Latest news with #JamesDavey
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
There is no UK supermarket price war, says Aldi boss
By James Davey LONDON (Reuters) -Britain is not in the midst of a supermarket price war despite some suggestions to the contrary, the boss of the UK arm of German discounter Aldi said, warning rivals his business still had "huge potential" for growth. In March, Asda, Britain's third largest grocer, boosted speculation of a price war, saying it would take a hit to profits to finance a campaign of price cuts aimed at reversing a slide in market share. The warning hit the shares of industry leader Tesco and number two Sainsbury's, which took account of Asda's move in their profit outlooks. But Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK, the number four player, said on Thursday there had been "more talk than substance". "There has been a lot of talk about a price war, I don't think that has manifested itself," he told Reuters in an interview, pointing to industry data showing grocery inflation hitting 4.1% in May, a 15-month high. "I'd probably call it more of a phoney price war than a real price war," Hurley said, maintaining that Aldi's price gap to rivals "is as big as it's ever been". Data from market researcher Kantar published on Wednesday showed Aldi UK's sales rose 6.7% over the 12 weeks to May 18, its fastest growth since the start of 2024, with its market share hitting a record 11.1%, up 30 basis points year-on-year. Aldi UK, owned by Germany's Aldi Sud, and rival discounter Lidl GB have expanded rapidly over the past two decades, transforming the supermarket scene. Aldi UK now has Asda, which has a 12.1% market share, in its sights, with the Kantar data showing Aldi now sells more food and drink than Asda. "While I'm delighted with the growth that we have, there's massive headroom for us," said Hurley. He said the group, which currently trades from 1,050 stores, would invest 650 million pounds ($875 million) this year opening 40 stores and refreshing existing ones. A further 40 openings are planned for 2026 and its long-term target is 1,500. ($1 = 0.7427 pounds) Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK supermarket Asda seeing 'green shoots' of recovery
By James Davey LONDON (Reuters) -The boss of British supermarket Asda said he was seeing "green shoots" of recovery after the group slowed the rate of its sales decline in its first quarter, helped by lower prices and better product availability. Asda, Britain's third largest food retailer after Tesco and Sainsbury's, said like-for-like sales in the four months to April 30, adjusted to include Easter trading, declined by 3.1% - an improvement on the 4.2% fall in the previous quarter. Asda said it had seen further improvements in May. "Although we are seeing the green shoots in sales performance, there is a long way to go," executive chairman Allan Leighton said on Thursday. Private equity firm TDR Capital, Asda's majority owner, brought Leighton back to the grocer in November, more than two decades after he served as CEO and turned the chain around before selling it to Walmart. In March, Leighton warned his plan to be 5% to 10% cheaper than rivals would "materially reduce" profit. His comment hit the shares of Tesco and Sainsbury's on fears of a price war. Asda said it had cut the prices of about 10,000 products, more than a third of its range, establishing a price gap of 3% to 6% over its full-service supermarket rivals. It said product availability had increased from 90% to 95% since January, while customer satisfaction had also improved. "People who've been in the industry a long time are amazed at the progress that we've made on availability in a relatively short period of time," Leighton told reporters. Industry data published Wednesday showed Asda's sales fell 3.2% over the 12 weeks to May 18 year-on-year, with the group's market share down 90 basis points to 12.1%. Market researcher Kantar said it was, however, Asda's best performance since May 2024. Sign in to access your portfolio
Zawya
21-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
M&S says cyber attack was result of human error
LONDON: The chief executive of Marks & Spencer said on Wednesday he could not comment on whether the retailer had paid a ransom in a cyber attack which has cost it about 300 million pounds ($402.39 million) and which he said was the result of "human error". ($1 = 0.7455 pounds) (Reporting by James Davey and Paul Sandle, writing by Sarah Young, editing by Catarina Demony)
The Star
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Britain's M&S says cyberattack to cost $400 million
FILE PHOTO: A sign warning of temporary delays with Click & Collect parcels stands at an M&S Food Hall in London, Britain, April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) -British retailer Marks & Spencer said on Wednesday last month's cyberattack would cost it about 300 million pounds ($403 million) in current year operating profit, before cost mitigation, insurance and trading actions. The attack on one of the biggest names in Britain, with 64,000 staff and 565 stores, sent shockwaves through the retail sector. It forced its online clothing operation offline, left some food shelves bare, and wiped over a billion pounds from the company's stock market value. ($1 = 0.7443 pounds) (Reporting by James Davey, editing by Paul Sandle)
The Star
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Cyberattack-hit M&S says food availability improving every day
FILE PHOTO: A logo of food and clothes' retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S) is seen at a branch in London, Britain March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) -British retailer Marks & Spencer said on Thursday food volumes flowing from its distribution centres to its stores were back to normal levels after product availability was hit by last month's cyberattack. "In chilled areas of our stores, customers can buy what they need, while in our grocery departments stock is now arriving in a more normal delivery pattern allowing stores to catch up from earlier disruption," it said. "Availability is therefore looking better every day." M&S first disclosed what it called a "cyber incident" on April 22. As systems were taken offline, product availability was impacted in stores across both clothing and home and food. On Tuesday, M&S said some personal customer information was taken in the hack. M&S did not update on when online clothing orders would resume. They have been suspended since April 25. (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Paul Sandle)
