Latest news with #ClaytonDubilierRice
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Morrisons has 'bounced back' from cyber attack, says boss
The chief executive of supermarket chain Morrisons has hailed the group's recovery from a cyber-attack. Rami Baitiéh said the grocery firm had 'bounced back strongly' since its technology provider, Blue Yonder, suffered a ransomware incident last November. Morrisons constructed a new warehouse management system to maintain its stock levels after the hack badly disrupted its operations. Its like-for-like revenue growth subsequently slowed to just 2.1 per cent in the quarter ending 26 January, compared to 4.9 per cent over the prior three months. However, the Bradford-based retailer reported that its comparable turnover increased by 3.9 per cent in the 13 weeks ending 27 April, while total sales expanded by 4.2 per cent to £3.9billion. Morrisons also revealed that its first-half underlying earnings before nasties climbed by 7.2 per cent to £344million. The group, which is owned by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, opened 42 franchise sites during the period, taking the overall number of Morrisons Daily convenience outlets to above 1,700. Alongside this, it began trials of several in-store schemes, introducing a new World Foods offer and a revamped fresh food counter concept, Market Street, that more closely resembles a farm shop. Baitiéh said: 'Against the backdrop of a challenging macro environment, with inflation driving subdued consumer sentiment, value remains at the forefront of customers' minds. 'Throughout the first half, we've worked hard on helping customers through these challenges with a rigorous focus on price, promotions and meaningful rewards for loyalty.' Morrisons further announced that it had raised its cost savings target to £1billion after surpassing its initial £700million goal during the last quarter. The company unveiled the original cost-cutting target two years ago to help finance price reductions for consumers struggling with inflationary pressures, caused mainly by soaring energy bills and supply chain disruptions. As part of these plans, Morrisons declared its intention in March to shut over 50 cafes, four pharmacies, multiple convenience stores and florists, and dozens of counters serving meat, fish, or hot food. About 365 jobs are at risk of permanent redundancy due to the closures, with the majority of those affected working in the convenience stores. Morrisons exited the convenience market in 2015 after selling its M local sites, but returned to the sector just months later with the launch of its Morrisons Daily brand. It currently holds an 8.4 per cent share of the UK grocery market, according to recent data from market research organisation Kantar.
Times
9 hours ago
- Business
- Times
Morrisons sales bounce back after cyberattack
Morrisons has hailed a bounce back in quarterly sales after a cyberattack disrupted trading earlier this year. The UK's fifth-largest supermarket, owned by the US private equity company Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, said like-for-like sales rose 3.9 per cent in the second quarter. That marks an improvement from 2.1 per cent growth in the previous quarter, when a ransomware attack at its supply chain software provider Blue Yonder severely disrupted product availability and forced price cuts across some lines. Total sales rose 4.2 per cent to £3.9 billion in the three months to early June and underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) climbed 7.2 per cent to £344 million for the first half of its financial year. The company does not disclose pre-tax profits. Rami Baitiéh, who joined Morrisons in 2023 with a mandate to revitalise the business, said the supermarket had 'bounced back strongly' from the cyberattack despite operating in a 'challenging macro environment'. Morrisons, which has about 500 supermarkets and some convenience stores, has struggled since it was bought by Clayton Dubilier & Rice in 2021 in a deal that added £6.6 billion of debt to its balance sheet. Since his arrival in 2023, Baitiéh has focused on improving in-store execution, simplifying product ranges, enhancing fresh food displays and refreshing Morrisons' shop environment to improve customer perception. 'Value remains at the forefront of customers' minds,' he said. 'Throughout the first half we've worked hard on helping customers through these challenges with a rigorous focus on price, promotions and meaningful rewards for loyalty.' Morrisons' More Card loyalty scheme has been a key part of this strategy, offering deeper discounts and personalised offers to attract price-sensitive shoppers amid high food inflation and dampened consumer sentiment. The supermarket also said that it had made strong progress on trials in its branches aimed at enhancing the shopping experience. These include a revamped 'market street' area with farm shop-style merchandising and a more curated range of added-value products, alongside a new world foods section designed to improve the appeal to diverse customer bases. Early customer feedback had been very positive, the company said. It is ramping up its presence in the convenience sector and opened 42 new franchise-owned Morrisons Daily shops in the quarter. That brings the total number of convenience sites to more than 1,700, an increase of 120 year-on-year, and further expansion is planned. Jo Goff, chief financial officer, noted 'broad-based progress' across the business. Cost savings are also on track, according to the company: it said that £58 million had been made in the quarter and more than £700 million had been achieved to date. The supermarket raised its cost-saving target to £1 billion by the end of 2026. To sharpen its retail operations, Morrisons said it had signed a new partnership with a global analytics provider to mine commercial insights from its data. The aim is to improve pricing, promotions and range decisions at a time when competition among grocers remains intense.
Reuters
12 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
UK supermarket Morrisons' sales growth picks up in 'challenging' market
LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - British supermarket group Morrisons said sales growth improved in its second quarter after trading was dented in the previous quarter by the impact of a cyberattack at its technology provider. The UK's fifth largest grocer, which has been owned by U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice since 2021, said on Thursday its like-for-like sales rose 3.9% in its quarter to April 27, having been up 2.1% in the first quarter. "Morrisons has bounced back strongly from the disruption of the Blue Yonder cyber attack in November 2024," Chief Executive Rami Baitiéh said. Against the backdrop of a "challenging macro environment", he said the grocer benefited from a focus on price, promotions and rewarding customer loyalty. "With inflation driving subdued consumer sentiment, value remains at the forefront of customers' minds," he said. UK food prices rose by 4.4% in the 12 months to May, the biggest increase in over a year, official data showed on Wednesday.
Times
16 hours ago
- Business
- Times
Business live: Bank of England expected to keep interest rates at 4.25%
What a difference an hour makes. Earlier this morning, futures were pointing to the FTSE 100 opening 10 points higher. Now they are pointing to the index opening 30 points lower. Investors are wary about the conflict in the Middle East and the Bank of England's interest rate decision at noon. The pound is weaker against the dollar at $1.3402, down 0.12 per cent. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Morrisons will deliver its second-quarter trading update later this morning, Isabella Fish, Retail Editor, writes. The UK's fifth-largest grocer, owned since 2021 by the American private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, reported like-for-like sales growth of 2.1 per cent in the three months to January 26, having risen 4.9 per cent in the previous quarter. The grocer blamed the sharp slowdown in sales in the first quarter on a ransomware attack in November at Blue Yonder, its supply chain management software provider, which affected product availability and forced it to cut prices on some items. Morrisons can ill afford any further setbacks as it undergoes a turnaround under Rami Baitiéh, its chief executive, who joined in 2023. Hays: The FTSE250 recruiter has warned that it expects to pre-exceptional operating profit to be about £45 million for the year to the end of June. Analysts had forecast profits of £56.4 million. 'Activity levels during our fourth quarter have reduced sequentially driven primarily by broad-based weakness in permanent markets globally, reflecting low levels of client and candidate confidence as a result of macroeconomic uncertainty. Temporary and contracting activity continues to be more resilient,' the company said. Vodafone: The FTSE 100 telecoms company has appointed Pilar López as chief financial officer. The Microsoft executive will join in October 2025. Vodafone announced in May that Luka Mucic, the current finance chief, was leaving to lead Germany's largest landlord. Revolution Beauty: Mike Ashley's Frasers Group has abandoned its bid to take over the struggling cosmetics business, which has put itself up for sale. Frasers had said this month that it was considering a bid for Revolution. The Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 4.25 per cent to give it time to see if the economy and inflation continue to weaken amid a possible inflation shock from the Israel-Iran conflict. Inflation cooled slightly in May to 3.4 per cent after a jump in April because price growth in the services sector, closely watched by the monetary policy committee (MPC), had dropped sharply. Wage growth has slowed, however, the job market is weaker and the economy shrank in April. Economists expect the nine-member MPC to vote 7-2 to hold borrowing costs when the decision is released at noon. Beyond today's meeting, investors think the Bank could lower rates one or two more times across the remaining four gatherings that will take place before the end of the year. The FTSE 100 is forecast to open 10 points higher, with investors wary over the possible entry of the United States into the Israel-Iran conflict. President Trump kept the world guessing about whether America would join Israel's bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites, saying at the White House yesterday: 'I may do it. I may not do it.' The Wall Street Journal said Trump had told senior aides he approved attack plans on Iran but was holding off on giving the final order to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear programme. Overnight, Israel's military said it was carrying out new strikes on Tehran and Iranian missiles hit a hospital in southern Israel. In Japan the Nikkei sank 0.8 per cent, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 1.7 per cent and Taiwan's Taiex declined 1.6 per cent. The oil price rose 0.5 per cent to £77 a barrel and the gold price and the dollar strengthened. Wall Street is closed today for a holiday. How can the UK become a more attractive place for international investors? How can we encourage UK savers to invest more in the economy? What can the Labour administration do to attract the capital it needs for its ambitious plans? Those questions will be top of the agenda this morning when UK business leaders, investors and senior politicians gather for The Times CEO Summit. Executives from KKR and Blackstone, two of the UK's biggest foreign investors, and a senior government minister will discuss investment in the country. The skills we need in an era of AI and hybrid working will be discussed on a panel that includes Alison Brittain, chair of the Premier League, Kenton Jarvis, chief executive of easyJet, and Dame Carolyn McCall of ITV. Richard Fletcher, Business Editor, will talk to Amanda Blanc, chief executive of Aviva, about her turnaround of the insurer and her plans following the £3.7 billion acquisition of rival Direct Line. You can follow the summit on this blog, @TimesBusiness on Twitter or the hashtag #TimesCEOSummit.
