Morrisons stores are set to stock more food made by local suppliers after soaring demand for regional produce helped it grow profits and revenues last year. ( The Telegraph )

A surge in sales of local foods such as Plumgarth sausages and Voakes pies help Morrisons fight off competition from the discounters and deliver a 17% rise in profits. ( The Guardian ) . The grocer reaps benefits from putting brake on expansion and returning to value credentials (The Financial Times £).

Strong growth last year prompted chief executive Dave Potts to hand shareholders an extra £95million in dividends, the first time Morrisons has given investors an additional payback in five years (Daily Mail ). The turnaround at Wm Morrison gathered pace yesterday as the grocer reported increased sales and profits and announced the return of surplus capital to shareholders through a special dividend (The Times £).

US retail group Walmart is ramping up its online grocery deliveries, marking the latest salvo in its battle with Amazon to dominate all aspects of shopping. (The Financial Times £)

Trading in Conviviality shares were suspended yesterday as Britain’s biggest franchised off-licence chain issued its second profits warning in a week, cancelled its dividend and said that it had discovered an unexpected tax bill of £30 million payable within two weeks (The Times £). Retail group Conviviality is cancelling its dividend after revealing it must pay an unexpected £30m tax demand by March 29 and issued a second profit warning in less than a week, warning it could struggle to meet its banking covenants (The Telegraph).

Toys R Us will close all of its stores in Britain and make 3000 staff redundant after administrators failed to find a buyer for the collapsed retailer. ( The Times The Telegraph, )

Toys R Us plan to sell all of its stores in the United States in a collapse set to tip the balance of power further into the hands of Amazon and Walmart. ( Financial Times The Independent )

Shares in bubble tea maker B&S International jumped for second day yesterday, which built on the 300% surge in its share price on its opening day. ( Financial Times )

President Trump’s tax cuts have failed to spark a spending spree in the United States, with retail sales unexpectedly lower for the third month in a row in February. (The Times )

The Beast from the East has sent a chill through Inditex, the world’s largest clothes retailer, as the adverse weather across Europe has hit spring range sales, with the strong euro also placing a squeeze on profits in the last quarter. ( The Times )

Amazon Japan said on Thursday it had been raided by the country’s fair trade regulator on suspicion of a possible anti-trust violation. ( Reuters )

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