Grocery price war continues: Tesco’s rebound hurts Asda as Aldi reaches record market share March 10, 2015 Tesco's return to growth is stealing market share from Asda, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel. The sector as a whole is still hugely competitive: the grocery price war has driven supermarket deflation to a record level of 1.6 per cent for the 12 weeks to March 1. Kantar estimated that this had [...]
Ocado sales jump 19.2 per cent as company says it expects to keep growing ahead of the curve March 10, 2015 The figures Ocado’s group sales jumped 19.2 per cent in the 12 weeks to 22 February, rising to £271.1m, from £227.5m during the same period last year. Meanwhile, retail sales were up a similarly impressive 15.2 per cent to £252.0m, two months after the company reported its first profit. Ocado said that on 22 February it had [...]
Morrisons to cut dividend and post lowest profit in eight years March 9, 2015 Morrisons is expected to signal lower dividend payouts on Thursday this week when the troubled supermarket chain is to report its lowest annual profit in eight years. The Bradford-based retailer has been hit hard by the fierce industry price war as all big four supermarkets battle it out to retain customers’ loyalty and fend off [...]
Shoppers likely to be pausing after 2014 spree – London Report March 9, 2015 BRITISH Retail Consortium (BRC) retail sales figures for February are likely to show shoppers took a pause after a spending spree in the fourth quarter of last year. The figures, due out overnight tonight, are forecast to follow similar data from the Confederation of British Industry, which showed softer spending in February. The CBI data [...]
Richard Gillingwater steps down from Morrisons board March 4, 2015 SSE chairman-to-be Richard Gillingwater has decided to step down from the board of Morrisons, the supermarket announced today. Gillinwater, who was appointed to the board just two years ago, will step down from the post at the next annual general meeting in June. Today, he alluded to the supermarket's recent struggles to compete with discounters. [...]
Morrisons boss goes down for insider trading March 3, 2015 THE FORMER group treasurer and head of tax at Morrisons has been sentenced to one year in prison for insider trading. The case, which brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), charged Paul Coyle with two counts of insider trading. Coyle was suspended from Morrisons back in January. Coyle pleaded guilty to both counts and [...]
Morrisons ex-treasurer and head of tax Paul Coyle sentenced to prison for insider trading March 3, 2015 The former group treasurer and head of tax at Morrisons has been sentenced to one year in prison for insider trading. The case, which brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), charged Paul Coyle with two counts of insider trading. Coyle was suspended from Morrisons back in January. Coyle pleaded guilty to both counts and [...]
British Land buys up Surrey Quays plots in Canada Water for £135m March 2, 2015 Developer British Land said yesterday it has bought the last of the sites for its £2bn regeneration project in Canada Water – paying £135m for Surrey Quays Leisure Park from Aviva Investors. The FTSE 100 developer has quietly amassed over 50 acres of land in Canada Water over the last five years and is spending [...]
From Greece and Natalie Bennett to the banks and London’s skyline: Here’s what got us talking this week February 27, 2015 There was a lot of talk about a dress. And quite a bit about the llama drama. But here at City A.M. Towers, we were obsessing about plenty of other things. Greece finally managed to break the stalemate over its debt, negotiating a four month extension with Germany, and ending weeks of debate about a [...]
StanChart’s new man lifts FTSE to a record level – London Report February 26, 2015 Britain’s top equity index yesterday hit a record closing high – for the second time this week – helped by a surge in the share price of the Asian-focused bank Standard Chartered. Standard Chartered advanced by 5.4 per cent as traders welcomed its appointment of a new chief executive, former JP Morgan investment bank boss [...]