Ocado cuts losses to £2.4m January 31, 2012 OCADO said warehousing problems that prompted it to issue a profit warning last month were largely solved as the online grocer posted a pre-tax loss of £2.4m for the year to the end of November 2011. In its second set of preliminary results since its flotation in 2010, Ocado said it had cut its losses [...]
Ocado sales growth picks up January 31, 2012 Online grocer Ocado posted a 27 per cent rise in underlying earnings, forecast first-quarter sales growth of about 10 per cent and said the rate of growth should improve as the year progresses and capacity improves. The group said Tuesday it made earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £27.9m in the year [...]
Patron saint of retailers says co-ops won’t work for everyone January 29, 2012 RESPONSIBLE Capitalism. Moral Markets. Whatever you call it, the debate raging around executive pay and “predator” business shows no sign of dying down. All political parties have tried to claim the issue as their own, but they have struggled to articulate what a fairer form of capitalism might look like. Enter John Lewis, the patron [...]
Founder Walker moving ahead in race for Iceland January 15, 2012 RISING concerns over competition laws could clear the way for Iceland Foods founder Malcolm Walker to take control of the supermarket once again. Walker, the chief executive, has moved ahead in the race because Iceland is believed to be worried that a deal with another retailer would not be approved by the Competition Commission. Last [...]
Ocado trading strong over festive period January 12, 2012 Online grocer Ocado reported a 16 per cent rise in sales in December, a slowdown from the 26.7 per cent posted a year ago, but said its focus on service and an absence of 2010’s snow helped it deliver nearly all orders on time. The company, which mostly sells the products of high-end supermarket chain [...]
Tesco loses market share in run-up to Xmas January 10, 2012 Britain’s biggest retailer, lost grocery market share in the run-up to Christmas as rivals fought back against its price-cutting campaign and cash-strapped shoppers flocked to discount stores, according to new data. Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said grocery sales rose 4.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to 25 December. That lagged a 5.9 per cent [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 9, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES RBS TO PRESS ON WITH BONUSES Royal Bank of Scotland is determined to press ahead with plans to pay out promised bonuses to investment bank boss John Hourican and other top staff, despite growing rhetoric from the government about excessive pay. RBS, which is 83 per cent owned by taxpayers, has long been [...]
Heston helps to boost Waitrose January 5, 2012 SUPERMARKET Waitrose said yesterday it had seen Christmas sales jump this year. The shops, part of the John Lewis Partnership, saw a 3.5 per cent jump in like-for-like grocery sales in December. In the week leading up to New Year, total sales rose by 9.7 per cent on last year. Among the big sellers were [...]
Margaret Thatcher’s legacy is that no-one tries to scrap what the Iron Lady achieved January 5, 2012 THIS isn’t a review of The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher and on general release in cinemas this week [For this, see p. 18]. I’m sure it’s a fine film and I’ll see it once I can scrape together the money from my dwindling pension for a pair of tickets and some [...]
John Lewis toasts “outstanding” Christmas sales January 4, 2012 High Street bellwether retailer John Lewis has said its sales throughout the Christmas period were “outstanding” at almost £600m. Sales rose 9.3 per cent to £596m in the five weeks to the end of December, compared with the same period in 2010, the owner of Peter Jones and Waitrose said. Like for like sales were [...]