Sir Ken Morrison builds supermarket share stake – in Sainsbury’s
SIR KEN MORRISON, who is life president of the Bradford supermarket group he built up over five decades that bears his name, has built up a £6.6m stake in one of its big four rivals.
He now owns 2.6m shares in Sainsbury’s while his son William owns 2.1m, The Times has reported, giving them a combined stake worth £11.9m.
Sir Ken is understood to have built up his stake in April 2014, as his frustrations with the management team of Morrisons was reaching its peak.
Weeks later at the Morrisons AGM he memorably criticised then-chief executive Dalton Philips and his plans to reverse its declining performance.
Sir Ken said: “When I left work and started working as a hobby, I chose to raise cattle. I have something like 1,000 bullocks and, having listened to your presentation, Dalton, you’ve got a lot more bullshit than me.”
Shares in the major supermarkets have suffered in the last couple of years. Morrisons’ share price has halved since September 2013 and is now trading at around 150p.
Sainsbury’s shares hit its recent peak of 409p in November 2013, and Sir Ken is understood to have bought in when they had dropped to around 300p. Its shares are now trading just above 250p.
Tesco has suffered worst of all, with its share price falling 60% since July 2013, and is now around 140p.
