Analyst Views: What do you think of the strategy announced by Sainsbury’s? November 12, 2014 NICLA DI PALMA | BREWIN DOLPHIN What disappoints us is that management did not take a more aggressive stance with closing underperforming stores. Instead, Coupe will try to increase the non-food offer and possibly introduce some concessions. Management is loath to shrink, although we believe they could have taken the extra step. DARREN SHIRLEY | [...]
March of the discounters: Sainsbury’s share price rises as it promises £150m price cuts November 12, 2014 Newly-installed Sainsbury's chief executive Mike Coupe has taken the bull by the horns, promising a £150m "investment" in price cuts in order to compete with increasingly powerful discounters such as Aldi and Lidl. Investors were clearly impressed: shares rose four per cent as the market opened. The supermarket posted results showing its worst first-half performance [...]
Aldi to hire 35,000 new staff for expanding discount drive November 10, 2014 GERMAN discounter Aldi is to create 35,000 new jobs and employ up to 1,000 apprentices as it continues to expand its presence in the UK, the company announced yesterday. During a visit from the Prime Minister David Cameron to the chain’s headquarters in Atherstone, Warwickshire, Aldi reiterated its commitment to increasing the number of stores [...]
Countdown star Rachel Riley helps Edwina Dunn launch Stem career push November 10, 2014 Putting her Tesco Clubcard days well and truly behind her, Edwina Dunn, co-founder of Dunnhumby, launched Your Life – a campaign to advocate for the importance of Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects for school children, in Google’s Holborn den yesterday. The tech giant’s trendy neon signage and cool “coffee-trike” doling out [...]
Tesco wins court battle against Sainsbury’s over Price Promise November 10, 2014 SAINSBURY’S claim that Tesco’s Price Promise campaign was unlawful and like comparing “apples with pears” has been thrown out by a High Court judge. Sainsbury’s complained that, when applied to Tesco’s own label products and fresh food, the price comparisons were misleading, unfair and unlawful. The promise involves a pledge to match Sainsbury’s, Asda and [...]
Soaring Tesco helps FTSE but Serco plummets – London Report November 10, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index yesterday advanced to a five-week high as investors bought into the consumer staples and retail sectors, with ailing supermarket group Tesco leading the gainers. The stand-out mover of the day, however, was mid-cap services outsourcer Serco, whose shares fell 32.2 per cent to 215p after saying it planned a rights issue [...]
Sainsbury’s loses clash of the titans as its challenge over Tesco’s Price Promise is thrown out November 10, 2014 Tesco can breathe a sigh of relief – Sainsbury's claim that its Price Promise campaign was unlawful and like comparing “apples with pears” has been thrown out by a High Court judge. Sainsbury's had complained that, when applied to Tesco's own label products and fresh food, the price comparisons were misleading, unfair and unlawful. [...]
Fuel group calls for full inquiry into secretive petrol pricing process as oil continues to decline November 10, 2014 CAMPAIGN group FairFuel UK warned yesterday that petrol prices were not guaranteed to fall in tandem with the decline in benchmark oil prices. Brent crude dropped to a four-year low of $82 last week, and Asda, Morrison’s and Tesco all responded with a similar downward adjustment. This follows a call from chief secretary to the [...]
Sainsbury’s eyes dividend cuts as profits set to fall November 10, 2014 Spending cuts, including a reduction in its dividend, are tipped to be on the agenda for Sainsbury’s on Wednesday as the supermarket prepares to rein in costs along with its first-half results. Analysts expect chief executive Mike Coupe will reveal a disappointing 12.5 per cent fall in profits to £350m for the period, as the [...]