BRADFORD, England June 13 (Reuters) – Britain’s No. 4 grocer
Wm Morrison Supermarkets told shareholders they will
have to be patient as the firm tries to catch-up with rivals
which have much bigger online and convenience store offers.

Morrisons, which trails Tesco, Wal-Mart’s
Asda and J Sainsbury in annual sales, has seen profits
and market share dented by its late entry into online grocery
and convenience stores, markets which are growing in Britain at
about 16 percent and 20 percent a year respectively.

LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) – Sales at Britain’s No. 3 grocer
J Sainsbury outperformed market leader Tesco
in the first quarter, stellar growth online and in convenience
stores more than offsetting sales falls in traditional
supermarkets.

The group, which trails Tesco and Wal-Mart’s Asda by
annual revenue, said it expected to continue to steal share from
rivals, even though it anticipated Britain’s tough economic
environment would persist through 2013.

LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) – Tesco, the world’s No.3
retailer, posted a drop in quarterly underlying sales in its
main British market, resuming a trend seen for most of the past
three years and raising doubts about its 1 billion pound ($1.5
billion) turnaround plan.

The supermarket group said on Wednesday it had suffered from
weak demand for general merchandise as cash-strapped Britons cut
back on discretionary purchases in a flagging economy, as well
as fallout from Europe’s horsemeat food contamination scandal.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s biggest retailer, Tesco (TSCO.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), is expected to slip back to an underlying sales decline when it publishes first-quarter trading figures on Wednesday, raising doubts about a costly recovery plan for its home market.

Analysts are forecasting sales to have fallen 0.5 to 1 percent at British stores open more than a year, excluding fuel and VAT sales tax, for the 13 weeks to May 25, according to a Reuters poll.

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) – British retailer Marks & Spencer
posted its lowest annual profit since 2009 on Tuesday,
hit by a drop in clothing sales, and said growth this financial
year would be held back by investments online and in logistics.

The 129-year-old firm, battling to reverse seven straight
quarters of falling underlying sales in clothing and homewares,
said it expected a stronger performance next fiscal year, when
new fashion ranges deliver results and capital spending falls.

LONDON (Reuters) – British supermarket chain Morrison is investing more than 200 million pounds in a 25-year deal with online grocer Ocado, seeking to catch rivals in home delivery and sending Ocado shares sharply higher.

Morrison, which trails Tesco, Wal-Mart’s Asda and J Sainsbury in annual sales, has been losing market share, partly due to its lack of exposure to the fast-growing British online market for groceries.

LONDON (Reuters) – British supermarket chain Morrison (MRW.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is investing more than 200 million pounds ($306 million) in a 25-year deal with online grocer Ocado (OCDO.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), seeking to catch rivals in home delivery and sending Ocado shares sharply higher.

Morrison, which trails Tesco (TSCO.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Wal-Mart’s (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Asda and J Sainsbury (SBRY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in annual sales, has been losing market share, partly due to its lack of exposure to the fast-growing British online market for groceries.

LONDON (Reuters) – Asda, Britain’s second-biggest grocer, said it would not take part in profit-squeezing promotions sweeping the industry, as it reported a pick-up in first-quarter sales.

“We’re not being distracted by gimmicks happening around the market,” Andy Clarke, chief executive of the British arm of United States retailer Wal-Mart (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), told reporters on Thursday.

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) – Asda, Britain’s second-biggest
grocer, said it would not take part in profit-squeezing
promotions sweeping the industry, as it reported a pick-up in
first-quarter sales.

“We’re not being distracted by gimmicks happening around the
market,” Andy Clarke, chief executive of the British arm of
United States retailer Wal-Mart, told reporters on
Thursday.

LONDON (Reuters) – Dixons Retail (DXNS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Europe’s second-biggest electrical goods retailer, said on Thursday it would like to sell its loss-making PIXmania e-commerce business and if that proved impossible closure of the operation was an option.

The group, also home to the Currys and PC World chains in Britain, Elkjop in Nordic countries, UniEuro in Italy and Kotsovolos in Greece, nudged its outlook higher on Thursday after reporting sales at stores open over a year up 7 percent in the fourth quarter to April 30.