Ocado says it is at forefront of food revolution February 3, 2015 Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said the “online grocery revolution” taking place will only help to further distance his firm from rivals and stay ahead of the market, as it posted its first ever full-year profit. The online grocer made an adjusted pre-tax profit of £10.1m in the year to 30 November compared with £3.8m [...]
Analyst Views: What was your reaction to Ocado’s full-year results performance? February 3, 2015 CLIVE BLACK | SHORE CAPITAL Ocado has worked out how to deliver baked beans, ice cream, Jaffa cakes and chipotle chillies without booking a bottom line loss. We welcome the passing over of this financial threshold by the group. However, we may need to remain patient for Ocado to deliver material earnings per share (EPS). [...]
Labour’s business woes: Industry leaders savage Ed Miliband’s attack on Boots boss February 3, 2015 Ed Miliband's decision to come out all guns blazing against Boots boss Stefano Pessina may have back-fired after a swathe of business leaders took to the media to condemn the Labour leader. Speaking yesterday at event for young voters, the Labour leader hit back at Pessina's claim that a Labour government would be a "catastrophe" [...]
Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner heralds “online grocery revolution” as firm records first full year profit February 3, 2015 Ocado has made its first full-year profit in the company's 15-year history The figures Pre-tax profit was £7.2m for the 12 months to 30 November, compared to a loss of £12.5m during the equivalent period a year earlier. Sales went up from £843m to £972.4m, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose [...]
UK economy starts 2015 in good health as rate setters meet – London Report February 1, 2015 CONSTRUCTION, manufacturing and services figures for January, due out this week, are expected to show a healthy economic start for the UK in 2015. Analysts expect all the numbers, based on purchasing managers’ surveys, to be up on December’s. The Bank of England is due to meet this week to set interest rates, with no [...]
Ocado outperforms its rivals during Christmas and sees sales rise 15pc January 14, 2015 ONLINE grocer Ocado yesterday announced that it had outperformed its traditional supermarket rivals over Christmas, adding it was confident about prospects in 2015 despite an escalating price war. The firm, whose range includes products supplied by upmarket grocer Waitrose, said sales growth in December continued at the rate it achieved in the final quarter of [...]
Ocado Christmas sales soar and looks ahead to first ever full-year profit January 14, 2015 Online grocer Ocado reported its customer fulfilment centres processed close to 40 per cent more items in the week to Christmas for Ocado.com and Morrisons.com than over the same period the previous year. On the company's biggest day in the run-up to Christmas sales climbed 15 per cent from 2013 to almost £6m. Gross sales [...]
Morrisons ousts boss after poor holiday season January 13, 2015 BRITAIN’S embattled grocery sector claimed its first casualty of the year after Morrisons sacked its chief executive Dalton Philips following poor Christmas sales. Shares climbed 4.5 per cent as the City welcomed the prospect of a new boss to revive the supermarket’s fortunes. Morrisons’ incoming chairman Andy Higginson said Philips has “had a good run” [...]
Inflation falling after price wars over Christmas – London week ahead January 11, 2015 CONSUMER price inflation figures for December, due out tomorrow, will shine a light on to what extent falling oil prices and intense retail competition have boosted spending power in the UK. Analysts says the fall in inflation is likely to have been tempered by the fact that there was more retail discounting than usual in [...]
FTSE tumbles on Tesco share price turmoil as banks take a hit – London Report December 9, 2014 Britain’s main equity index yesterday fell to one-month lows, hit by supermarket retailer Tesco’s fourth profit warning this year. Shares in Tesco at one stage fell as much as 17 per cent to their lowest in around 14 years, wiping some £2.6bn off the firm’s market capitalisation. It later regained some ground to close 6.6 [...]