Ocado delivers mixed results July 10, 2018 Ocado revealed a mixed set of first-half results. Revenue rose by 12.1 per cent to £799 million, while EBITDA slipped by 13.9 per cent to £38.9 million. When you factor in depreciation, amortisation, impairments and net finance costs the company swung to a loss of £9 million. The CFO expects the full-year pre-tax loss to [...]
Mastercard and Visa lose battle with supermarkets over debit and credit card charges July 4, 2018 Mastercard and Visa have lost the latest round of an ongoing legal battle with a conglomerate of supermarkets after a court found their card charges were too high and had breached competition rules. The two credit card giants had been accused by a number of retailers of charging overly high fees – known as interchange [...]
Billionaire hedgie Crispin Odey looks to boot out bosses at struggling Tungsten July 1, 2018 Billionaire hedgie Crispin Odey is leading a charge to overhaul the board of beleaguered digital invoicing firm Tungsten. A notice from Tungsten confirmed that Odey Asset Management had demanded a shareholder vote to remove the company's chair Nicholas Parker, as well as chief exec Richard Hurwitz and two non-executive directors. The requisition aims to appoint [...]
Pub giant Marston’s signs five year deal with leading US craft brewer Founders Brewing Company June 26, 2018 UK pub giant Marston’s has made a distribution deal with an American craft brewer as it looks to corner a growing market for independent beer. Marston’s, which owns chains such as Pitcher & Piano and Two For One, will be hoping that the five-year deal with Founders Brewing Company will help the firm recover from [...]
Sainsbury’s sales dip while Ocado and Lidl gain in latest grocer data June 26, 2018 Sainsbury's was the only supermarket to see a decline in sales during the 12 weeks to 17 June, new data shows. Sales slipped by £10m compared to the same period last year, bringing its market share down to 15.6 per cent, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Tesco, Asda and Morrisons also all lost market share despite [...]
Asda ranked worst big supermarket for treatment of suppliers while Iceland comes last overall June 25, 2018 Asda ranks lowest among the big four supermarkets for treatment of suppliers, according to the regulator's annual report released today. Out of all 10 grocers assessed by the Groceries Code Adjudicator survey, Iceland ranked last and the Co-op was second from the bottom. Some eight per cent of Asda suppliers reported that the supermarket "rarely" [...]
M&S should look at a tie-up with Amazon, says former digital boss June 20, 2018 A former Marks & Spencer digital boss has said that the retailer should consider a tie-up with Amazon. Amazon has been making aggressive moves into the UK’s retail sector through its acquisition of Whole Foods and a tie-up with Morrisons. It even talked to the John Lewis Partnership about a potential takeover of Waitrose, but [...]
Iceland Food rules out deal with Amazon as Food Warehouse attracts new customers June 15, 2018 Iceland's boss has ruled out a deal with Amazon, telling City A.M. that "we don't want anything to do with them". The retailer reported steady sales growth this morning, as it eyes expansion into sites left vacant by the recent wave of store closures and grows its online business. But managing director Tarsem Dhaliwal said [...]
Ocado’s tech prowess must be celebrated May 18, 2018 It took a mega deal with a US grocer for Ocado to prove that it’s no basket case. The online grocer saw shares soar more than 80 per cent during trading yesterday after it announced that Kroger, one of the world’s biggest grocery chains with annual sales of $122bn (£90bn), will now use Ocado’s technology to [...]
Morrisons could pay 40 per cent of legal costs in data breach case if upcoming appeal fails May 17, 2018 Morrisons has been ordered to pay 40 per cent of claimant legal costs if it loses an appeal in the ongoing case over a massive data leak by one of its employees. Morrisons is currently fighting a landmark data breach case in which it was found vicariously liable for the actions of disgruntled employee Andrew [...]