Ocado delivers a profit but sales growth slowing July 1, 2014 Shares in Ocado slid 4.3 per cent yesterday despite the online grocer moving into the black in the first half, paving the way for its first annual profit in its 13-year history. The company said pre-tax profits totalled £7.5m for the 24 weeks to 18 May, following a £3.8m loss last year, thanks [...]
Bottom Line: Ocado thinks above and beyond Morrisons July 1, 2014 Ocado has understandably been coy over the last year about its plans beyond its tie-up with Morrisons. Running the supermarket’s online groceries business was a leap into the unknown and both companies needed time to bed down. The challenging part was copying the online platform it used to run its own grocery business and creating [...]
London Report: Miners lead way as second half kicks off with a jump July 1, 2014 LONDON’S leading shares yester-day kicked off the month and the second half of the year on a positive note, as investors looked to a mixed bag of global manufacturing surveys. The FTSE 100 ended up 0.87 per cent at 6,802.92. The FTSE 100 is still 1.3 percent off its 2014 peak of 6,894.88 in May, [...]
As Ocado posts a half-year profit, will the business now go from strength to strength? July 1, 2014 Jonathan Jackson, a partner and head of equities at Killik & Co, says Yes. Ocado offers a unique way to play the expected strong growth in the UK online grocery market. The group offers investors the potential to benefit from its industry-leading intellectual property, built up over 13 years of investment in technology, to more [...]
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 [...]