Tesco beats forecasts with 1.4bn profits October 6, 2009 TESCO chief executive Sir Terry Leahy yesterday said that the UK was “past the low point” of the slump as he unveiled bumper profits and sales. Britain’s biggest retailer said that group sales had jumped 8.3 per cent to £30.4bn during the 26 weeks to 29 August – meaning the giant supermarket chain was ringing [...]
Tesco set to report slower sales growth October 4, 2009 TESCO, Britain’s biggest retailer, is set to report slower underlying UK sales growth than rival J Sainsbury for the fifth quarter in a row this week, alongside a small rise in first-half profit. But analysts expect Tesco to flag a stronger second-half profit performance, and some see signs it is beginning to close the gap [...]
Bond says no to M&S role October 1, 2009 ASDA chief executive Andy Bond yesterday ruled himself out of the running for the top job at high street retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S). Bond said: “I am not interested. I am not going to M&S. End of story.” M&S has said it will appoint a new chief executive next year, with Sir Stuart Rose [...]
Retail guru Davies to revive high street with GIVe stores September 13, 2009 RETAIL veteran George Davies is set to open the doors to his new stand alone shopping venture, GIVe, this Autumn. Davies, the founder of high street fashion store Next, Marks and Spencer’s womenswear range Per Una and Asda’s George clothing line has ploughed £20m of his own money into the chain. The much-hyped launch comes [...]
Marks & Spencer promotes Dixon to the board fuelling Rose succession talk September 9, 2009 MARKS & Spencer (M&S) has promoted its head of food, John Dixon, to its executive board, strengthening his chance of succeeding Stuart Rose as chief executive next year. M&S has always said it would prefer an internal candidate to succeed Rose, and signs of recovery at the group’s upmarket food business in recent months have [...]
Tesco’s rivals eat into its market share August 18, 2009 TESCO, the UK’s biggest retailer, is continuing to lose market share, according to new figures, despite relaunching its Clubcard. The supermarket recently beefed up its loyalty card scheme, offering shoppers two points for every £1 spent, as opposed to just one. It had hoped the tactics would stop customers shopping at rivals like Asda and [...]
Budget goods boost Asda’s market share August 13, 2009 WAL-MART owned Asda yesterday said it was stealing market share from other supermarkets as customers shopped around for low prices during the downturn. Asda said over three months to 31 July it had grown its market share of the grocery sector to 17 per cent, up from 16.7 per cent the quarter before. Tesco continues [...]
HEADHUNT IS ON FOR DISGRACED EX-BANKERS August 10, 2009 SOME in the City might be surprised by Sir Fred Goodwin’s decision to re-enter the business world, as revealed on the front page of City A.M. today, but it seems headhunters will be rubbing their hands with glee. Take former HBOS chief Andy Hornby, who was also strung up by the public for his role [...]
Waitrose flexes its muscle in John Lewis online tie-up deal August 2, 2009 WAITROSE, the upmarket grocer, yesterday announced it plans to sell kitchen and homeware products online in a commercial tie-up with John Lewis, in the hope it can pinch market share from rival retailers. Under the deal Waitrose will sell thousands of its own and John Lewis’s products online from 4 August, placing more pressure on [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 29, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES CATTLES’ NON-EXECS WIN TEPID SUPPORTLong-suffering investors in cattles, whose shares have been suspended since April, protested yesterday against the re-election of two non-executive directors at the subprime lender’s annual meeting. About a tenth of investors voted against the re-election of David Haxby, senior independent director who has been with the board since 1999, [...]