(ABF.L) Associated British Foods PLC Buy/Sell

By James Davey and Mark Potter

LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - British clothing and food retailer Marks & Spencer named Marc Bolland as its next leader, passing over internal candidates to poach the marketing expert who led a turnaround at Wm Morrison Supermarkets.
M&S shares rose 5.9 percent to a 17-month closing high of 390 pence, as analysts said Bolland's experience in groceries and business systems could speed a recovery in its upmarket food operations as well as drive a cost-saving supply chain upgrade.
The appointment, several months sooner than expected, also brings towards a close a 20-month row with investors over Stuart Rose's move to be both chairman and chief executive of M&S, in defiance of British corporate governance guidelines.
"A superb, credible choice," said Cavendish Asset Management fund manager Paul Mumford.
Some analysts, however, questioned whether Bolland had the expertise to help M&S's clothing business fend off the challenge from discount, fast-fashion chains like Primark.
"Turning around M&S is likely to be harder for Bolland than Morrisons was," Execution analyst Caroline Gulliver said.
Bolland, a 50-year-old Dutchman who has spent most of his career at brewer Heineken, is credited with reviving Morrison, Britain's fourth-biggest supermarket chain, after its bodged acquisition of Safeway in 2004.
Ignoring some analysts' call for a radical overhaul, he stuck with the group's traditional "Market Street" format of fresh food counters but gave it a makeover backed by innovative promotions, new product ranges, and tight cost management.
Shares in Morrison, which has been the fastest growing of Britain's top four food retailers for most of the past two years, fell as much as 5.8 percent to 278.5 pence.
"Has the Morrison story 'got as good as it gets' for Mr Bolland?" said Shore Capital analyst Darren Shirley, cutting his rating on Morrison shares to 'hold' from 'buy".
"We sense Morrison will miss him materially."

GOLDEN HELLO?
Morrison said Bolland would leave at the end of January and M&S's Rose told BBC radio he probably wouldn't start until late spring, although the date and terms were yet to be confirmed.
Analysts said he would be richly rewarded, as he was walking away from Morrison with 4 million pounds ($6.7 million) of shares unvested.
"Being CEO of M&S is the job in UK retail," said one of the top 10 investors in Morrison. "It's a bit like being asked to be England football manager isn't it? You don't turn it down."
M&S has had a torrid recession. Its shares plunged around 60 percent last year as customers switched to cheaper rivals and two internal candidates for CEO left the business.
But it has bounced back, helped by cutting prices, new clothing ranges like Indigo, and innovative food promotions like "Dine in for two" for 10 pounds.
SG analyst Anne Critchlow said Bolland was well placed to continue the good work, and might be able to speed up the 250 million pounds of benefits M&S hopes to achieve by 2015-2016 from upgrading business systems.
Investec's Katharine Wynne said his background in international brand marketing at Heineken would also strengthen the group's hand with its plans to expand more overseas.
M&S had said it would prefer an internal candidate, with finance director Ian Dyson, food chief John Dixon and clothing boss Kate Bostock seen as contenders. Analysts said they failed to impress at an investor day in October.
"We've always said ... we wanted to get the very best candidate," said Rose, who will become part-time non-executive chairman when Bolland joins.
"I'm sure if you were to ask my senior management team whether they thought Marc was a good catch, they'd all say yes," he said, adding there was no reason why any would leave.
Rose said there would be a handover period of around six weeks after Bolland joined and he would not interfere before stepping down as chairman by July 2011, as planned.
Bolland has experience taking over businesses from high-profile leaders, having taken the helm at Morrison from a founding family member and major shareholder, Ken Morrison.
Bolland will be M&S's second non-British boss, following Belgian Luc Vandevelde whose troubled tenure in the top job culminated in a second failed bid attempt for the retailer from billionaire Philip Green in 2004 and Rose's appointment as CEO.
Morrison, due to issue a third-quarter trading update on Thursday, said it would consider internal and external candidates to succeed Bolland. Analysts said finance director Richard Pennycook would be a strong contender.

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(Additional reporting by Raji Menon and Matthew Scuffham, Editing by Dan Lalor and Elaine Hardcastle)

($1 = 0.5946 pound) Keywords: M&S/ (james.davey@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7674; Reuters Messaging: james.davey.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

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By James Davey and Mark Potter

LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - British clothing and food retailer Marks & Spencer named Marc Bolland as its next leader, passing over internal candidates to poach the marketing expert who led a turnaround at Wm Morrison Supermarkets.
M&S shares rose 5.9 percent to a 17-month closing high of 390 pence, as analysts said Bolland's experience in groceries and business systems could speed a recovery in its upmarket food operations as well as drive a cost-saving supply chain upgrade.
The appointment, several months sooner than expected, also brings towards a close a 20-month row with investors over Stuart Rose's move to be both chairman and chief executive of M&S, in defiance of British corporate governance guidelines.
Some analysts, however, questioned whether Bolland had the expertise to help M&S's clothing business fend off the challenge from discount, fast-fashion chains like Primark.
"Turning around M&S is likely to be harder for Bolland than Morrisons was," Execution analyst Caroline Gulliver said.
Bolland, a 50-year-old Dutchman who has spent most of his career at Dutch beer group Heineken, is credited with reviving Morrison, Britain's fourth-biggest supermarket chain, after its bodged acquisition of Safeway in 2004.
Ignoring some analysts' call for a radical overhaul, he stuck with the group's traditional "Market Street" format of fresh food counters but gave it a makeover backed by innovative promotions, new product ranges, and tight cost management.
Shares in Morrison, which has been the fastest growing of Britain's top four food retailers for most of the past two years, fell as much as 5.8 percent to 278.5 pence.
"Has the Morrison story 'got as good as it gets' for Mr Bolland?" said Shore Capital analyst Darren Shirley, cutting his rating on Morrison shares to 'hold' from 'buy".
"We sense Morrison will miss him materially."

GOLDEN HELLO?
M&S said Bolland would join in the new year and on terms to be confirmed. He will stay at Morrison until the end of January.
Analysts said he would be richly rewarded, as he was walking away from Morrison with 4 million pounds ($6.7 million) of shares unvested.
"Being CEO of M&S is the job in UK retail," said one of the top 10 investors in Morrison. "It's a bit like being asked to be England football manager isn't it? You don't turn it down."

M&S has had a torrid recession. Its shares plunged around 60 percent last year as customers switched to cheaper rivals and two internal candidates for CEO left the business.
But it has bounced back, helped by cutting prices, new clothing ranges like Indigo, and innovative food promotions like "Dine in for two" for 10 pounds.
SG analyst Anne Critchlow said Bolland was well placed to continue the good work, and might be able to speed up the 250 million pounds of benefits M&S hopes to achieve by 2015-2016 from upgrading business systems.
Some analysts were disappointed by the scale and timing of the plan when it was announced last month
M&S had said it would prefer an internal candidate, with finance director Ian Dyson, food chief John Dixon and clothing boss Kate Bostock seen as contenders. Analysts said they failed to impress at an investor day in October.
"We've always said ... we wanted to get the very best candidate," said Rose, who will become part-time non-executive chairman when Bolland joins.
"I'm sure if you were to ask my senior management team whether they thought Marc was a good catch, they'd all say yes," he said, adding there was no reason why any would leave.
Rose said there would be a handover period of around six weeks after Bolland joined and he would not interfere before stepping down as chairman by July 2011, as planned.
Bolland has experience taking over businesses from high-profile leaders, having taken the helm at Morrison from a founding family member and major shareholder, Ken Morrison.
Bolland will be M&S's second non-British boss, following Belgian Luc Vandevelde whose troubled tenure in the top job culminated in a second failed bid attempt for the retailer from billionaire Philip Green in 2004 and Rose's appointment as CEO.
Morrison, due to issue a third-quarter trading update on Thursday, said it would consider internal and external candidates to succeed Bolland. Analysts said finance director Richard Pennycook would be a strong contender.

For INSTANT VIEW click on:

For COLUMN click on

For TIMELINE on M&S search for new CEO click on

(Additional reporting by Raji Menon and Matthew Scuffham, Editing by David Cowell ad Dan Lalor)

($1 = 0.5946 pound) Keywords: M&S/ (james.davey@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7674; Reuters Messaging: james.davey.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

By James Davey and Mark Potter

LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - British clothing and food retailer Marks & Spencer named Marc Bolland as its next leader, passing over internal candidates to poach the marketing expert who led a turnaround at Wm Morrison Supermarkets.
M&S shares rose 5.9 percent to a 17-month clsoing high of 390 pence, as analysts said Bolland's experience in groceries and business systems could speed a recovery in its upmarket food operations as well as drive a cost-saving supply chain upgrade.
The appointment, several months sooner than expected, also brings towards a close a 20-month row with investors over Stuart Rose's move to be both chairman and chief executive of M&S, in defiance of British corporate governance guidelines.
Some analysts, however, questioned whether Bolland had the expertise to help M&S's clothing business fend off the challenge from discount, fast-fashion chains like Primark.
"Turning around M&S is likely to be harder for Bolland than Morrisons was," Execution analyst Caroline Gulliver said.
Bolland, a 50-year-old Dutchman who has spent most of his career at Dutch beer group Heineken, is credited with reviving Morrison, Britain's fourth-biggest supermarket chain, after its bodged acquisition of Safeway in 2004.
Ignoring some analysts' call for a radical overhaul, he stuck with the group's traditional "Market Street" format of fresh food counters but gave it a makeover backed by innovative promotions, new product ranges, and tight cost management.
Shares in Morrison, which has been the fastest growing of Britain's top four food retailers for most of the past two years, fell as much as 5.8 percent to 278.5 pence.
"Has the Morrison story 'got as good as it gets' for Mr Bolland?" said Shore Capital analyst Darren Shirley, cutting his rating on Morrison shares to 'hold' from 'buy".
"We sense Morrison will miss him materially."

GOLDEN HELLO?
M&S said Bolland would join in the new year and on terms to be confirmed. He will stay at Morrison until the end of January.
Analysts said he would be richly rewarded, as he was walking away from Morrison with 4 million pounds ($6.7 million) of shares unvested.
"Being CEO of M&S is the job in UK retail," said one of the top 10 investors in Morrison. "It's a bit like being asked to be England football manager isn't it? You don't turn it down."

M&S has had a torrid recession. Its shares plunged around 60 percent last year as customers switched to cheaper rivals and two internal candidates for CEO left the business.
But it has bounced back, helped by cutting prices, new clothing ranges like Indigo, and innovative food promotions like "Dine in for two" for 10 pounds.
SG analyst Anne Critchlow said Bolland was well placed to continue the good work, and might be able to speed up the 250 million pounds of benefits M&S hopes to achieve by 2015-2016 from upgrading business systems.
Some analysts were disappointed by the scale and timing of the plan when it was announced last month
M&S had said it would prefer an internal candidate, with finance director Ian Dyson, food chief John Dixon and clothing boss Kate Bostock seen as contenders. Analysts said they failed to impress at an investor day in October.
"We've always said ... we wanted to get the very best candidate," said Rose, who will become part-time non-executive chairman when Bolland joins.
"I'm sure if you were to ask my senior management team whether they thought Marc was a good catch, they'd all say yes," he said, adding there was no reason why any would leave.
Rose said there would be a handover period of around six weeks after Bolland joined and he would not interfere before stepping down as chairman by July 2011, as planned.
Bolland has experience taking over businesses from high-profile leaders, having taken the helm at Morrison from a founding family member and major shareholder, Ken Morrison.
Bolland will be M&S's second non-British boss, following Belgian Luc Vandevelde whose troubled tenure in the top job culminated in a second failed bid attempt for the retailer from billionaire Philip Green in 2004 and Rose's appointment as CEO.
Morrison, due to issue a third-quarter trading update on Thursday, said it would consider internal and external candidates to succeed Bolland. Analysts said finance director Richard Pennycook would be a strong contender.

For INSTANT VIEW click on:

For COLUMN click on

For TIMELINE on M&S search for new CEO click on

(Additional reporting by Raji Menon and Matthew Scuffham, Editing by David Cowell ad Dan Lalor)

($1 = 0.5946 pound) Keywords: M&S/ (james.davey@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7674; Reuters Messaging: james.davey.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

RNS Number : 6416C Associated British Foods PLC 17 November 2009

17 November 2009

Associated British Foods plc

ANNUAL INFORMATION UPDATE

Annual information update for the period from 20 November 2008 up to and including 16 November 2009.

Associated British Foods plc ("the Company") is pleased to provide an annual information update, in accordance with the requirements of Prospectus Rule 5.2. The information referred to in this update was up to date at the time the information was published but some information may now be out of date. To avoid an unnecessarily lengthy document, information is referred to in this update rather than included in full.

Announcements made via RNS, a regulatory information service

All of the documents listed below were published via RNS, a Regulatory Information Service:
Date Brief description of announcement
12 November 2009 Notification of major interest in shares from AXA S.A.
6 November 2009 Director share holding - George Weston, CEO, increased his
share holding by 22,500 shares through exercise of options
over 22,500 ordinary shares granted on 17 January 2001
under the ABF 2000 Executive Share Option Scheme. The
options were exercised on 5 November 2009 at a price of
484p per share.
5 November 2009 Notification of delivery to FSA Viewing Facility of copies
of Annual Report and Accounts 2009, Notice of 2009 AGM and
Form of Proxy.
3 November 2009 Announcement of results for financial year ended 12
September 2009.

11 September 2009 Announcement of management changes at Primark/Penneys.
7 September 2009 Pre Close Period Trading Update.
11 August 2009 Announcement of an agreement to sell the Polish Sugar
business, British Sugar (Overseas) Polska SP. z.o.o., to
Pfeifer & Langen Polska S.A.
9 July 2009 Interim Management Statement (third quarter) for the 40
weeks ended 20 June 2009.
7 July 2009 Director share dealing - John Bason, Finance Director,
purchased 110 ordinary shares of the Company on 3 July
2009 at a price of £7.80 per share as a result of his
participation in the ABF Dividend Re-investment Plan.
5 June 2009 Director share holding - Charles Sinclair, Chairman,
purchased 6,740 ordinary shares of the Company on 5 June
2009 at a price of £7.355 per share.
30 April 2009 Completion of acquisition of Azucarera Ebro S.L.U.
23 April 2009 Notification of submission of copies of interim results
2009 to Financial Services Authority Viewing Facility.
21 April 2009 Interim results for the 24 weeks ended 28 February 2009.
31 March 2009 Announcement of the European Commission's clearance of
ABF's proposed acquisition of Azucarera Ebro S.L.U.

25 February 2009 Announcement of Martin Adamson's retirement from the Board
on 21 April 2009.
23 February 2009 Pre Close Period trading update.
15 January 2009 Release of the first Interim Management Statement for the
16 weeks to 3 January 2009.
12 January 2009 Director share holding - John Bason, Finance Director,
acquired 226 ordinary shares of the Company on 9 January
2009 at a price of £7.33 per share as a result of his
participation in the ABF Dividend Re-investment Plan.
7 January 2009 Statement re: IMS and reporting timetable 2009.
15 December 2008 Announcement of ABF's acquisition of the Spanish sugar
business, Azucarera Ebro S.L.U. subject to regulatory
approval.
8 December 2008 Announcement of the AGM poll results.
8 December 2008 Publication of resolutions dealing with special business
passed at the annual general meeting of 5 December 2008.
5 December 2008 AGM statement.
25 November 2008 Executive Share Incentive Plan 2003 - announcement of
conditional allocation, under the Plan, of 157,203
ordinary shares to George Weston and 104,802 ordinary
shares to John Bason, made on the basis of an allocation
price of 656 pence per share.
20 November 2008 Announcement of agreement in principle with Ebro Puleva
S.A. regarding the potential acquisition of the leading
Spanish sugar business, Azucarera Ebro S.L.U.

20 November 2008 Annual Information update.

Copies of the above announcements can be obtained from the Company's website www.abf.co.uk.

Documents filed at Companies House

All of the documents listed below were filed with the Registrar of Companies in England and Wales on or around the dates indicated.
Date Document filed
17 August 2009 Annual Return on Form 363 made up to 27 July 2009
11 May 2009 Form 288b recording the resignation of Martin Adamson as a
director
27 January 2009 Form 353 recording the change of location of members'
register

09 December 2008 Annual accounts filed for the Group made up to 13 September

09 December 2008 Resolutions (1) adopting new articles, disapplying
pre-emption rights and (2) authorising allotment of
securities.

Copies of documents filed with the Registrar of Companies can be obtained from Companies House. (www.companieshouse.gov.uk)

Annual and Interim Reports

The Company's Annual Report for the period ended 12 September 2009 and Notice of the 2009 Annual General Meeting (which were filed with the UKLA Document Viewing Facility on 5 November 2009) can be found on the Company's website www.abf.co.uk as can the Interim Results 2009 published on 21 April 2009.

Contact

Paul Lister, Company Secretary Tel. 0207 399 6500

This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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