Sainsbury’s dividend hit as profits plunge: Supermarket joins “horror show of income slashers” May 6, 2015 Sainsbury’s became the latest supermarket to take the knife to its final dividend yesterday, joining banks and oil companies in what analysts called a “horror show of income slashers”. Sainsbury’s said it will pay a full-year dividend of 13.2p per share, down 23.7 per cent on last year, after changing its policy in November [...]
Record grocery deflation hurts sales at Tesco, Asda and Morrisons and Sainsbury’s May 6, 2015 All four of Britain’s major supermarkets saw sales fall over the last 12 weeks, while the discounters continued to slow, as grocery price deflation reached another record low, figures released yesterday show. Sainsbury’s was the strongest performer among the big four despite a 0.2 per cent fall in sales thanks to its increased focus on [...]
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 [...]
Supermarket share: Rise of discounters Aldi and Lidl continues – although Sainsbury’s performs well May 6, 2015 Sales at discounters Aldi and Lidl grew 15 per cent and 10 per cent respectively in the past year, data published this morning shows. On the day Sainsbury's posted its first loss in 10 years, that's significant. More on this story: Sainsbury's reports its first loss in a decade The figures, published by Kantar Worldpanel, [...]
How Sainsbury’s, Tesco and even discounters Aldi and Lidl reined in property expansion plans and ended the supermarket turf wars May 6, 2015 In the never-ending quest for growth, for decades supermarkets held a major arsenal in their weaponry – land. But not any more. Sainsbury's today revealed it took a £682m writedown on its property portfolio in another sign the decades-long land grab by supermarkets has failed to pay off. Tesco's property writedowns run into the billions [...]
Wetherspoon is holding its own in the face of the supermarket price war May 6, 2015 It may be at a “great disadvantage” to supermarkets, but JD Wetherspoon still managed to report an increase in sales. The figures In an interim management statement, the company announced like for like sales were up 1.7 per cent in the 13 weeks to 26 April, and 3.6 per cent for the financial year to [...]
Aldi and Lidl expansion plans speed ahead of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda in supermarket wars with five times as many planning applications May 5, 2015 Rival German discounters continue to outpace the UK's "big four" in the supermarket wars with ambitious plans for expansion five times the rate of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and Asda combined. While Tesco and Morrisons have been forced to shutter stores in the midst of declining sales and squeezed margins, Aldi and Lidl have submitted plans [...]
Sainsbury’s braced for first loss in a decade as supermarkets move to downsize May 5, 2015 Battling with excess space and a revival at Tesco, Sainsbury’s is having to fight harder than ever. It is early on a weekday morning, and the first wave of customers are yet to arrive at Sainsbury’s revamped store in Wandsworth – its aisles stacked high with everything from garden furniture to Le Creuset-style saucepans [...]
Razor sharp: Will King talks moving on from King of Shaves, politics, a plan for Tesco and why we need Tinder for voting May 4, 2015 I came, I saw, I shaved, I died’ isn’t how I want to be remembered,” quips Will King. In 1993, he founded King of Shaves, the popular men’s toiletries brand. In frustration over the poor quality of his own products, he turned to his then-girlfriend’s bath oil for a smoother finish. The resulting businesses, including [...]
Dave Lewis admits long road ahead for Tesco recovery April 22, 2015 Tesco boss Dave Lewis admitted yesterday that he faced a larger task than expected turning around the struggling supermarket giant, as it reported the worst results in its 96-year history. Lewis – known as “Drastic Dave” for his radical overhaul of businesses at Unilever and now at Tesco – acknowledged that the task of turning [...]