Morrisons new chief shelves old exec team March 24, 2015 MORRISONS new chief executive David Potts has wasted little time in overhauling the beleaguered supermarket chain as he turfed out five of its senior managers yesterday. Potts, who only took the top job at the Bradford-based retailer last week, said he plans to simplify and speed up the business by building a “leaner senior management [...]
Five Morrisons execs leave as Potts swings axe March 24, 2015 Five members of Morrisons' management team are on the way out, after new boss David Potts swung his axe. Group customer marketing and digital director Nick Collard, group retail director Martyn Fletcher, group property and strategy director Gordon Mowat, group logistics director Neal Austin and convenience managing director Nigel Robertson are all leaving. "I will [...]
Sainsbury’s says fightback plan paying off March 17, 2015 SAINSBURY’S chief executive Mike Coupe said the supermarket chain was seeing “some signs of recovery” after launching a £150m fightback plan last year, despite underlying sales falling for the fifth quarter in a row. Like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, fell by 1.9 per cent in the 10 weeks to 14 March, its final quarter, with sales [...]
FTSE rises ahead of Osborne’s pre-poll Budget – London Report March 17, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index edged higher yesterday to extend a recent rebound from last week’s lows, with gains coming in ahead of key policy announcements from the UK and the US. The FTSE 100 rose 0.5 per cent to 6,837.61 points, as shares of natural-resources producers ticked up and utilities pushed higher, led by a [...]
Alliance Trust bosses unnerved after activist hedge fund Elliott Advisors calls for a board shake-up March 16, 2015 A bitter row is erupting between FTSE 100 investment group Alliance Trust and its biggest shareholder, the activist hedge fund Elliott Advisors. Elliott is today pushing to add three new non-executives to the board of Alliance, in a move that will pile the pressure on the firm’s chief executive Katherine Garrett-Cox. “They’re not calling for [...]
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 [...]
Analyst Views: How does the future look for Morrisons its under new leadership? March 12, 2015 DARREN SHIRLEY | SHORE CAPITAL Without material leasehold obligations compared to its peers, and a comfortable pension position, we see the group as being in a relatively favourable position to commence shareholder friendly initiatives in the medium to long term. Shore Capital reiterates our “buy” stance on Wm. Morrisons shares. DAVID STODDART | EDISON INVESTMENT [...]
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 [...]
Apache Stronghold can land JLT under masterful Carberry March 11, 2015 BILL ESDAILE PREVIEWS THE JLT, PERTEMPS FINAL AND KIM MUIR STILL a relatively new race at the Cheltenham Festival, the JLT Novices’ Chase (1.30pm) is for those horses who need further than the two miles of the Arkle and less than the three and a bit miles of the RSA Chase. No horse fits that [...]
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 [...]