There is plenty of coverage in this morning’s papers on the recovery at Morrisons. The Mail writes that the supermarket has notched up its third straight quarter of sales growth as continues its turnaround under chief executive David Potts.
It also reported a significant rise in half-year profits in a sign that sweeping changes brought in by the new management team led by chief executive David Potts are starting to pay off, The Telegraph adds.
The Independent puts the performance – the first time in four years it has recorded a rise in profits – down to price cuts and the partnership with Amazon.
The Times (£) says that two years ago Morrisons was in “disarray” but the grocer’s turnaround programme now appears to be well on track.
The Guardian notes that Morrisons finished the day as the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 as investors reacted positively to its first-half results.
Shares in the retailer rose more than 7% after the FTSE 100 supermarket chain beat analyst expectations amid a fierce price war in the UK grocery sector, The Financial Times (£) writes.
The FT’s Lex column says: “Morrisons’ shares have beaten other food retailers this year, rising 40 per cent. But selling food in the UK remains a brutally difficult way to make a living. Another round of price cuts has been launched. That £100m of extra profit will surely be needed.” (The Financial Times £)
The papers also focus on the first half results at John Lewis, with The Guardian writing that the Partnership has scaled back expansion plans at its Waitrose supermarket chain and said staff numbers would fall after reporting a sharp drop in first-half profit.
Chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield insisted that the slump in profits at the group was “not as a consequence of the EU referendum result, which has had little quantifiable impact on sales so far” (The Telegraph).
The Financial Times (£) says that a fierce price war and higher pay costs cut into profits at John Lewis, with the UK retailer reporting a near 15% drop in the first half of the year and warning of further job losses.
The group said it was it was scaling back its expansion plans at Waitrose in a move that would result in a £25m write-off on seven development sites that will no longer be built (The Times £).
Booker also got a look in with (The Times £) reporting that the wholesaler reported a good second quarter performance as the integration of Londis and Budgens progressed well. It revealed a 0.9% rise in like-for-like sales excluding tobacco in the 12 weeks to 9 September.
The Daily Mail picks up on the terrible day for investors in value meat operator Crawshaw. “Shares in sausage maker Crawshaw were butchered after a disappointing update,” it writes. The firm, which also has 40 stores across Yorkshire, Derbyshire and the North West, blamed the Euro 2016 football tournament, adverse weather and Brexit for lower footfall in the final weeks of June.
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