Grocers, high street and baking

Tuesday 12 January 2016

Blue-chips edged higher in early trading but investors were braced for another turbulent session due to the current oil rout and the contagion effects of a faltering Chinese economy. 

“Better-than-expected figures from Morrisons (LSE:MRW) provided a fillip for rivals Tesco (LSE:TSCO) and Sainsbury’s (LSE:SBRY) with the grocery giants vying for top spot on the blue-chip board in early trading,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Morrisons’ like-for-like sales excluding fuel were down by only 0.2% in the nine weeks to 3 January compared with a 2.6% fall in the third quarter. But investors will be encouraged that Morrisons seems to be starting to win customers back with like-for-like transactions in its core supermarkets up 1.3% and online sales almost doubling.

“High street bellwether Debenhams’ (LSE:DEB) shares surged after it reported a record Christmas. Like-for-like sales rose by 1.9% - well ahead of forecasts of a 0.3% increase – with online sales up 36% in Christmas week which followed strong Black Friday sales.

“Investors were less impressed with a trading update from bakery giant Greggs (LSE:GRG). Company-managed shop like-for-like sales rose by 4.7% in the year as a whole but this slowed to 2.3% in the fourth quarter. The group expects full-year results to be in line with previous forecasts but its shares fell by more than 7% in early trading.”

These articles are for information purposes only and are not a personal recommendation or advice.