Sainsbury’s share price falls after it posts first loss in a decade May 6, 2015 Nine years of uninterrupted sales growth came to a halt today as Sainsbury's reported a pre-tax loss of £72m. Investors were not impressed, and the grocer's shares were down 3.6 per cent to 264.8 pence this afternoon. The figures Sainsbury's said underlying profit before tax had fallen by 14.7 per cent to £681m in the year [...]
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 [...]
Morrisons share price edges up as it names former Tesco man David Potts as chief exec February 25, 2015 Shares in embattled supermarket Morrisons opened one per cent higher this morning, after it named its new chief executive: former Tesco Asia boss David Potts. The supermarket launched its search for new boss in January, after chief executive Dalton Philips announced his departure. The appointment is part of a fresh start for the company: chairman Andrew [...]
Surprise as UK inflation falls to zero for first time since current records began in 1989 March 24, 2015 Inflation fell to zero in February for the first time since current the current records began in 1989, moving Britain closer to deflation, official statistics showed today. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed prices didn't increase at all in February compared with the same time a year ago. The figure came [...]
Majestic Wine gets Naked truth from new CEO Rowan Gormley April 12, 2015 The new chief executive of Majestic Wine says he will “unleash” the retailer’s entrepreneurial spirit and shake-up its online business following the £70m acquisition of younger rival Naked Wines. Rowan Gormley founded Naked Wines in 2008 after coming up with the idea of using crowdfunding to help forward-fund independent vineyards in return for exclusive wines [...]
Zero inflation is the new normal: The world can’t evade its debts forever March 31, 2015 Zero inflation is trending. The consumer price index in the UK was at the same level in February as it was a year earlier. The reporting of this figure on the BBC website created some unintended amusement, however. The drop to zero, we were told, was “sharper than many analysts had expected”. And what was [...]
Nightmare on high street: How discounters stole Tesco’s market share December 19, 2014 Although at first glance any shift in the share of the grocery market seems slim, the changes that have taken place over the last two years tell an interesting story. It shows the gradual increase of smaller companies such as Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose at the expense of larger chains such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s [...]
Sainsbury’s share price dips despite sales falling less than expected March 17, 2015 The figures Shares in Sainsbury's were trading down 1.1 per cent at 265 pence per share in late-afternoon trade today. They had initially opened more than two per cent higher this morning. The supermarket announced like-for-like retail sales including fuel fell 3.9 per cent in the 10 weeks to 14 March on price deflation and greater [...]
Historic Tesco loss sparks share price slump: Dave Lewis has to move from “drastic” to “dynamic” April 22, 2015 2007: TESCO’S PEAK MARKET SHARE 31.7% MARKET SHARE MARCH 2015 28.4% Shares in Tesco slumped by five per cent yesterday after the retail giant capped a year of profit warnings, accounting scandals and fraud investigations by posting one of the biggest losses in corporate history. Britain’s biggest supermarket made a statutory pre-tax loss of £6.4bn [...]
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 [...]