Is it time for Mike Coupe to check out as Sainsbury’s boss? May 1, 2019 Mike Coupe was met with rapturous applause from his fellow directors when he stepped up to the microphone this morning, as he hailed the coming of an era in Sainsbury’s history that would see it thrive having merged with long-time rival, Asda. Coupe spoke boldly about price cuts and cost savings, and finished with a [...]
Marks & Spencer provokes Twitter storm with move to make Percy Pig sweets vegetarian-friendly May 1, 2019 Marks & Spencer customers have reacted with outrage to the British retailer's decision to remove gelatine from the longstanding recipe for its Percy Pig sweets. Although now suitable for vegetarians, the new recipe – introduced this month – has provoked a Twitter storm of anger, with the supermarket being condemned for altering the sweets, which it has sold since [...]
Sainsbury’s profit plummets after spending £46m on failed Asda merger May 1, 2019 Sainsbury’s profits tumbled 42 per cent last year as the supermarket giant spent £46m on its failed merger with Asda, it revealed this morning. Read more: Watchdog kills Sainsbury's-Asda merger: What went wrong? The supermarket suffered a body blow last week when the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) banned the proposed merger “in its entirety”, a [...]
City Moves for 1 May – Who’s switching jobs at Mirriad, Discoverie Group and SCS Group? May 1, 2019 Today's City Moves includes Mirriad, Discoverie Group and SCS Group. Mirriad Mirriad, the computer vision and AI platform company, has announced abBoard change as Stephan Beringer, chief executive officer, continues his strategic refocusing of the business. John Pearson is appointed to the role of non-executive chairman, with effect from 30 April. He was previously appointed [...]
Sainsbury’s slips behind supermarket rivals after Asda merger blocked April 30, 2019 Sainsbury's sales fell behind those of rivals in the three months to the end of April, according to data released just a week after the supermarket's £7.3bn Asda merger was blocked. Sainsbury’s suffered a 1.2 per cent fall in sales compared to the same period last year, data group Kantar's statistics showed, while Aldi and Lidl [...]
Can Just Eat deliver the City what it wants? April 29, 2019 On Wednesday morning most eyes in the City will be on Mike Coupe, the Sainsbury’s chief executive battling to keep his job. In the firm’s Holborn HQ the grocery veteran will set out his Plan B after the UK competition watchdog crushed his dreams of a merger with Asda. Read more: Shortsellers increase bets against [...]
MPs to ramp up pressure on Asda over ‘appalling’ wage shake-up plans April 29, 2019 Asda is set to face fresh pressure from politicians this week amid accusations that new pay proposals could leave thousands of workers financially worse off. Read more: Watchdog kills Sainsbury's-Asda merger: What went wrong? A campaign addressed to Asda demanding the grocery giant rows back on "unscrupulous contract changes" is set to be backed by a [...]
Sainsbury’s: Buyers bet that shares have seen the low April 26, 2019 By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. Trading within a whisker of a record low, a lot of bad news is already written into the share price. Yesterday’s humiliation of Sainsbury (J) (LSE:SBRY) and its boss Mike Coupe has not stopped investors from piling into the supermarket giant’s shares in the belief the chain can bounce [...]
Competition watchdog kills Sainsbury’s £7.3bn Asda merger: What went wrong? April 25, 2019 Almost a year to the day since Sainsbury’s first revealed that it was in merger talks with Asda, it has all come crashing down. In late April 2018 the two retail giants were losing market share to German discounters Aldi and Lidl, and the threat of Amazon moving into the grocery sector was very real. [...]
Competition regulator blocks Sainsbury’s-Asda merger April 25, 2019 A planned tie-up between supermarket giants Sainsbury’s and Asda suffered a final blow from the UK’s competition watchdog, which said this morning that "it has decided to prohibit the merger in its entirety". Read more: Watchdog may block Sainsbury's-Asda merger Sainsbury’s, Walmart and Asda revealed today that they have mutually agreed to terminate the merger plans [...]