Aldi Shmaldi: Conviviality Retail’s Bargain Booze is playing German discounter at its own game June 16, 2015 Last week it was teachers, this week it's rival retailers. Aldi has suddenly become the brand to beat. Conviviality Retail – which runs Bargain Booze – has this week launched a head-to-head campaign with budget grocer Aldi, pitting its prices for big-label brands such as Carlsberg Export and Smirnoff against the supermarket's own label [...]
Big four supermarkets will keep getting squeezed says Moody’s June 10, 2015 The leading big four supermarkets are expected to lose another four per cent of their market share by 2020 to discounters Aldi and Lidl, as competition in the grocery retail market intensifies. A report published today by credit rating agency Moody’s predicts Aldi and Lidl’s combined market share will reach 12-15 per cent by 2020, [...]
Malcolm Walker’s many lives: How Iceland hopes to fight off profit slump June 10, 2015 Malcolm Walker has more business lives than a cat. He built his frozen food empire Iceland from a humble shop in Shropshire in 1970 into a £2bn turnover business 30 years later, before hitting a financial iceberg. Walker was forced to step down as chairman in 2001 after the Financial Services Authority launched an [...]
Sainsbury’s shares rise as Coupe insists store strategy is working June 10, 2015 SHARES in Sainsbury’s rallied yesterday as the supermarket chain insisted it was seeing “encouraging signs” of recovery, despite reporting its sixth consecutive quarter of declining underlying sales. Britain’s third-largest grocer said total sales fell 0.6 per cent, while sales at stores open more than a year fell by 2.1 per cent, excluding fuel, in the [...]
Sainsbury’s sales fall for sixth successive quarter – with 2.1 pc fall June 10, 2015 Sainsbury's sales have fallen again, showing the supermarket giant is yet to shrug off the challenges facing the big four. The figures: Like-for-like sales were down 2.1 per cent for the first quarter of 2015. Food deflation and a competitive market were blamed for the poor sales figures, which were down 2.1 per cent for the [...]
KKR halves Pets at Home stake and eyes Tesco June 9, 2015 PRIVATE equity giant KKR has nearly halved its stake in Pets at Home just as it emerged yesterday that the firm has been invited to bid for Tesco’s South Korean business. US-based KKR bought Pets at Home from private equity rival Bridgepoint in 2010 for £995m. The pet care and products retailer floated on the [...]
Supermarket price war attracts short sellers to record positions in sector June 9, 2015 It's no secret UK supermarkets have been under the cosh both in terms of the ongoing price war with discounters Aldi and Lidl, as well as several problems of their own making. Now it seems short sellers are making hay while the sun shines. The sector has attracted record interest from short sellers, with [...]
Morrisons cuts prices on 200 items as boss David Potts swings the axe in supermarket price wars June 8, 2015 Morrisons is the latest supermarket to swing the axe in the ongoing price wars, with price cuts on hundreds of products. David Potts, the former Tesco executive who replaced Dalton Phillips at the top, has made his first move in the battle of the supermarkets as it tries to compete with discounters and its big [...]
Morrisons is the only big four grocer “currently on right track”, says Nielsen June 5, 2015 Morrisons waits for good news for months and then three come along at once. The supermarket – which has, until now, been one of the more unloved – has already had one set of figures prove it's the only one of the big four in growth, which in turn prompted a share price rally, [...]
Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe misses out on payday perks June 4, 2015 Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe missed out on an annual bonus last year after the supermarket chain failed to meet sales and profit targets. The retailer’s annual report published yesterday revealed that Coupe’s annual pay package dropped to £1.5m in the year to March, down from £2m the previous year, when he was still commercial [...]