Buffett ups his stake in Tesco to more than 3pc June 24, 2010 US investor Warren Buffett has raised his stake in British supermarket group Tesco to over three per cent, according to a regulatory statement published yesterday. Buffett’s investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway, has bought around two million shares in the world’s third biggest retailer to take its stake to 242m, or 3.02 per cent of the total. [...]
Budget brings down bank shares but delay in VAT rise gives retailers a boost June 22, 2010 WEAKER commodity stocks pulled Britain’s top share index lower yesterday, while retailers got a lift from the first emergency Budget from Britain’s new coalition government after an expected valued added tax rise was delayed. At the close, the FTSE was down 52.1 points, or 1.0 per cent, at 5,246.98, having hit its highest closing level [...]
Tesco buys Fresh & Easy suppliers June 21, 2010 Tesco has bought out the US operations of Wild Rocket Foods and 2 Sisters Foods, suppliers to its recently-launched Fresh & Easy business. The supermarket hopes to improve their performance and underscore its commitment to America.
Sainsbury’s supermarket to shuffle top jobs June 21, 2010 J SAINSBURY became the latest supermarket to shuffle its management team yesterday, in an attempt to cement its plans for long-term growth. The UK’s third-biggest grocer has promoted chief financial officer Darren Shapland to the post of group development director, overseeing business development and group strategy. Mike Coupe, currently trading director, will become the group’s [...]
Bookies take bets on CEO successor June 20, 2010 BOOKMAKERS are taking bids on who is likely to replace BP chief executive Tony Hayward, as uncertainty mounts over who will take the helm. Iain Conn, Bob Dudley and Doug Suttles are among some of the BP executives tipped on Irish book maker Paddy Power’s website, with odds favouring Conn, who is chief executive for [...]
Ocado to report a healthy sales drive June 20, 2010 THE online grocer, Ocado, aims to make its stock market debut by the middle of next month and is expected to make a formal announcement next week. The company has achieved soaring sales but has yet to make a pretax profit. Ocado hopes to achieve a valuation of £1bn and has appointed JPMorgan Cazenove, UBS [...]
The bike and car parts retailer who wants to own Britain on the move June 20, 2010 Halfords and its chief executive David Wild are having a good recession. Earlier this month, the bikes and car maintenance retail chain posted a strong set of full-year figures: pre-tax profits rose 42 per cent to £110m, while sales rose three per cent to £832m. The FTSE 250 business said the trend for healthy living [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 17, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES UGANDA TAX ROW DELAYS HERITAGE SALE OF OIL FIELD Uganda is insisting that Heritage Oil, the UK-listed oil explorer, must agree to pay $360m (£243m) in capital gains tax on the “super profits” it will make on a $1.35bn oilfields sale before it will sanction the deal. Uganda’s energy minister said the government [...]
Sainsbury’s sales grow at sluggish pace June 16, 2010 SAINSBURY’S followed its arch-rival Tesco in unveiling lethargic first quarter sales growth yesterday, weighed down by low food inflation and a challenging consumer environment. Like-for-like sales for the first quarter grew at their slowest rate in five years, just 1.1 per cent, excluding fuel sales, which jumped due to inflammatory oil price pressures. Including petrol, [...]
HOW DOES SAINSBURY’S PERFORMANCE COMPARE TO ITS PEERS? June 16, 2010 JAMES MONRO | S&P EQUITY RESEARCH “These results put Sainsbury’s in line with Tesco in terms of growth, adjusting for Clubcard sales, but we would have liked to see more given the benefit of two weeks of World Cup sales. But Sainsbury’s may need more margin investment to keep up with its rival over the [...]