Tesco strengthened its position as the leading grocer in the UK in
the last quarter, with sales growth more than twice that of its
nearest rival Asda. Upmarket retailer Waitrose also showed
excellent growth, while Morrisons continued...
Belgian retail group Colruyt this week reported
better-than-expected results for the 2003/04 financial year after a
predicted price war failed to materialise.
UK supermarket giant Waitrose has emerged as the favourite to pick
up the biggest package of Safeway stores from WM Morrison. It is
expected to buy up to 25 supermarkets for between £250 million
(€374m) and £300 million.
Wm Morrison plans to reduce prices on a further 2,000 Safeway
products over the next month as part of its move to slash prices
throughout the stores it acquired earlier this month.
With the takeover of Safeway finally completed this month, UK
supermarket group Morrisons is preparing for a busy 2004 of store
refits, closures and disposals. But at least it starts the new
financial year in good shape, with double...
With its takeover of Safeway finally completed, Morrisons now faces
the difficult task of integrating the two businesses and bringing
the profitability of Safeway's somewhat downmarket stores up to its
own high level.
Nearly a year after it was first announced, the takeover of Safeway
is now in its final phase following yesterday’s £3 billion updated
offer for the chain by Morrisons. But what effect will the takeover
have on the British retail...
Morrisons could make a new bid for the Safeway supermarket chain
before Christmas, beginning the final leg of a sale process which
has lasted nearly a year.
Philip Green's Trackdean Investments group has today confirmed that
it will not bid for the Safeway chain, leaving the way clear for
Morrisons to complete its takeover. The government's ruling that
only 53 Safeway stores...
Safeway, the UK food retail chain, has put 53 stores up for sale in
advance of the expected takeover of the chain by Wm Morrison. As
well as Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda, all of which lost out in their
bids to buy Safeway, offers have...
Philip Green could still try and spoil the party for Morrisons in
its bid to acquire Safeway. The retail entrepreneur this week asked
for updated financial information about Safeway, perhaps an
indication that he will still make...
With all the sound of fury over the Safeway takeover last week, an
excellent first half performance from the Co-op Group was all but
overlooked. But the group's highly successful focus on the
convenience store sector is a warning...
Two of the supermarket groups which were blocked from bidding for
the Safeway chain in the UK are considering taking legal action
against the draconian ruling which prevents them from bidding for
more than just a handful of the company's...
Tesco is set to benefit as much from the Safeway takeover as
Morrisons, the company which is actually buying the chain, snapping
up a number of unwanted stores, according to analysts at Goldman
Sachs. But the likely price war caused...
As expected, Morrisons is the only retailer allowed to bid for the
Safeway chain, with rival offers from Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda all
blocked by the UK government. But Morrisons' bid is unlikely to be
as high as it was in January,...
Philip Green, the British retail entrepreneur, has reacted angrily
to reports in the UK press over the weekend that his Trackdean
Investments company was no longer interested in bidding for the
Safeway supermarket group. The Competition...
Morrisons' business model would have a major beneficial effect on
sales and profits at Safeway if the Yorkshire-based chain emerges
as the eventual winner in the battle to acquire the troubled
company. Like-for-like sales growth...
Morrisons, the chain most likely to be given the all clear to bid
for Safeway, is thought to be considering reducing its offer in the
light of a weakening performance from Safeway over the last few
months. But with Safeway's...
Tesco and Sainsbury could seriously damage their credit ratings if
they were to proceed with a debt-funded acquisition of Safeway,
ratings agency Standard & Poor's has warned. Tesco is already
overstretched after expanding...
The Competition Commission has another month to decide which
retailer will be allowed to bid for Safeway, but UK consumers, it
seems, have already made up their minds. A recent poll by Mintel
showed that the good value for money strategy...
Safeway, the UK food retailer, has maintained sales and profits
during a difficult first quarter dogged by uncertainty over the
future of the chain. A resilient performance by the embattled
chain.
Britain's number two grocery retailer J Sainsbury has reported
full-year figures which show that it is steadily gaining ground on
arch rival Tesco. Store expansion and cost cutting programmes
helped lift pre-tax profits by 16.8...
The latest full year results for Safeway - probably the last before
the company is bought out by one of its rivals - were solid if
hardly spectacular, as the uncertainty over the future ownership of
the group took its toll on store...
Four of the five potential bidders for UK supermarket chain Safeway
have this week been presenting their cases to the Competition
Commission. The heads of Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda and Morrisons all
took at turn at highlighting why their...
The uncertainty over the future of the Safeway supermarket chain -
the focus of an intense bidding war by all its main UK rivals - has
taken its toll on results at the company, which is now cutting back
on its store refit programme.
Although it is the smallest company bidding for Safeway,
Yorkshire-based retailer Morrisons believes it has the strongest
reasons for buying its rival - not least because its business model
continues to bear fruit, as its strong 2002...
The six bidders for UK supermarket group Safeway have now become
five with the withdrawal yesterday of the US investment group KKR.
The remaining candidates, all of them retail specialists, now await
a decision from the regulators...
Comparing prices between stores is a tried and tested means of
stealing a march on competitors in the food retail business. But
the basis for these comparisons must be shown to be correct and not
misleading, as the advertising watchdog...
The local impact on competition, rather than the national market
share of each retailer, is likely to be the best way of assessing
the rival bids for Safeway, claims new research. But it also means
that a carve up of the Safeway business...
Only Morrisons can guarantee a better deal for both customers and
shareholders of Safeway because only its takeover bid would not
entail the break up of the Safeway group, claims Sir Kenneth
Morrison. Meanwhile, press reports suggest...
As expected, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has said it is
considering a bid for the UK's Safeway supermarket chain, and that
it is talking to the competition authorities about the implications
of such a bid. US...
The fate of Safeway, the UK's fourth-largest food retailer, still
hangs in the balance. An offer from smaller rival Morrisons was
accepted last week, but Britain's number two player, Sainsbury's,
has now trumped that...
Safeway, the oft-maligned UK retailer, has posted a good set of
interim results, an indication, it claims, that its much-needed
revitalisation programme is paying off. This programme will
continue in the second half, with more new...
Analysts in the UK are only interested in highlighting things that
will lead to speculation about a possible takeover, rather than
looking at the company's true financial performance, according to
Safeway's chief executive...
