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Fullers on a downward trend, and Youngs a nervous 1000 + or -. Rather worrying, and the weather this Easter is going to do us no favours.
Back in the 1970's restricted opening signalled the death knell for those cinemas which resorted to this measure as a hedge against poor business. I am sorry to see this happening in the pub trade.
CJ66 - You are so right about good management, very much in short supply in GB companies. Many of the current breed make their companies an easy target for acquisition by foreign predators and asset strippers.
I went round the large Morrisons at Scarborough today. Reasonably busy, but gaps in display, baked beans disappearing fast with the Savers variety gone. Toilet rolls heavily depleted, but still available. However, as on my last visit I spotted lots of young staff picking online delivery orders. Ken Morrison reckoned there was no money in home delivery, but I daresay if it can be done locally in sufficient volume then it may be worthwhile. Also noticed more price reductions, and more items now matching Aldi/Lidl on price. Re. Aldi I have noticed that some of their centre aisle one-offs are not the great buys of yesteryear, much of it is expensive and some end up being knocked out cheap a couple of months later.
Thank you, Kahuna Jim for your informative post. I do hope that some Supermarket supply business is profitable. I have noticed Marstons brands well represented in Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl, and hope there is some profit in this.
This could prove a rewarding tie-up. Marstons' portfolio of ales is the most impressive in the UK, and Carlsberg should be able to seriously boost export sales. I just hope that Marstons don't lose interest in brewing and sell their 40% share in a couple of years. Both Youngs and Fullers seem to have done well by concentrating on upgrades and careful acquisitions to their pub and hotel estates (mostly freehold). I think this is a good direction to take.
At my local Aldi the shelf space given to Banks Bitter has doubled this week, indicating that they must be selling in quantity.
Enjoyed your post, CynC. Ken Morrison would seem to have been a wise old chap. I think that Dave Potts is nursing the company rather well through some difficult times, and I believe that the manufacturing side of the business is going to shine in the next few months. The next interim report will be revealing.
Interesting email from Dave Potts to customers and staff. He says that Morrisons are stepping up production at their manufacturing facilities to replenish stocks depleted by the Corona panic. I believe their in-house manufacturing to be a much under-rated aspect of their business. It will be interesting to see how this works for them in the coming weeks or months.
There are now too many supermarkets. The expansions plans of Aldi and Lidl into secondary towns in a crowded market may backfire. A recently opened Aldi in my town is not doing outstanding business. The winners will be those who grimly hang on and in this respect I believe Morrisons have an advantage because of their manufacturing plants, and also their largely freehold estate. Time will tell.
At the next AGM vote against any and all increases in remuneration packages and bonuses.
I suspect that middle management in SGC will be thankful they are not involved in South West Trains these days.
A balanced assessment from londoner7. One more point, if things do get gloomy Marstons array of breweries are well represented in the supermarkets in bottles and cans, and I think this is an aspect of the business which can be expanded. McEwans Champion ale seems to fly out in quantity from the shelves of Lidl, with whom they appear to do a lot of business, and I notice that Courage Best is a fixture in Morrisons at a discount price. The continuing drop in the share price is rather upsetting. I had thought it was levelling out at around 120p. We shall see.
If there is any truth in Amazon's interest, investors, both institutional and private, should hold out for a decent price. A nationwide chain of stores is one aspect, but with Morrisons' abattoirs, meat processing plants, fruit and vegetable packing depots, flower packing business, the fish processing plant at Grimsby, and the Rathbone bakeries as an in-house supply chain just think what Amazon could do online. Furthermore with Andrew Higginson and Dave Potts they get two managers who seem to know what they are doing; quite rare in these days of boardroom gadflies.
It's not just the company which has been silent. For two years up until 8th March of this year the Brokers' opinions were "Buy". Since 8th March not a word from any of them. It is to be devoutly wished that there is nothing nasty lurking in the bushes.
A very muted response to the news which was not even reported in some quarters. Initial dip now seems to be recovering. One of the under-used brands in the Wells portfolio is Courage. Initially they brewed this under licence from one of the big groups but were able to buy the brand outright. The McEwans brand is, I believe, held under licence. I hope this will be acquired outright, and with the brand the Caledonian Brewery where it is brewed. As an aside, Young's Bitter and Courage Best give Marstons two of the better session ales.
Unfortunately this company reminds me of the disastrous transformation of GEC into Marconi, and I have a bad feeling that there may be more bad news. Think I prefer Richard Clay & Co. to St Ives.
Gerry. Scroll down the last two pages of discussion and you'll find the links. I am against a merger, as I believe Sainsburys (and the City mafia) would be the dominant partner, with all the baggage they would bring - placemen, time-serving non-execs. At Morrisons we now have two career grocers in charge. Things are improving, and Morrisons appear to be more selective these days in their choice of non-execs. Please, no return to the days of Boland, Sir Ian Gibson, and Phillips. Beware the serpent tongues of the City slickers.
I think that any merger of Morrisons and Sainsburys would lead to a severe clash of current cultures. In recent months Sainsburys seem to have given up on matching the discounters. Their basics range prices have jumped to a level where I ask why continue? The only benefits I can see are in Morrisons manufacturing plants which strip out the middleman, and whose output would increase. Without a clear joint strategy a merger is not worth the bother. Do the people who write these hypothetical articles ever visit stores to observe ranges and pricing? Morrisons has had more than its share of City chattering classes in the past ten years.
Pension Fund said to be in surplus; there's a real positive note. 85% of the estate is Freehold, and we must thank Sir Ken for pursuing that policy from way-back. Does anyone know if Aldi and Lidl own the Freeholds of their stores? I rather suspect that they may do. in any downturn Leaseholds are a millstone, and just consider what happened to Woolworths after it sold its Freeholds. Some grounds for cautious optimism, I think. It would appear that we have Grocers in charge, rather than boardroom butterflies and expensively-suited dullards.