin King, is set to take on his first major role since leaving the supermarket last year. King, who is widely credited with reversing the fortunes of the supermarket chain, is due to become vice-chairman of private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners. "A source close to Terra Firma [...]
“Drastic Dave” Lewis is delivering at Tesco with £4.2bn sale of South Korean arm Homeplus to MBK September 7, 2015 Ever since Dave Lewis was appointed chief executive of Tesco last year, he has made strengthening the balance sheet a priority for the troubled retailer. Although Homeplus in South Korea was a profitable business, the focus has been on protecting Tesco’s UK market share in light of increasing competition from lower priced discounters, such as [...]
Coca-Cola’s Santa Claus brings fizz to International Greetings August 27, 2015 GIFT wrap and card-making company International Greetings said trading has got off to a good start in the first quarter of the year after winning contracts with the likes of Coca-Cola and Universal Studios for its Despicable Me film. The Bedfordshire-based company, which also makes crackers, gift bags and stationary said it is on track [...]
Morrisons pulled up on Match & More price-match advert claims against competitors Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi and Lidl August 26, 2015 Morrisons has been told it must be clearer about its promise to match the prices of competitors, including Aldi and Lidl. The supermarket's Match & More scheme, which is the only one of the big four to match the prices of the German discounters, has been pulled up by the advertising watchdog for not clearly [...]
Supermarket wars: Big Four in big trouble as Tesco, Asda and Morrisons register more declines August 25, 2015 Tesco is still struggling to shrug off competition from the discount supermarkets, as data released this morning reveals yet more declines. While consumer spend within the grocery sector rose 0.9 per cent for the 12 weeks to 16 August, at Tesco it dropped by the same proportion. The price of a comparable basket of [...]
Supermarket wars: Aldi has changed the face of UK retailing in its first 25 years – but it must adapt as much as everyone else to continue August 24, 2015 As Aldi celebrates 25 years of trading in the UK the joy may be felt by the German-owned discount chain and the great British price-conscious shopping public for its impact on the cost of food. But the reaction from rival retailers, big and small, and pretty much everyone else in the supply chain who [...]
Tesco share price falls as supermarkets suffer for third day amid renewed concerns about discounters Aldi and Lidl August 20, 2015 When one supermarket sneezes, it seems the rest catch a cold. Shares in troubled supermarket Tesco fell to their lowest level since January this morning, two days after Asda reignited concerns over the threat from German discounters. Tesco shares dropped 1.77 per cent today, while Sainsbury's shed 0.77 per cent. Both are down about four percent since [...]
Asda promises turnaround after sales hit rock bottom August 19, 2015 ASDA chief executive Andy Clarke insisted that the company was seeing the first “green shoots” of a recovery despite revealing its worst ever quarterly result in the 16 years it has been owned by US chain Wal-Mart. The supermarket chain, which recently lost its position as Britain’s second-largest food retailer to Sainsbury’s, said like-for-like sales [...]
Don’t fear low inflation: It’s great news for consumers while it lasts August 18, 2015 The latest retail figures in the UK showed good growth. Things are also looking up in the US and in much of the euro area. The world economy has settled into a period of steady growth with very little inflation in the major economies. Indeed, just yesterday, official figures revealed that consumer price index inflation [...]