Latest news with #ClaytonDubilierRice
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
West end landlord Great Portland Estates cashes in on Work From Home crackdown
West End landlord Great Portland Estates has been boosted by demand for premium office space in 'a market starved of supply'. It has signed 17 leases and renewals since April 1, worth around £20.7million in rent a year. A further £7.7miillion worth of rent is under offer. It comes as firms dramatically cut the homeworking they allow amid fears that it has stifled productivity and career progression. And rents have been driven up by a lack of supply after office investment dipped during the pandemic. Great Portland expects rental growth for the year of 4 per cent to 7 per cent, and more across its prime locations, as demand booms. The firm, which owns sites in central London including in Oxford Street, said rents were up 6.7 per cent compared with March. It recently let 62,500 sq ft of office space to US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice on a 15-year lease, signed a year before the property is complete.
Sky News
01-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Motor Fuel Group-owner among suitors for BP's $8bn Castrol unit
The private equity firm which employs BP's chairman as an advisor is among the bidders exploring a takeover of Castrol, the oil giant's lubricant arm which has been put up for sale for about $8bn (£5.8bn). Sky News has learnt that Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) has joined the ranks of strategic and financial bidders which are part of an auction launched by BP earlier this year. CD&R's involvement in the process is notable because Helge Lund, who is stepping down as BP chairman in the next 12 months, is an operating advisor to the buyout firm. Mr Lund has no involvement in CD&R's work on an offer for Castrol, according to insiders. The buyout firm is one of the world's largest, and owns assets in the UK including Morrisons, the supermarket chain, and Motor Fuel Group. The auction of Castrol is progressing at a turbulent time for BP, which is under siege from Elliott Management, the activist investor, amid demands for the company to slash costs and boost profitability. Last week, London-listed oil rival Shell denied a Wall Street Journal report that it was in early-stage talks to buy BP, saying it had not been actively considering an offer. While erroneous, the story underlined the fact that BP is regarded as a plausible takeover target because of its travails. Sky News revealed recently that former Centrica chief executive Sam Laidlaw and Ken MacKenzie, the former chair of mining giant BHP, were among those approached to replace Mr Lund at BP. Both have now withdrawn from the process.
Daily Mail
19-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Morrisons has 'bounced back' from cyber attack, says boss
The chief executive of supermarket chain Morrisons has hailed the group's recovery from a cyber-attack. Rami Baitiéh said the grocery firm had 'bounced back strongly' since its technology provider, Blue Yonder, suffered a ransomware incident last November. Morrisons constructed a new warehouse management system to maintain its stock levels after the hack badly disrupted its operations. Its like-for-like revenue growth subsequently slowed to just 2.1 per cent in the quarter ending 26 January, compared to 4.9 per cent over the prior three months. However, the Bradford-based retailer reported that its comparable turnover increased by 3.9 per cent in the 13 weeks ending 27 April, while total sales expanded by 4.2 per cent to £3.9billion. Morrisons also revealed that its first-half underlying earnings before nasties climbed by 7.2 per cent to £344million. The group, which is owned by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, opened 42 franchise sites during the period, taking the overall number of Morrisons Daily convenience outlets to above 1,700. Alongside this, it began trials of several in-store schemes, introducing a new World Foods offer and a revamped fresh food counter concept, Market Street, that more closely resembles a farm shop. Baitiéh said: 'Against the backdrop of a challenging macro environment, with inflation driving subdued consumer sentiment, value remains at the forefront of customers' minds. 'Throughout the first half, we've worked hard on helping customers through these challenges with a rigorous focus on price, promotions and meaningful rewards for loyalty.' Morrisons further announced that it had raised its cost savings target to £1billion after surpassing its initial £700million goal during the last quarter. The company unveiled the original cost-cutting target two years ago to help finance price reductions for consumers struggling with inflationary pressures, caused mainly by soaring energy bills and supply chain disruptions. As part of these plans, Morrisons declared its intention in March to shut over 50 cafes, four pharmacies, multiple convenience stores and florists, and dozens of counters serving meat, fish, or hot food. About 365 jobs are at risk of permanent redundancy due to the closures, with the majority of those affected working in the convenience stores. Morrisons exited the convenience market in 2015 after selling its M local sites, but returned to the sector just months later with the launch of its Morrisons Daily brand. It currently holds an 8.4 per cent share of the UK grocery market, according to recent data from market research organisation Kantar.
Times
19-06-2025
- Business
- Times
Morrisons sales bounce back after cyberattack
Morrisons has hailed a bounce back in quarterly sales after a cyberattack disrupted trading earlier this year. The UK's fifth-largest supermarket, owned by the US private equity company Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, said like-for-like sales rose 3.9 per cent in the second quarter. That marks an improvement from 2.1 per cent growth in the previous quarter, when a ransomware attack at its supply chain software provider Blue Yonder severely disrupted product availability and forced price cuts across some lines. Total sales rose 4.2 per cent to £3.9 billion in the three months to early June and underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) climbed 7.2 per cent to £344 million for the first half of its financial year. The company does not disclose pre-tax profits. Rami Baitiéh, who joined Morrisons in 2023 with a mandate to revitalise the business, said the supermarket had 'bounced back strongly' from the cyberattack despite operating in a 'challenging macro environment'. Morrisons, which has about 500 supermarkets and some convenience stores, has struggled since it was bought by Clayton Dubilier & Rice in 2021 in a deal that added £6.6 billion of debt to its balance sheet. Since his arrival in 2023, Baitiéh has focused on improving in-store execution, simplifying product ranges, enhancing fresh food displays and refreshing Morrisons' shop environment to improve customer perception. 'Value remains at the forefront of customers' minds,' he said. 'Throughout the first half we've worked hard on helping customers through these challenges with a rigorous focus on price, promotions and meaningful rewards for loyalty.' Morrisons' More Card loyalty scheme has been a key part of this strategy, offering deeper discounts and personalised offers to attract price-sensitive shoppers amid high food inflation and dampened consumer sentiment. The supermarket also said that it had made strong progress on trials in its branches aimed at enhancing the shopping experience. These include a revamped 'market street' area with farm shop-style merchandising and a more curated range of added-value products, alongside a new world foods section designed to improve the appeal to diverse customer bases. Early customer feedback had been very positive, the company said. It is ramping up its presence in the convenience sector and opened 42 new franchise-owned Morrisons Daily shops in the quarter. That brings the total number of convenience sites to more than 1,700, an increase of 120 year-on-year, and further expansion is planned. Jo Goff, chief financial officer, noted 'broad-based progress' across the business. Cost savings are also on track, according to the company: it said that £58 million had been made in the quarter and more than £700 million had been achieved to date. The supermarket raised its cost-saving target to £1 billion by the end of 2026. To sharpen its retail operations, Morrisons said it had signed a new partnership with a global analytics provider to mine commercial insights from its data. The aim is to improve pricing, promotions and range decisions at a time when competition among grocers remains intense.
Reuters
19-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
UK supermarket Morrisons' sales growth picks up in 'challenging' market
LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - British supermarket group Morrisons said sales growth improved in its second quarter after trading was dented in the previous quarter by the impact of a cyberattack at its technology provider. The UK's fifth largest grocer, which has been owned by U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice since 2021, said on Thursday its like-for-like sales rose 3.9% in its quarter to April 27, having been up 2.1% in the first quarter. "Morrisons has bounced back strongly from the disruption of the Blue Yonder cyber attack in November 2024," Chief Executive Rami Baitiéh said. Against the backdrop of a "challenging macro environment", he said the grocer benefited from a focus on price, promotions and rewarding customer loyalty. "With inflation driving subdued consumer sentiment, value remains at the forefront of customers' minds," he said. UK food prices rose by 4.4% in the 12 months to May, the biggest increase in over a year, official data showed on Wednesday.
