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

Why not move towards a online/wharehouse HOME DELIVERY OPERATION only. Over many years of course but if they own most of their own property, margins in this low margin area would be better than competitors competing for home deliverys.

Something to think about as long as they source thier products from local farmers etc etc.

Juicy plums and Tomatoes, lettuce from Bridlington etc, etc.

land is running out land can only go up
they own prime land fact

I see, how back in 1999, the 'dot com crash' had a bad effect on them too. The share price took about 8 years to recover the lost ground.

and just a little info for you all talk of mrw closing some stores andbuilding their own homes on these sites for rent . they have looked at their new site in lawley telford
were homes are built above the shop sold out in days

I suppose it's a good use for redundant/excessive store-space, but I recall Lawley is a fairly down-at-heel Area; so I'm surprised there is enough demand ( at the right price of course ), and the residents will be awakened by deliveries . . . or has MRW actually closed the store?
Tesco has been snapping-up small sites, like larger pubs where there is a good housing stock, car-parking and as a Bonus a history of selling Alcohol. Maybe MRW has a few of these too...?

their is now hundreds of new homes all round the new mrw store and a loverly place to live

Where is it, Tanker?

in telford my friend as moved their because of is job he loves it comes from oxford
says he wished he had moved their years ago I said its new you would of lived in a barn .

the apartments above mrw are great I would buy one if one comes on the market

Sounds like the area is Lawley Village, Telford. The flats would appear to be behind the Morrisons unit with five 'loft flats' at the top of the building. Can't see any windows though, Tanker. Is this the right place?

yes you need the other angle to the store .

their are hundreds of apartments behind the store .

market cap is down 48% under 4b unbelievable Dalton as weeks to turn it round and my info says sales up 2%

Hmmm - just had a quick look, NAV @£2.

Juicy Tomatoes.

And so it begins...

Directorate Change

The Board of Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC ("Morrisons") announces that Andrew Higginson will become the Company's Chairman when Sir Ian Gibson retires in 2015. Andrew will join the Board on 1 October 2014 as non-executive Deputy Chairman and Chairman Elect.

Andrew is currently the Chairman of Poundland Plc and N Brown Group Plc and senior independent director of BSkyB Plc. Prior to that he served as an Executive Director at Tesco Plc for 15 years.

Sir Ian Gibson, Chairman of Morrisons, said: "Andy Higginson has a tremendous reputation and a distinguished career at the forefront of retailing in the UK and I am sure he will be a huge asset to Morrisons. I am very pleased to welcome him to the Board as Deputy Chairman and look forward to working with him to ensure a smooth transition to the Chairman role."

Andrew Higginson said: "I am delighted to be joining the Board of Morrisons. Whilst there are undoubted challenges in the industry at the moment, this is a fine business and I am looking forward to working with the great team at Morrisons who work hard every day to serve customers."

In relation to the appointment, it is confirmed that there are no further details to be disclosed under paragraphs 9.6.13 (1) to (6) of the Listing Rules.

just been down to my local Morrison's to get some petrol and the price was 129.9p per litre, in the area where I live asda Sainsbury's it 's 126.9, I asked the cashier why so high she said lots of people have complained but the manager has been told to keep it at 129.9.

what a way to run a business.

The cashier may be very pleasant and well intentioned but is merely a low grade employee and knows nowt about the marketing decision making process which determines the fuel pump prices at an individual supermarket branch. And of course, all instructions come down to her from the branch manager.

I don't believe what she told you is 100% credible information and it is probably more 'hearsay'.

Sharecast -



Tesco and Morrisons lose market share to discounters

Fri, 01 August 2014




Tesco and Morrisons continue to bleed market share to competitors, such as discounters Aldi and Lidl or upscale chain Waitrose.

Thus, Tesco's market share decreased to 28.3% over the last 12 weeks from 29.7% and Morrisons fell to 10.9% from 11.4%, according to the latest data from Nielsen.

On this occasion, however, Sainsbury's managed to retain its 16.4% of the market.

ASDA, which is owned by US outfit WalMart, increased its share to 16.3% from 16.2% the month before.

The above follows figures out on Tuesday from Kantar Worldpanel which showed that Tesco's sales dropped by 3.8% over 12 weeks ending on 20 July, sending its market share lower by 1.4 percentage points to 28.9%.

The difficulty in turning around the company's deteriorating competitive situation led to the ouster of its chief executive, Philip Clarke.

He was replaced by Unilever's Dave Lewis, who as Brewin Dolphin analyst Nicla di Palma said, has ample knowledge of strategy in the 'fast moving consumer goods' space but none in direct retail.

Di Palma believes Tesco will most likely respond with further significant price cuts in order to close the gap with Asda, together with heightened investment in personnel costs.

That bodes poorly for operating margins, which may drop by 150 basis points. More significant changes cannot be ruled out.

The probability of a cut to Tesco's dividend has also risen notoriously. Nonetheless, a 'fresh' perspective may be just what the retailer needs, but there will be short term pain, di Palma concludes.

As of 13:03 shares of Tesco were 1.94% lower at 253p, although Morrisons stock was edging higher by 0.3% to 169.1p.

Now Morrisons is under pressure with profits set to plunge by HALF: After scathing attack by its founder, supermarket is hit by online U-turn

By Alex Hawkes, Financial Mail on Sunday

Published: 22:02, 6 September 2014 | Updated: 22:02, 6 September 2014


On a prayer: Chief executive Dalton Philips

Profits are set to have halved amid plunging sales when troubled supermarket chain Morrisons unveils half-year results this week, piling further pressure on embattled chief executive Dalton Philips.


Investors fear the company’s dividend plans will be slashed – even if the company honours a commitment to raise the payout by 5 per cent in the short term.


Philips was subjected to a humiliating dressing-down from the firm’s founder in June when Sir Ken Morrison compared his strategy to the ‘bulls**t’ produced by his herd of cattle. There are suggestions a replacement for Philips has been lined up, though it is chairman Sir Ian Gibson who will definitely be stepping down next year when he retires to be replaced by former Tesco finance boss Andrew Higginson.


But Philips will point to signs that the grocer’s loss of market share is bottoming out. His strategy to lead the fightback against the discounters, led by German firms Aldi and Lidl, has been shaped not so much by beating them as by joining them.


Analysts at Barclays’ investment bank say Morrisons will reveal first-half profits of £165 million, down from £344 million in the same period last year. Same-store sales could be down by almost 7 per cent, according to a consensus of City analysts.


But it would be a dividend climbdown that would really hurt Philips. Earlier this year Morrisons, based in Bradford, said it would raise its dividend for the year by 5 per cent. Last year the grocer paid £270 million in dividends, easily covered by its £879 million profit.


Even if the supermarket does not climb down on the 5 per cent rise, the City expects no future commitments to raising the payouts.


‘We would be surprised if the company does not reiterate its commitment to a 5 per cent rise. But we would not be surprised if Morrisons refuses to be drawn on dividend policy,’ analysts at Barclays said.


Philips will be hoping he has plenty of green shoots to distract investors from his dividend dilemma.


Retail analyst Kantar Worldpanel revealed that sales in late July and early August had risen for the first time in more than nine months. And Philips announced a price-cutting strategy in March to take on the discounters at their own game – slashing prices on 1,200 items. Barclays expects Philips to present some encouraging data on this.


‘The main task of management is to break down sales figures and present encouraging trends. This may be achievable if Morrisons provides data on basket size, the number of items bought or customer traffic,’ said Barclays’ analysts. Customer traffic and the number of items bought may be particularly revealing, the investment bank says, because they are less affected by price cuts in understanding how customers are deciding to shop.


Analysts at Santander believe there will be few signs of price cuts yielding fruit yet, adding: ‘Kantar data shows signs of a slowing of the sales decline, but in our opinion it is too early to translate this into profits given market conditions.’


One gloomy figure concerns Morrisons’ online forays. The grocery chain will take a hit from its involvement with Kiddicare, the online nursery goods store it bought for £70 million in 2011 to help its push into selling groceries online.



Kiddicare



But Morrisons instead signed a deal with Ocado last year to develop its online grocery sales, and sold Kiddicare to turnaround group Endless for just £2 million in July.


Figures just filed at Companies House show that Kiddicare, which now also has 11 bricks-and-mortar stores, made a loss of £125 million in the year to the start of February, including a £106 million writedown.


Perhaps the biggest question for Morrisons may be out of its hands – what Tesco will do under new boss Dave Lewis. Lewis, who started last week, is expected to pile on pricing pressure at the UK’s largest grocer.


‘A resurgent Tesco under its new chief executive is likely to see a step-up in pricing activity,’ said Santander’s analysts.


All the big grocers have been under pressure to emulate Lidl and Aldi, where sales have been growing by double digit percentages.


Morrisons can fund price-cutting by selling part of its vast property portfolio, worth £9 billion according to Santander’s analysts.


When Morrisons last announced its annual results it said it would sell £1 billion of property over the next three years – £500 million this year. The grocer has made noises about moving into convenience retailing and developing online sales – both fast growing areas for the grocers.


The question for Philips will be if the chain has done enough in those areas to merit optimism when the grocer’s shares are down almost 40 per cent in a year. Shareholders will want to know if things must get worse before they get better.