Ocado share price dives on half-year results July 1, 2014 Online grocer Ocado has seen its share price drop 4.7 per cent after releasing half-year results for the 24 weeks ended 18 May. The fall comes as the company announced it was on track for its first ever annual pre-tax profit. The company swung back into the black with pre-tax profits reaching £7.5m compared to [...]
Ocado earnings jump 79pc after Morrisons tie-up July 1, 2014 Online grocer Ocado has reported a rise in gross sales of 15.6 per cent for the 24 weeks ended 18 May, broadly in line with what had been expected. Analysts at Deutsche Bank had forecast that Ocado would report that gross retail sales in the second quarter grew by 15.3 per cent, compared to 18 [...]
Morrisons warns of discounters’ growing threat June 26, 2014 MORRISONS boss Dalton Philips warned yesterday that discounters could grow to as much as 25 per cent of the grocery market if supermarkets fail to “face the brutal reality” of the changes taking place and fight back. Speaking at the British Retail Consortium’s annual symposium, Philips said the threat posed to the UK’s big four [...]
Galliford Try bags £82m after scoring four building projects June 26, 2014 GALLIFORD Try announced yesterday that it has won four projects worth £82m just days after securing a £100m housing contract. The firm’s Scottish business Morrison Construction has signed a £26.4m deal with Hub South West Scotland and North Lanarkshire Council to design and construct three schools and a nursery in Wishaw. Work on the Clyde [...]
Mark Johnston’s Oriental to outfox them in Northumberland Plate June 26, 2014 ONE OF the great staying races of the calendar, the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle (3.50pm), is the feature tomorrow. I’m keen on the chances of ORIENTAL FOX to go one better than his short-head second last year and scoop the £86,226 prize for Mark Johnston and Joe Fanning. He has to carry top-weight but, in [...]
5 retailers who’ve suffered warehouse woes June 23, 2014 Retailers have had their fair share of misadventures with their warehouses in recent years. The fire at Asos’ distribution centre in Yorkshire is the second time the retailer has suffered damage to one of its warehouses. An explosion at the Buncefield oil depot near to its former site in Hemel Hempstead in 2005 [...]
Morrisons ramps up assault on rival supermarkets after slashing more prices June 23, 2014 Morrisons has launched a fresh round of price cuts today as the troubled supermarket group steps up its efforts to win back shoppers defecting to cheaper rivals. Britain’s fourth-largest grocer will cut the price of a further 135 grocery and household products today by an average 14 per cent. “These are permanent price cuts, not [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 19 June 2014 June 18, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES US share dividends hit record US share buybacks and dividend payments climbed to a record level in the first quarter of 2014, as companies chose to boost shareholder returns in the absence of robust revenue growth. Members of the S&P 500 index – led by Apple, IBM, ExxonMobil and FedEx – spent $241bn [...]
Supermarket Morrisons to cut 2,600 top jobs June 17, 2014 MORRISONS confirmed yesterday that it would be cutting 2,600 jobs in its stores in the UK, as it sought to simplify its management structure. The supermarket chain, which is currently ranked fourth by market share in the UK, said it has trialled the new management structure in some of its stores and it now aims [...]
FTSE 100: Shire and Morrison help index end on a high note June 17, 2014 Bid speculation surrounding pharma giant Shire, proposed cost savings at supermarket operator Wm Morrison and a strong update from Premier Inn-owner Whitbread yesterday helped lift the FTSE 100 index slightly. The bluechip index closed up 12.13 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 6,766.77. Shire jumped 3.5 per cent to 3,660p, providing the biggest boost for [...]