Last Week in the City: Trade wars begin July 6, 2018 Garry White, chief investment commentator, looks at the market-moving events that have shaped the UK equity markets this week (2 to 6 July 2018). The World Cup is “distracting” for participants in global markets, according to Citigroup. "We find that football is indeed distracting, subtly impacting market depth, traded volumes and execution cost,” the US [...]
Mastercard and Visa lose battle with supermarkets over debit and credit card charges July 4, 2018 Mastercard and Visa have lost the latest round of an ongoing legal battle with a conglomerate of supermarkets after a court found their card charges were too high and had breached competition rules. The two credit card giants had been accused by a number of retailers of charging overly high fees – known as interchange [...]
Tesco has formed a strategic alliance with French supermarket chain Carrefour to enhance competition July 2, 2018 Tesco and Carrefour are teaming up to beat the competition, in a strategic alliance announced this morning. A joint statement issued by the companies say the alliance will cover their relationships with global suppliers, its joint purchasing of all own-brand products, and any goods not for resale. The deal should force prices for own-brand products [...]
Asda has been forced to ration its fizzy drinks amid an ongoing UK-wide carbon dioxide shortage June 30, 2018 Supermarket chain Asda is limiting the amount of fizzy drinks its customers can buy, as the UK's carbon dioxide shortage worsens to near-crisis levels. The retailer has put a six-drink cap on shoppers buying bottles, cans or multipacks of fizzy drinks online, although the limit does not apply in-store. This includes all own-brand drinks, as [...]
Sainsbury’s sales dip while Ocado and Lidl gain in latest grocer data June 26, 2018 Sainsbury's was the only supermarket to see a decline in sales during the 12 weeks to 17 June, new data shows. Sales slipped by £10m compared to the same period last year, bringing its market share down to 15.6 per cent, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Tesco, Asda and Morrisons also all lost market share despite [...]
Asda ranked worst big supermarket for treatment of suppliers while Iceland comes last overall June 25, 2018 Asda ranks lowest among the big four supermarkets for treatment of suppliers, according to the regulator's annual report released today. Out of all 10 grocers assessed by the Groceries Code Adjudicator survey, Iceland ranked last and the Co-op was second from the bottom. Some eight per cent of Asda suppliers reported that the supermarket "rarely" [...]
Asda and Sainsbury’s bosses Roger Burnley and Mike Coupe grilled by MPs over merger June 20, 2018 The chair of a select committee has told Asda's boss to "get real" and stop talking "baloney" in a grilling over the supermarket's merger between Asda and Sainsbury's this morning. Asda's Roger Burnley and Sainsbury's boss Mike Coupe appeared in front of the the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) committee, which has launched an [...]
Tesco reports 10th consecutive quarter of sales growth as Booker deal boosts prospects June 15, 2018 Tesco today reported rising like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks ended 26 May, marking the 10th consecutive quarter of positive growth. The supermarket stalwart said like-for-like sales in the UK were up 2.1 per cent, while like-for-like sales in Booker soared by 14.3 per cent. Tesco said that was driven by "a strong underlying performance [...]
Tesco reports 10th consecutive quarter of sales growth as Booker deal boosts prospects June 15, 2018 Tesco today reported rising like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks ended 26 May, marking the 10th consecutive quarter of positive growth. The supermarket stalwart said like-for-like sales in the UK were up 2.1 per cent, while like-for-like sales in Booker soared by 14.3 per cent. Tesco said that was driven by “a strong underlying performance [...]
Having a house near a supermarket can boost your house price by as much as £43,000 June 9, 2018 Owning a home close to a chain supermarket could potentially boost the house price by £21,500 on average, according to research by Lloyds Bank. The new research also showed that areas within range of so-called premium supermarkets, such as Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's, will command house prices which are on average 12 per [...]