18th Sep 2015 08:52
LONDON (Alliance News) - Supermarket chain Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC Friday said Chief Executive Officer David Potts bought 314,881 shares at a price of 158.79 pence per share Thursday.
The deal is valued at around GBP500,000 and Potts' total shareholding following this purchase is 822,881 shares.
Last week Morrisons reported a sharp drop in profit in the first half of its financial year, as its revenue and like-for-like sales continued to decline in a deflationary UK food market and as it competes on price with other supermarkets in the face of the challenge posed by discounters Aldi and Lidl.
The company is in the midst of a restructuring scheme as it revealed that it is selling 140 M local stores for GBP25 million in cash, taking a loss on the sale, to a team led by retail entrepreneur Mike Greene and backed by private equity company Greybull Capital. It said that it expects to incur a loss on disposal of around GBP30 million, but that the sale will enable future investment to be focused on core supermarkets. This will leave it with five M local stores.
Potts said that the company would also "with regret" be closing a further 11 of its loss-making smaller stores which will cost the company an estimated GBP20 million.
The stock was down 0.3% at 158.10p Friday.
By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]; @ArvindBhunjun
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