Retail

Sainsbury pretty hard to gobble up

29 Sep 2003

Sure the UK group could be the real loser from the Safeway bid battle. And its lowly valuation reflects that. But while a financial player would be allowed to buy the group, it could have a hard time making disposals.

CVC tries to compress Debenhams’ timetable

26 Sep 2003

The private equity firm is launching a scheme of arrangement. This provides a line in the sand for the end of the takover process. It also means that CVC doesn t run the risk of having to squeeze out minority shareholders. Its lending banks should be pleased.

Morrison gets green light on Safeway

26 Sep 2003

Tesco, WalMart s Asda and Sainsbury have all been blocked. All they can do is bid for the 53 stores Morrison is forced to sell off. The clear run is good news for Morrison and bad news for Safeway.

H&M sales still weak

25 Sep 2003

The group s likeforlike sales are actually contracting, at least partly because it is holding so little stock. But the flipside is that H&M has managed to achieve recordbreaking margins.

Debenhams’ buyer has hard job ahead

24 Sep 2003

To make a decent return at 455p a share and above, whoever buys the UK department store will have to both boost growth and sell it on well. Permira's and CVC's bid battle has delivered value for the current shareholders. Whether it will do so for the buyer remains to be seen.

Inditex boss sold shares 3 weeks before results

22 Sep 2003

Spain doesn t have a rule stopping executives trading shares before their results. It should. Either he knew the outllook would be bad which would be appalling. Or he didn t which would be pretty worrying too.

Morrison looks well placed to manage Safeway

18 Sep 2003

The UK supermarket chain may have sacrificed some of its margin to boost sales. But the group's firsthalf results still suggest it could make a good fist of a major acquisition.

New Kingfisher CEO faces Castorama challenge

17 Sep 2003

The French DIY business which Kingfisher bought out last year is never going to be another B&Q. But the task for Gerry Murphy is to reverse its market share decline while improving its margins.

Ahold chairman quits as CEO alters pay package

17 Sep 2003

The twin moves should remove the sting from criticism of the Dutch retailer, which added a governance faux pas to a financial scandal. No tears will be shed over the loss of chairman, who was asleep during the financial scandal. But it is good the new CEO is being kept.

Tesco beats expectations

16 Sep 2003

The UK retailer s international businesses are slowly finding their feet. But the real powerhouse for the group is still the domestic market, where nonfood is opening up huge opportunities.

Less isn’t always more with break fees

15 Sep 2003

But it ended up paying relatively little for a big increase in value. UK retail group Debenhams courted controversy by offering break fees to both bidders for its stock.

Ahold chairman under pressure to quit

15 Sep 2003

The Calvinist Dutch take corporate fatcattery seriously. A boycott of Ahold supermarkets may be hurting the grocer's bottom line. This may explain why the company is considering sacrificing its supervisory board chairman Henny de Ruiter.

CVC’s £1.7bn Debenhams bid trumps Permira

12 Sep 2003

CVC has offered an extra £110m above its rival's offer. With Permira seeking to counterbid, it may not be the last offer the retailer gets. Debenhams strategy of risking £6m to keep CVC in the game doesn t look quite so silly any longer.

Ahold mucks up CEO pay

4 Sep 2003

The Dutch grocer was clearly going to have to pay up for a new CEO. But Moberg's E10m package looks insufficiently linked to performance. Worse, by springing it on shareholders, Ahold raised bad memories of its former guise.

Prada breaches covenant on E700m loan

4 Sep 2003

With Prada not doing so well, that doesn't look such a great move. Deutsche Bank gave the Italian group a "going public" loan in hopes of winning lucrative IPO business.

New Look founder seeks to take it private

1 Sep 2003

Tom Singh has joined the long line of retail bidders this year. But the UK fashion chain whose shares have performed well in the last two years isn t the typical buyout candidate.

Ahold mulls rights instead of break-up – reports

1 Sep 2003

The Dutch group has to raise money one way or another to shore up its balance sheet. A cash call might actually be a better option for investors. It is certainly worth considering.

Morrison in Safeway driving seat

28 Aug 2003

Even if other supermarkets are allowed to buy small chunks of Safeway, regulators may insist that Morrison ends up with the lion's share. That means Morrison is well positioned to extract value for its shareholders.

Executives cash out as equities rally

19 Aug 2003

Company insiders are taking advantage of the stock market rally by dumping stocks at a tremendous rate. Notably, bank executives are leading the way. So much for the idea that debtfinanced consumption will boost recovery.

Wal-Mart move in Safeway drama looks desperate

14 Aug 2003

But desperate doesn t mean irrelevant even though it is pretty unlikely to be allowed to make a carveup bid for the UK supermarket. WalMart might, though, be able to cherrypick a few stores. And that could help tickle up the price that Morrison will eventually pay.