Ocado slumps after grocery profits go off December 19, 2011 SHARES in Ocado took a battering yesterday after the online grocer warned that full-year profits would come in below expectations, due to problems at its main distribution centre in north London. The company, which sells goods from high-end supermarket chain Waitrose, said underlying earnings for the year would be within a range of £27.5m–£28.5m, down [...]
Delivery pioneer lacks capacity to grow December 19, 2011 EIGHTEEN months post float, and those distinctive delivery vans just aren’t looking so special anymore. Yesterday’s profit warning from chief executive Tim Steiner may have been expected at some point, but analysts clearly thought the company had some breathing room – now it’s going to be more under scrutiny than ever. And it’s not as [...]
CITY VIEWS: are you surprised by the slump at ocado? December 19, 2011 Nico Tyabji Bloomberg “I can see how Ocado didn’t do very well this year because of the difficult economic climate. I don’t use it although I shop at Waitrose – I find it hard to take the leap to an online service like Ocado.” Reza Kaci City Index “I remember Ocado has had trouble before, [...]
Santa rally looks unlikely as FTSE loses ground on very light volumes December 19, 2011 BANKS dragged the FTSE 100 lower in extremely light trade yesterday after the British government estimated the cost to banks of reforming the UK banking system could be as much as £8bn. London’s blue chip index was down 22.35 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,364.99, with volumes at just 67 per cent of their [...]
Banks hit by Vickers as North Korean leader dies December 19, 2011 The FTSE 100 was solid this morning but the festering Eurozone crisis continued to sap confidence in riskier assets and banks were down as the government confirmed that they would be hit with the full impact of the Vickers Report. But the agenda was dominated by the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, sparking [...]
Ocado issues profit warning December 19, 2011 British online grocer Ocado said its full-year earnings were on track to rise by at least a quarter after an easing of supply bottlenecks at its main distribution centre helped weekly deliveries hit a new record. But Ocado, which mostly sells the products of high-end supermarket chain Waitrose, said underlying earnings for the year to [...]
New chair for Trinity Mirror December 6, 2011 PUBLISHING group Trinity Mirror yesterday announced that Sir Ian Gibson will be stepping down as chairman in August 2012 to be replaced by accountant David Grigson (pictured), who will join the board as a non-executive director and chairman designate from 1 January. Grigson is currently the chairman of communications group Creston and a non-executive director [...]
Ocado running late more often December 4, 2011 ONLINE grocer Ocado has seen the punctuality of its deliveries slip in the face of increasing demand. The listed company, which sells Waitrose goods, is understood to have delivered 90-95 per cent of its shopping early or on time in the past three months, compared to an average punctuality rate of 95.5 per cent in [...]
Tesco kicks off price war September 22, 2011 TESCO has kicked off a price war with rivals, announcing that it plans to splash out £500m on dropping prices on 3,000 food items. In an aggressive attempt to outflank the competition, the supermarket giant has vowed to focus the campaign on cheap, everyday products and to scrap complex promotions in favour of across-the-board price [...]
Supermarket’s pricing war could put squeeze on Ocado September 21, 2011 TESCO is tipped to launch a price war next week, which one analyst says could put the squeeze on online deliver service Ocado under its pledge to match prices. The retailer was said by industry sources to be trying to dent Asda’s sales, but Ocado could be hit in the crossfire. Panmure Gordon’s Philip Dorgan [...]