Latest news with #ProjectFuture
Otago Daily Times
07-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
NZ Rugby reports $19.5m loss
NZ Rugby (NZR) has recorded a $19.5 million loss for the 2024 financial year. The result was announced at Thursday's AGM in Wellington; however the loss was offset by a record level of income and continued growth in revenue. World Cup winning All Black captain and NZR Chair David Kirk said that while the book loss of $19.5m was noteworthy, it should be recognised it was not a cash loss and should not detract from NZR's solid operational performance and pointed to the organisation's $174.5m in reserves. Foreign exchange hedging on sponsorship revenue and investment into revenue growth initiatives through New Zealand Rugby Commercial (NZRC) have resulted in the net deficit. The hedging impact resulted from the turbulence on global foreign exchange markets and a need to reclassify foreign exchange hedging contracts at the December 31 balance date. "Achieving a new high watermark of $285m income, healthy commercial revenue streams in what is a difficult international operating environment, and reinvesting into the game at all levels, are grounds for optimism. NZR retains an incredibly strong balance sheet which is vital for rugby in New Zealand and its ability to weather any major shocks," said Kirk. NZR CEO Mark Robinson admitted that further work was needed to achieve a sustainable financial model for rugby, but the organisation had continued to grow revenue while preserving its strong cash position. "Pleasingly, we continued to grow our commercial revenue, with strong results in sponsorship and matchday revenue, we retained our cash position and reserves, and operationally, delivered a near break-even result," said Robinson. "However, we are committed to working on a sustainable financial model for our game as this year's result again demonstrates that the high fixed-cost structure we live within is not sustainable, even as we grow our overall revenue. That work will step up in earnest this year." Robinson said the 2024 financial year saw a further tranche of investment into commercial revenue growth opportunities through NZR as part of the Project Future deal with Silver Lake. "In total $38m was tagged to use for future commercial initiatives, and in 2024 we drew down $11.7m to invest in NZR+ to continue to grow its reach and tell our stories. While this is about the long-term, we also believe this is generating positive commercial outcomes in the short-term."
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Asda sacks staff behind Mohsin Issa's IT upgrade disaster
Asda has launched a fresh round of job cuts as the grocer races to axe workers involved in a botched £800m IT upgrade that had been championed by co-owner Mohsin Issa. More than 200 employees have been sacked without consultation at the troubled supermarket, which is battling to cut costs as part of a radical turnaround plan. The latest departures were triggered as the retailer finally prepares to conclude a long-running process aimed at disentangling its technology systems from former owner Walmart. Hundreds of employees were hired to work on the three-year 'Project Future', which was championed by Issa and deemed 'mission-critical' to Asda's success. However, the project has been beset by problems and delays over the past year, recently leading Walmart to extend the completion deadline to help Asda swerve a multimillion-pound penalty. It marks the second round of redundancies in five months under Allan Leighton, the new chairman who was presented as a 'man of the people' in an interview last week. He swung the axe in January following Asda's worst Christmas trading performance since 2015, sacking 13 regional managers as part of an internal restructuring. This came after he also scrapped 10,000 staff bonuses, raising concerns over the impact on morale across the retailer's workforce. Questions may also be raised over the decision to again sack staff without any forewarning. Asda made 500 staff redundant without a consultation period last November, fuelling criticism from union chiefs who threatened to bring discrimination claims. Government rules typically require companies to carry out a 45-day consultation when dismissing 100 employees or more, although there is no suggestion Asda has broken any laws. Lord Rose, then Asda chairman, insisted at the time that no employee rules had been breached, instead claiming that it was the most 'humane way' to carry out the lay-offs. The latest job cuts have emerged as Asda continues to lose customers to rival supermarkets. Over the past year its market share has fallen from 13.7pc to 12.6pc. This faltering performance prompted Asda's majority owner, TDR Capital, to appoint Mr Leighton late last year. He was credited with turning Asda into a retail powerhouse during his first stint at the company in the 1990s, and he has since pledged to restore what he calls the 'Asda DNA'. However, he is already facing an uphill battle. The most recent trading figures from Kantar revealed sales at Asda dropped by 5pc in the four weeks to Feb 23 compared with the same period last year. This meant it was the only major grocer to suffer a decline in sales in February. In contrast, sales at Tesco grew by 5.8pc and Sainsbury's posted growth of 4.8pc. An Asda spokesman said: 'The majority of our operations have successfully transitioned to new systems as part of Project Future. For many teams the work is done and so it is natural that colleagues leave the project as the specific workstreams they are working on are completed or as their contracts finish.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
12-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Asda makes more job cuts after Mohsin Issa's botched IT upgrade
Asda has launched a fresh round of job cuts as the grocer races to axe workers involved in a botched £800m IT upgrade that had been championed by co-owner Mohsin Issa. More than 200 employees have been sacked without consultation at the troubled supermarket, which is battling to cut costs as part of a radical turnaround plan. The latest departures were triggered as the retailer finally prepares to conclude a long-running process aimed at disentangling its technology systems from former owner Walmart. Hundreds of employees were hired to work on the three-year 'Project Future', which was championed by Issa and deemed 'mission-critical' to Asda's success. However, the project has been beset by problems and delays over the past year, recently leading Walmart to extend the completion deadline to help Asda swerve a multimillion-pound penalty. Radical restructuring It marks the second round of redundancies in five months under Allan Leighton, the new chairman who was presented as a 'man of the people' in an interview last week. He swung the axe in January following Asda's worst Christmas trading performance since 2015, sacking 13 regional managers as part of an internal restructuring. This came after he also scrapped 10,000 staff bonuses, raising concerns over the impact on morale across the retailer's workforce. Questions may also be raised over the decision to again sack staff without any forewarning. Asda made 500 staff redundant without a consultation period last November, fuelling criticism from union chiefs who threatened to bring discrimination claims. Government rules typically require companies to carry out a 45-day consultation when dismissing 100 employees or more, although there is no suggestion Asda has broken any laws. Lord Rose, then Asda chairman, insisted at the time that no employee rules had been breached, instead claiming that it was the most 'humane way' to carry out the lay-offs. Falling behind the competition The latest job cuts have emerged as Asda continues to lose customers to rival supermarkets. Over the past year its market share has fallen from 13.7pc to 12.6pc. This faltering performance prompted Asda's majority owner, TDR Capital, to appoint Mr Leighton late last year. He was credited with turning Asda into a retail powerhouse during his first stint at the company in the 1990s, and he has since pledged to restore what he calls the 'Asda DNA'. However, he is already facing an uphill battle. The most recent trading figures from Kantar revealed sales at Asda dropped by 5pc in the four weeks to Feb 23 compared with the same period last year. This meant it was the only major grocer to suffer a decline in sales in February. In contrast, sales at Tesco grew by 5.8pc and Sainsbury's posted growth of 4.8pc. An Asda spokesman said: 'The majority of our operations have successfully transitioned to new systems as part of Project Future. For many teams the work is done and so it is natural that colleagues leave the project as the specific workstreams they are working on are completed or as their contracts finish.'
Telegraph
22-02-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Asda escapes fine despite missing deadline for £800m IT upgrade
Asda has been handed a reprieve by its former American owner Walmart after the struggling British grocer missed a crucial target for an £800m IT upgrade. The supermarket chain is understood to have swerved a penalty after Walmart agreed to push back the deadline for Asda to separate its computer systems from those of the US chain. Asda has been attempting to extract itself from Walmart's IT systems, untangling thousands of programmes responsible for checkouts, administration and payroll, in a race to avoid a penalty charge for continued use of the technology. The British supermarket was sold by Walmart in 2021 to private equity giant TDR Capital and brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa. It had been aiming to complete the changeover, named Project Future, by February. Earlier this year, industry sources warned that Asda risked millions of pounds worth of charges if it missed this target. However, Walmart and Asda are now understood to have come to a revised agreement, including scrapping the February deadline. It follows a series of setbacks for the project. Last March, a botched computing update led to thousands of workers receiving incorrect payslips. A second update went wrong later the same year, affecting thousands of orders for its George clothing range. The push to complete the changeover without causing further issues for customers has been regarded as critical for Asda, which is racing to stem a slump in sales. Figures from Kantar earlier this month showed that sales at the troubled grocer were down 5.2pc in the 12 weeks to Jan 28 compared with last year. It was the only major retailer to record a decline for the period, after a poor Christmas performance piled fresh pressure on its new chief Allan Leighton to kickstart a turnaround push. Project Future has been touted as 'mission critical' to Asda's revival plans. It was championed by Mohsin Issa, Asda's co-owner, who had been running day-to-day operations at the supermarket up until late last year. The company had signalled it was aiming to make sure it completed the work on time. Lord Rose, then chairman of the supermarket, last year told the Telegraph that there was 'an incentive for us to come off their system, but it's not meaningful in the company's profit and loss'. He said: 'At the end of the day, it is not £15m a week, but there is an incentive for us to finish this on time.' Lord Rose stepped back as chairman in November to be replaced by Asda's former chief executive Mr Leighton. The new chairman has claimed his focus will be on restoring 'Asda's DNA', setting out plans to cut prices and improve availability in stores. A spokesman for Asda said: 'We continue to make good progress delivering Project Future and have successfully migrated large parts of our business to brand-new systems. 'We will continue to take a pragmatic approach when delivering the remainder of the programme and Walmart continue to be incredibly supportive in every way in helping with the implementation.'
