Morrisons records 14th quarter of growth despite hit from political uncertainty May 9, 2019 Morrisons took a hit from British political uncertainty in the first quarter of the financial year, it revealed today, as its sales growth slowed to put it behind major rival Tesco. Excluding fuel, like-for-like sales grew 2.3 per cent in the quarter, Morrisons said, a slowdown from 3.6 per cent in the first three months of [...]
Sainsbury’s plans local supermarket expansion as it quits mortgage market September 25, 2019 Around 110 new Sainsbury’s Local stores will open up across the country, the supermarket announced today as it closed a swathe of stores and pulled out of the mortgage market. Weeks after reports emerged of a major shake up at Sainsbury’s Bank, the store confirmed that it would immediately stop new mortgage sales. It is [...]
Competition watchdog kills Sainsbury’s £7.3bn Asda merger: What went wrong? April 25, 2019 Almost a year to the day since Sainsbury’s first revealed that it was in merger talks with Asda, it has all come crashing down. In late April 2018 the two retail giants were losing market share to German discounters Aldi and Lidl, and the threat of Amazon moving into the grocery sector was very real. [...]
Travis Perkins accelerates plans to sell Wickes July 14, 2019 Builders merchant Travis Perkins has stepped up its plans for a £500m spin-off of DIY retailer Wickes. Travis Perkins has begun to prepare to demerge Wickes next year by separating the retailer’s IT systems from the rest of the group, the Sunday Times reported. Read more: Travis Perkins investors cheer first quarter sales growth The [...]
Tesco fraud trial: Carl Rogberg heart attack puts a stop to Tesco trial February 6, 2018 The fraud trial of three former Tesco executives has been discontinued after one of the defendants had a heart attack. Former Tesco UK finance director Carl Rogberg had a heart attack last Thursday, it emerged today. He is in hospital. He has been standing trial on charges of fraud and false accounting alongside former UK [...]
ii view: Sales retreat at Sainsbury’s July 8, 2019 By Keith Bowman from interactive investor. Tough comparatives have impacted results for this supermarket, but that is no surprise. First quarter trading for 16 weeks to 29 June 2019 Total sales down 1.2 per cent (excluding fuel) Like-for-like sales declined 1.6 per cent (excluding fuel) Grocery sales fell 0.5 per cent General merchandise sales down 3.1 per cent [...]
City Moves for 14 May – Who’s switching jobs at Aviva Investors, Freedom Finance and Amundi? May 14, 2019 Today's City Moves includes Aviva Investors, Freedom Finance and Amundi. Aviva Investors Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva, has announced the addition of Stephanie Niven as a named manager to the Global Equity Endurance Fund. She will work alongside Giles Parkinson, who has been manager of the fund since its launch in [...]
Sainsbury’s shares lifted by strong performance but hottest day fails to revive flagging grocery sales August 20, 2019 Sainsbury’s led FTSE 100 risers this morning following the news the supermarket had put in its strongest performance since November 2017. The supermarket put in the strongest performance of all the big four grocers, but still saw its market share slip 0.6 per cent over the past 12 weeks, according to Kantar data released this [...]
From Russia with kefir: How Biotiful Dairy sold a new drink to the British public March 2, 2020 How do you convince the British public to try a whole new food category, especially when it doesn’t sound very appealing at first glance? That was the challenge facing the Russian-born entrepreneur Natasha Bowes when she decided to try to start selling kefir in the UK. Kefir is a type of fermented milk drink made [...]
Morrisons in City spotlight for first-quarter results May 6, 2019 Investors will be hoping Morrisons can replicate recently-improved trading results from its supermarket rivals later this week when it looks set to extend a long spell of like-for-like sales growth. Read more: Morrisons granted permission for Supreme Court appeal over data ruling Following a largely better-than-expected financial performance from both Sainsbury’s and Tesco in recent [...]