Not the most exciting share, but with safeway conversion now complete (and how much better the old safeway stores are now) the shares should start to come back. Already started a nice rise from a recent low. Costs for conversions will still hold the price back but when that is out of the way, should be be nice. 190p

StockMarketWire.com
The supermarket group, Morrison, failed to win total support for its directors' remuneration report at its annual general meeting today.

Shareholders representing 5.11% of the issued share capital voted against the adoption of the report.

..Sir Ken's fears over Morrisons strategy

By Harry Wallop | Telegraph – 1 hour 12 minutes ago

Sir Ken Morrison, the former chief executive of Morrisons, has warned that the retailer’s management team risks losing touch with its customers if it continues to take the shops too upmarket.

Sir Ken, who ran the supermarket business for 55 years, said he was confused over what the current management team was trying to achieve.

He told The Sunday Telegraph : “Morrisons was a company with very clear objectives. Those objectives now are just a little bit more difficult to perceive. You can’t compete with everybody.”

His criticisms will have bite because the company is experiencing a serious wobble in its sales growth and market share. In May it said its underlying sales had fallen for the first time since the departure of Sir Ken in 2004.

Sir Ken said he had no desire to criticise Dalton Philips, the chief executive, adding: “This isn’t personal.”

Mr Philips has pushed the company further south, into convenience stores and introduced various upmarket elements into its new supermarkets. These include more fresh produce such as samphire, five types of chilli, purple potatoes and bottles of fine wine costing upwards of £20.

Sir Ken said: “I’d agree they look more like Waitrose than like Asda (NYSE: WMT - news) . And if that’s what you are looking at and trying to achieve that’s fine.”

He added: “You’ve got to be careful. The public enjoy value. Good value is not simply the price of something.”

Sir Ken was talking a day after he made a public appearance at the supermarket’s annual general meeting. He is no longer a direct shareholder, but is life president and trustee of a trust that holds over 5pc of the company.

He told the AGM: “I believe we are witnessing the creation of a new Safeway (NYSE: SWY - news) with all the inherent problems. I believe the company is preoccupied with many other activities and I fear neglecting the core business is dangerous.”

The disastrous takeover of Safeway (Xetra: 878922 - news) in 2004 led to a string of profit warnings before managers turned things around.

Sir Ken joined Morrisons, which was started by his father William, in 1952 when it was a single market stall in Bradford. He floated it in 1968 and maintained an unbroken record of growing sales and profits until the Safeway deal.

..

Not a big price drop on the day, but Wm Morrison shares fell 3.2p, or 1%, to 265p. It's the latest in a long slide that has seen the price fall around 19% so far this year.

Today's cause was the resignation of finance director Richard Pennycook, who was widely seen as a strong guiding hand. Mr Pennycook has failed to land the top job at the company twice now, so it's perhaps not surprising that he has gone looking elsewhere. But coming at a time when it looks like supermarket growth has stalled in the UK, is it bad news for the sector?

Questor/Telegraoh: Sell

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/questor/9355527/Questor-share-tip-time-to-head-for-Morrison-checkout-amid-strategy-doubt.html

On the corporate front, supermarket chain Morrisons reports interim figures on Thursday, which broker Jefferies thinks "are likely to bear the scars of weather challenges".

Nevertheless, "self-help and ROCE [return on capital employed] discipline remain powerful attractions (the latter likely to lead to even greater capex [capital expenditure] scrutiny)," the broker suggests.

"We anticipate self-help to have allowed for broadly unchanged underlying EBIT [earnings before interest and tax] margin (or a slight decline including the dilution from petrol sales). Crucially, we still forecast 8% H1 EPS [first half earnings per share] growth as buyback activity starts to reward shareholders," Jefferies added.

"We expect Morrisons to outline good progress in its M-local trials and the preparation of a wider non-food online roll-out. Performance in the new fresh format is also likely to be reassuring in more affluent catchments. Despite this, we expect Morrisons' focus on maintaining industry-leading ROCE to likely result in reducing capital intensity (at this stage we estimate a £1.05bn peak in 2012/13), as the group balances a challenged trading backdrop with new growth opportunities, extending vertical integration and a stepped-up Southern expansion," Jefferies said.

Interim Results

Steady progress in a challenging environment

Financial summary

· Turnover up 2.3% to £8.9bn (11/12: £8.7bn)
· Like-for-like sales (ex-VAT and fuel) down 0.9% (11/12: up 2.2%)
· Underlying profit (2) up 1% to £445m (11/12: £442m)
· Underlying earnings per share up 10% to 13.09p (11/12: 11.91p)
· Profit before tax £440m (11/12: £449m)
· Interim dividend up 10% to 3.49p (11/12: 3.17p)
· Net debt of £1,680m (11/12: £1,055m), after equity retirement of £628m
· Gearing of 32% (11/12: 20%)

Operating and strategic highlights

· Fresh Formats now in 45 stores: on track for over 100 stores this year
· M savers fastest growing own label value brand with sales up 40% (3)
· Catalina voucher at till system launched
· Good progress on expanding manufacturing capability: integration of Winsford fresh meat facility on track; fresh seafood site in Grimsby operational
· Online to launch in H2, with Morrisons Cellar wine range
· M local convenience format to launch in London supported by our new Convenience Distribution Centre
· Financial discipline maintained through rephasing of planned investment in new stores: £100m reduction in capital expenditure
· Awarded Grocer of the Year and Employer of the Year (4)

Like for like sales drop, not good.

but underlying profit up - which is good

Dalton Philips CEO. just been on R4, seemed pretty chipper.

markets seem to like the results so obviously better than expected and/or the prognostications ..... haven't held any for a while

.

I also have not held MRW for a while, results reasonable but replaced equity for debt it seems, which I suppose is great if you are upper management, not encouraged to buy yet,(currently 291.55p) but good luck all holders.
2517

It need to get to £3 to be back in the trading channel.

You might be surprised to hear it, but Wm Morrison Supermarkets is trading close to its 52-week low. The shares hit their lowest point of 261p in June before recovering, but they have slid back again and went as low as 267p on Tuesday before pulling up a little. We know that Tesco is still depressed from its poor Christmas season, but why is Morrison struggling?

It's hard to say, as the City is forecasting a rise in earnings per share for the full year to January 2013, with a near 4.5% dividend on the cards rising to 4.8% for the following year. If that doesn't make a forward price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 10 look cheap, I don't know what does.

also noticed dc and bought a few at 268p wait and see if theres a run up over the next month. also back in tesco and in profit.,.

Good luck Bb. :-))

While investor attention seems to be drawn to Tesco there are other opportunities in the UK supermarket sector.

In the last five years, Morrison's has increased its dividend from 4.0p per share to 10.7p per share. That's an average compound annual growth rate of 21.7%, while eps has increased an at average of 25.6% per annum.

Despite this, Morrison's shares trade on just 10.3 times 2012 earnings. With 5% growth forecast for 2013, this falls to just 9.9 times.

That's not expensive for a successful blue chip.

However, it would be foolhardy to dismiss investor worries in the sector. When even the market leader (Tesco) is struggling, it is natural to worry whether pain may be on the way for the rest. The most recent Kantar Worldpanel survey of the industry revealed Morrison's had lost market share.

Analysts expect dividend and eps growth from Morrison's for the next two years. The dividend is expected to rise faster.

stopped out of tesco with small profit dc, but still holding mrw.

.

Its only me and you here, turn the lights off on the way out Bb. lol