Morrisons is set to follow the lead of Tesco and Sainsbury’s and take an axe to its dividend, reports The Financial Times (£). The move would give the new management team of Potts, Higginson and Strain more flexibility to plough money into further price cuts, invest in stores and reduce an estimated net debt of £2.4bn. The supermarket reports its full-year figures next week for the period to January 2015, which is the final year of its commitment to increase the dividend.

Mark & Spencer’s regional director for Asia quitting hit the papers on the day the retailer updated its plans for China. Bruce Findlay is leaving M&S to take up a role at fashion brand Diesel (The Financial Times £).

M&S confirmed it would close five of its Shanghai stores as it reshaped its Asian business. The retailer, which had previously identified China as a key overseas market for growth, also said it would continue to invest in its existing flagship store portfolio and enter key Chinese cities such as Beijing and Guangzhou from 2015-16 (The Telegraph).

The Daily Mail went straight for the jugular with its coverage stating M&S was in a “state of flux” after a raft of initiatives announced last year ago had yet to materialise. The paper added that the five stores it had earmarked for closure remained open and its search for a local partner had so far “failed”.

Elsewhere, the latest beverage to have miracle health properties gets decent mileage. A new study has found that drinking coffee may prevent heart attacks, according to The Guardian. The research highlighted a potential link between coffee consumption and lower risk of developing clogged arteries. An international team of researchers, led by the Kangbuk Samsung hospital in Seoul, South Korea, found that people who drink three to five cups a day had the least risk of coronary calcium in their arteries. Coffee had previously been linked with increasing the risk of heart disease. (The Times £) (The Guardian)

Speaking of staying healthy, super-rich investor Warren Buffett apparently has the diet of a six-year-old boy, with the logic that six-year-olds have a lower mortality rate. The 84-year-old Sage of Omaha apparently drinks five cans of Coca-Cola a day. Buffett told Fortune magazine: “I’m one quarter Coca-Cola. If I eat 2,700 calories a day, a quarter of that is Coca-Cola. I drink at least five 12-ounce servings. I do it every day. The lowest death rate is among six-year-olds. So I decided to eat like a six-year-old.” So nothing to do with keeping sales at Coke, in which Buffett has a significant stake, from going flat then? (The Independent).

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