Morrisons could cut dividend as earnings slump March 12, 2015 THE DAUNTING task facing the new boss of Morrisons was illustrated on yesterday when UK’s fourth biggest supermarket reported its lowest annual profit in eight years and warned investors it would cut its dividend. The profit slump, a third straight decline, reflects Morrisons’ decision last year to spend £1bn on price cuts over three years [...]
Analyst Views: How does the future look for Morrisons its under new leadership? March 12, 2015 DARREN SHIRLEY | SHORE CAPITAL Without material leasehold obligations compared to its peers, and a comfortable pension position, we see the group as being in a relatively favourable position to commence shareholder friendly initiatives in the medium to long term. Shore Capital reiterates our “buy” stance on Wm. Morrisons shares. DAVID STODDART | EDISON INVESTMENT [...]
Morrisons share price falls as it announces 23 store closures after losses mount and sales drop March 12, 2015 A bad morning for Morrisons. The supermarket announced it will close 23 stores and cutting its future dividend pay-out after reporting a large full-year loss and falling quarterly sales. Shares in the retailer opened one per cent down this morning. The trading environment is a tough one, Morrisons said, and it isn’t expected to get [...]
Apache Stronghold can land JLT under masterful Carberry March 11, 2015 BILL ESDAILE PREVIEWS THE JLT, PERTEMPS FINAL AND KIM MUIR STILL a relatively new race at the Cheltenham Festival, the JLT Novices’ Chase (1.30pm) is for those horses who need further than the two miles of the Arkle and less than the three and a bit miles of the RSA Chase. No horse fits that [...]
Tesco recovers from 18 months of slow sales March 10, 2015 TESCO has posted its strongest performance in 18 months, with sales up 1.1 per cent compared with 2014, according to industry data for the 12 weeks ending 1 March. The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel suggest that the major overhaul of strategy at the UK’s biggest retailer by new chief executive Dave Lewis [...]
Grocery price war continues: Tesco’s rebound hurts Asda as Aldi reaches record market share March 10, 2015 Tesco's return to growth is stealing market share from Asda, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel. The sector as a whole is still hugely competitive: the grocery price war has driven supermarket deflation to a record level of 1.6 per cent for the 12 weeks to March 1. Kantar estimated that this had [...]
Ocado sales jump 19.2 per cent as company says it expects to keep growing ahead of the curve March 10, 2015 The figures Ocado’s group sales jumped 19.2 per cent in the 12 weeks to 22 February, rising to £271.1m, from £227.5m during the same period last year. Meanwhile, retail sales were up a similarly impressive 15.2 per cent to £252.0m, two months after the company reported its first profit. Ocado said that on 22 February it had [...]
Morrisons to cut dividend and post lowest profit in eight years March 9, 2015 Morrisons is expected to signal lower dividend payouts on Thursday this week when the troubled supermarket chain is to report its lowest annual profit in eight years. The Bradford-based retailer has been hit hard by the fierce industry price war as all big four supermarkets battle it out to retain customers’ loyalty and fend off [...]
Shoppers likely to be pausing after 2014 spree – London Report March 9, 2015 BRITISH Retail Consortium (BRC) retail sales figures for February are likely to show shoppers took a pause after a spending spree in the fourth quarter of last year. The figures, due out overnight tonight, are forecast to follow similar data from the Confederation of British Industry, which showed softer spending in February. The CBI data [...]
Richard Gillingwater steps down from Morrisons board March 4, 2015 SSE chairman-to-be Richard Gillingwater has decided to step down from the board of Morrisons, the supermarket announced today. Gillinwater, who was appointed to the board just two years ago, will step down from the post at the next annual general meeting in June. Today, he alluded to the supermarket's recent struggles to compete with discounters. [...]