Morrisons shares are buzzing on this takeover rumour February 12, 2014 Morrisons shares jumped over five per cent this morning on rumours that the founding family is planning to take the company private. According to Bloomberg, a number of private equity firms have been approached to see if any is interested in a buyout, which would be valued at over £7bn. Reported names include CVC Capital [...]
Grocery sales grow at slowest pace since 2005 February 11, 2014 BRITAIN’S grocery market is growing at its slowest pace since 2005, with only discounters as well as Waitrose and Sainsbury’s defying the downturn and growing market share. Figures out yesterday from Kantar Worldpanel showed that grocery sales rose by 2.4 per cent in the 12 weeks to 2 February compared with the same time last [...]
Ocado co-founder Jason Gissing offloads 3m shares worth £15m February 6, 2014 OCADO’S outgoing commercial director and co-founder Jason Gissing sold shares worth £15m on the day that the online grocer announced full-year losses of £12.5m. Gissing, who announced on Tuesday that he would be leaving the company, sold just over three million shares on the same day at 498.75p each, reducing his stake by 0.52 per [...]
Asda boss Andy Clarke’s 4 top leadership tips | City A.M. February 6, 2014 Speaking last night at the British Retail Consortium’s Future Retail Leader’s event, Asda chief executive Andy Clarke gave an account of his journey to the top – starting with the day he left school with just one O Level in English at 15. Realising he had spent too much time on the rugby pitch in [...]
Asda boss Andy Clarke’s 4 top leadership tips February 5, 2014 Speaking last night at the British Retail Consortium’s Future Retail Leader’s event, Asda chief executive Andy Clarke gave an account of his journey to the top – starting with the day he left school with just one O Level in English at 15. Realising he had spent too much time on the rugby pitch in [...]
Ocado founder Gissing to leave as sales increase February 4, 2014 OCADO’s Jason Gissing is to step down, leaving chief executive Tim Steiner as the only co-founder still at the grocer, which posted sales growth of 15 per cent yesterday. Despite growing revenues, the firm suffered a pre-tax loss of £12.5m for the year to 1 December, compared with £600,000 the previous year. The group said [...]
Bottom Line: Ocado profits set to come in the nick of time February 4, 2014 OCADO’S detractors are starting to wear a little thin. For three-and-a-half years – since its market debut in July 2010 at 180p – investors have mostly stuck around as the price fluctuated between 54p to recent record highs close to 10 times that. For the most part, the upward trajectory has been uninterrupted since Sir [...]
Sainsbury’s shares are jumping this morning. Here’s why February 4, 2014 Sainsbury’s shares have climbed over two per cent this morning after Bernstein Research upgraded the supermarket's stock this morning to ‘outperform’. Shares took a tumble last week after chief executive Justin King announced he's leaving. The initial five per cent drop (shares later stabilised) was a nod to King's performance – he's widely hailed for [...]
Co-founder of Ocado steps down as the company reports £12.5m loss February 4, 2014 Online grocer Ocado has suffered a pre-tax loss of £12.5m for the year ended 1 December, despite increasing sales growth and the company’s deal with Morrison's last year to supply a new online service. Gross sales rose by 15 per cent to £843m, with new customer acquisitions up over 40 per cent on 2012. Analysts [...]
City Moves for 4 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 3, 2014 Baker & McKenzie The law firm has announced the appointment of Julian Thurston as a consultant in its global pharmaceutical and healthcare industry group. He was most recently at Morrison & Foerster, where he was a consultant and partner specialising in commercial life sciences transactions. Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management Barbara Rupf Bee has joined DeAWM as head of [...]