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Morrisons reports sales slowdown but sees full-year profits growth

Tue, 11th May 2021 07:03

(Sharecast News) - UK supermarket Morrisons reported a marked slowdown in quarter-on-quarter sales but reiterated guidance for full-year profits growth and lower debt.
The company on Tuesday said like-for-like sales excluding fuel rose 2.7% in the 14 weeks to May 9, but lower than the fourth quarter's 9% as the third Covid-19 lockdown was imposed by the government.

Morrison said like-for-like sales rose 8.7% when compared with the first quarter of 2019 before the pandemic struck. Many firms are looking back two years to highlight the impact of the crisis on trading.

The group maintained forecasts for 2021/22 profit before tax and exceptionals including business rates paid to be higher than the £431m achieved in 2020/21, excluding the waived rates relief.

It also expected another year of "meaningful profit growth" in 2022/23 "with the material benefits ... of both no direct Covid-19 costs plus the full recovery of lost profit".

"At the preliminary results in March, we guided 2021/22 year-end net debt/EBITDA to be no higher than the 2019/20 level of 2.4 times. The recent recovery in fuel sales gives us high visibility and confidence that the temporary working capital impact will unwind, cash flow will be strong, and debt will fall."

Morrisons said it plans to refresh its long-term capital allocation plans when it reports interim results in September.

"The pandemic is not yet over, but it is in retreat across Britain and there is much to be positive about as something approaching normal life begins to take shape," said chief executive David Potts.

"Our forecourts are getting busier, we are seeing encouraging recent signs of a strong rebound of food-to-go, take-away counters and salad bars, and our popular cafés will soon fully reopen."

"The nation has a summer of socialising and sport to look forward to and we'll all be able to rediscover the joys of meeting up and eating well together."
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Morrisons takeover to go ahead after CMA clears petrol stations sale

(Sharecast News) - Britain's competition watchdog has confirmed the £7bn takeover of supermarket chain Morrisons by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice can proceed after a deal was reached on the sale of 87 petrol stations.

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Morrisons confirms McColl's rescue deal

(Sharecast News) - Morrisons confirmed on Monday that it has agreed to buy convenience store operator McColl's from the administrator, seeing off competition from the Issa brothers' EG Group.

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(Sharecast News) - Supermarket chain Morrisons has appointed Joanna Goff as its new chief financial officer, succeeding Michael Gleeson, whose departure was announced last month.

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CMA could approve CD&R Morrisons takeover after undertakings

(Sharecast News) - The Competition and Markets Authority said on Thursday that it could approve the takeover of Morrisons by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice after the US private equity firm offered to divest some of its petrol stations to address competition concerns.

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CMA warns Morrisons takeover could push up petrol prices

(Sharecast News) - Morrisons' takeover by a private equity firm could lead to higher petrol prices in more than 100 places because of overlap between the two groups' petrol stations, the UK competition watchdog said.

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13 Mar 2022 13:50

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(Sharecast News) - The UK needs to massively expand wind farms across the country in order to safeguard national security, the business secretary has said, as the government considers sweeping changes to planning laws in order to improve energy independence. Against that backdrop, the Prime Minister will unveil a radical new "energy strategy" within a fortnight in order to make sure that that UK can get all the energy that it needs from a combination of renewables and nuclear. - Guardian

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Sunday newspaper round-up: Vodafone Group, TSB, Inmarsat

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Sunday newspaper round-up: Unilever, Morrisons, Aston Martin

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Tesco wins as supermarkets back in favour over Xmas - Kantar

(Sharecast News) - UK supermarkets became popular once again as sales their highest level since March 2020 over Christmas with Tesco emerging as the main beneficiary.

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Cost of Christmas dinner jumps as food prices rise

(Sharecast News) - Food inflation pushed higher last month, industry data showed on Tuesday, with Christmas staples already costing more.

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(Sharecast News) - Elliott Management has been building a stake in Taylor Wimpey, leading to speculation that a bid, possibly from a US-based suitor, might materialise for the construction company. In April, Elliott backed Berkeley DeVeer's takeover of Avant Homes and in November it took out short positions on shares of Bellway and Barratt. The size of the activist investor's stake was unknown. - Financial Mail on Sunday

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