Somerfield will hope to see bidders queuing down the aisles after revealing “exceptional” Christmas figures, while Waitrose voices an interest in some of the Somerfield portfolio.
The UK’s fifth largest supermarket chain turned in industry-beating results in the three weeks to January 5, it claimed, with like-for-like sales at stores open more than a year up 6.7 per cent. In the six weeks to January 5, the figure was a still encouraging 4.7 per cent.
Pre-Christmas data from TNS showed Somerfield’s market share at just 3.7 per cent in the run-up to Christmas (down from 4.9 per cent a year before), but chief executive Paul Mason said Somerfield outperformed the IGD industry index in 12 of the past 16 weeks.
Paul Mason, Somerfield's chief executive, said: “Somerfield has enjoyed an exceptional Christmas. Our strong like-for-like sales growth reflects the turnaround in the business and our clear focus on delivering the local grocery offer our customers want.”
He added: “After two years under private ownership, the business is making good progress.”
Waitrose yesterday became the first supermarket to admit an interest in buying some of Somerfield’s 955 stores, although md Mark Price ruled out a bid for the whole of Somerfield. “There is no doubt about our ambition to grow Waitrose and if the right stores came up we'd be interested in buying them,” Price told The Times.
