Sainsbury’s Mike Coupe: Aldi and Lidl are starting to look like “conventional” supermarkets March 16, 2016 Mike Coupe must be feeling confident about Sainsbury's progress in the grocery price wars. The supermarket boss, who yesterday revealed strong results, appears to be trolling Aldi and Lidl, telling Mumsnetters yesterday that the German discounters were "increasingly looking like conventional supermarkets". Speaking at Mumstock, a conference about marketing to mums, he told the audience [...]
Ocado’s share price climbs as sales rise – but order sizes slip March 15, 2016 Ocado may have lost out on a lucrative tie-up with Amazon, but sales are still surging ahead, its latest update shows. The figures Gross group sales at the delivery business – which includes its Morrisons agreement – rose 15.3 per cent to £312.4m in the 12 weeks to 21 February, while retail sales – which includes Fetch and Sizzle [...]
Sainsbury’s share price falls despite posting a sales rise in the fourth quarter as deadline looms for Argos bid March 15, 2016 Sainsbury's is continuing to prove itself the strongest of the big four supermarkets, with total and like-for-like sales up in the fourth quarter as it moves to phase out multi-buy offers entirely. But the business has warned of ongoing challenges in the market as the price wars continue. The figures Total retail sales excluding fuel [...]
Steel sector jobs could be saved by government March 13, 2016 The government is working with private equity fund Greybull on a deal to save 4,000 jobs at Tata’s Scunthorpe steelworks. The department for business, innovation and skills (BIS) is negotiating with both Tata Steel and Greybull to finalise a deal ahead of a 31 March deadline that could see the government taking a stake in [...]
From the best US barbecue restaurants to the Senior Bankers’ Regime: What got you reading this week March 11, 2016 1. US barbecue restaurants City A.M. readers are clearly experiencing wanderlust: our US roadtrip sampling 32 of the US' most mouth-watering barbecue restaurants stormed to the top of our rankings this week. Find out where was finger-lickin' good here. 2. Another supermarket sweep Asda and Morrisons' share of of the market fell further this week – while sales at [...]
Don’t worry, be happy: FTSE 100 shakes off its ECB woes to open higher, pushed up by Aviva March 11, 2016 The FTSE 100 stormed back into positive territory this morning, after a miserable finish to yesterday's trading. The market was up 1.5 per cent at 6,131.6 points, after it edged perilously close to the 6,000 mark yesterday, when comments by European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi hinted rates are unlikely to be cut any further. [...]
Euro rebounds: Mario Draghi warns euro inflation will stay negative for “several months” and European Central Bank cuts deposit rate and expands quantitative easing March 10, 2016 European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi has suggested inflation in the Eurozone will stay negative for "several months" – but added that the bank is "not short of ammunition" to bring it back up to target. At a press conference after the bank announced it was slashing key rates, Draghi said he expected inflation to pick up to 0.1 per cent in [...]
Waitrose is “well set up” to face arrival of Amazon, says outgoing boss Mark Price March 10, 2016 Waitrose's outgoing boss Lord Price played down the threat of Amazon's entry in the UK, insisting it was strong enough to fend off competition and would continue to be “one of the few” retailers to increase profitability this year. Price, who was made a peer last week ahead of his new role as trade minister [...]
Morrisons’ share price falls 2.5 per cent as dividend is cut on sales and profits decline March 10, 2016 Sales and profits at Morrisons have fallen again – but the supermarket management is talking confidently about progress made so far, and guided on future dividends in an effort to woo shareholders. Morrisons' share price was down 2.5 per cent in mid-morning trading, however, as investors digested the news that this year's dividend was being slashed [...]
Amazon is going to lease Boeing planes in move to set up air delivery network March 9, 2016 Amazon.com is going to lease 20 Boeing aircraft as the online retailer makes a move toward setting up its own air delivery service. The online giant is going to lease Boeing 767 freighter aircraft, according to Air Transport Services Group (ATSG), and comes as the company has been testing drone deliveries. Amazon currently relies on [...]