Sales are strong at Asda but high fuel costs keeping shoppers away November 15, 2011 SUPERMARKET group Asda yesterday reported a pick up in third-quarter sales growth, helped by revamped own-brand food ranges and a pledge to be cheaper than rivals. Sales at stores open more than a year rose 1.3 per cent, excluding fuel and VAT sales tax, in the three months to September, Britain’s second-biggest supermarket group said [...]
Wm Morrison warns Xmas will be tough November 10, 2011 WM MORRISON chief executive Dalton Philips warned of “a very tough Christmas” ahead, with consumer sentiment at its lowest in a generation, as the group posted a rise in its underlying sales. Philips said “people were being very frugal” but he expected this to play to Morrison’s strengths, as it continues to outperform it rivals [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW HAS MORRISONS FARED COMPARED TO ITS RIVALS? November 10, 2011 CLIVE BLACK | SHORE CAPITAL Morrison’s provides the market with the first official indication of supermarket trading momentum since Tesco UK introduced its ‘Big Price Drop’. Total sales from the Bradford based group…seem to have weathered the price cutting storm reasonably well with ex-fuel, ex-VAT sales up by 4.6 per cent. DAVE MCCARTHY | EVOLUTION [...]
Markets choppy on Eurozone fears November 10, 2011 The FTSE 100 opened down today as Italy’s deepening debt crisis threatened to topple the Eurozone and plunge the world economy into uncharted waters. The cost of borrowing on Italian government bonds jumped to seven per cent yesterday — a level considered unsustainable by economists. Italy today launches an auction of as much as €5bn [...]
Morrisons sales at top end of forecasts November 10, 2011 Wm Morrison confirmed its position as the fastest-growing of Britain’s top four supermarket groups on Thursday with a rise in third-quarter sales driven by a focus on fresh foods and low prices. The fourth-biggest grocer behind J Sainsbury, Wal-Mart’s Asda and market leader Tesco said sales at stores open a year rose 2.4 per cent [...]
Labour’s plan for business: Government should unite profit with social purpose November 9, 2011 WHEN private equity firm NPM Capital and the current management bought out a sleepy Dutch carpet manufacturer called Desso in 2007, they were seeking to do what all successful investors do: to find a gap in the market from which they could profit. And profit they have. Following the buy out, Desso’s market share rose [...]
Prices tumble at UK’s stores November 8, 2011 PRICE wars between supermarkets are driving down the cost of food and other items, as stores fight for the attention of increasingly squeezed shoppers. Food was half a per cent cheaper last month than in September, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed this morning. Tesco has been pushing its “Big Price Drop”, while Asda’s “Price [...]
Here is the Next step for Marks & Spencer to take November 8, 2011 TWENTY years ago, the UK was in recession and Marks & Spencer had just changed its boss: some things never change. Under Rick Greenbury, M&S went on to have a good 1990s, before over-expansion led to the inevitable and painful correction, under a new management team. Twenty years on, the competition is much tougher and [...]
UK’s economic outlook reveals unsightly view November 7, 2011 ACCOUNTANCY firm BDO joins an ever-growing group warning that the UK’s economy is on the cusp of recession. In its latest business trends report, optimism levels came in below the crucial 95.0, for the first time since July 2009, for both the manufacturing and services sectors. BDO partner Peter Hemington says: “Businesses’ hiring intentions point [...]
GREECE SKIRTS SLIP AS EYES ROAM TO ITALY November 7, 2011 YESTERDAY saw the removal of some of the political uncertainty that has dogged Greece over the past week. A new coalition government is to be formed, Papandreou is standing down as Prime Minister and a general election is expected early next year. All this should be enough to ensure that Greece receives its next bailout [...]