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 [...]
City Moves for 25 February 2015 | Who’s switching jobs February 24, 2015 Knight Frank The property consultancy’s retail division has announced the appointment of Richard Petyt as a partner in its agency team. He joins from Asda Stores, and in his new role will work on food store and mixed use development projects, development funding and food store portfolio rationalisation. Cantor Fitzgerald Europe Caspar Shand Kydd has [...]
London developer Galliard hires finance guru, sparking float talk February 22, 2015 GALLIARD Homes, London’s largest privately owned residential developer, has bolstered its board by hiring industry veteran Paul Huberman as a non-executive director, prompting speculation that a float may be on the cards. Huberman has over 27 years of property and finance experience and was previously finance director at Grantchester Holdings and Asda Property Holdings. He [...]
Asda sets out its £600m expansion plans as price cuts weigh on sales February 19, 2015 ASDA yesterday revealed plans to spend £600m on creating new stores and improving existing ones after the Wal-Mart-owned chain posted an accelerated decline in quarterly sales. Britain’s second largest food retailer has been one of the most stable over the past two years and was the first to take action against the discounters in 2013 [...]
Allan Leighton confirmed as Co-op chairman February 19, 2015 ALLAN Leighton has no qualms about taking the toughest jobs in business. The self-style pluralist has experienced several, including Leeds United (where he organised a rescue takeover) and Asda (which he turned around after near-bankruptcy) to name a couple. The boardroom veteran added another to his list yesterday after the Co-operative Group confirmed the appointment [...]
500,000 Wal-Mart workers are getting a pay rise February 19, 2015 Nearly half a million Wal-Mart workers found out they were getting a pay rise today, as chief executive Doug McMillon moved to reassure them of their value to the company. The retail giant, which owns Asda in the UK, will be giving pay rises to around 500,000 full and part-time staff throughout the US [...]