ANALYSIS A&P supermarkets VS Shoprite Research Paper

ANALYSIS A&P supermarkets VS Shoprite - Research Paper Example The company operates around 435 supermarkets all over the United States. It is being operating as a subsidiary of Tengelmann Group, which is a based in Germany. A&P is only operating in the market of USA and has around 45000 employees. Once known to be the biggest supermarket retail chain in the country, A&P is now facing several financial issues and challenges. In the year 2010, the company reported a decline of around 7.4 percent in the overall revenues. The operating loss was reported to be around $600.6 million in the same year and the net loss in the year 2010 was around $875.6 million. Shoprite Holdings Limited is serving in the retail industry through different subsidiaries and provides the customers with fast moving consumer goods retail services. The company has being operating a vast network of hyper markets, outlets, and stores. Apart from this the operations of the company are expanded into 17 different countries and have well constructed supply chain network. Shoprite ha s been reporting considerable financial results and performance from several years and has been able to survive in the time of economic recession. It is offering significant dividend to its shareholders. The strategic and financial analysis carried out in this report, suggest that Shoprite is a better option for investing the money as the company is reporting increasing profits and revenues. INTRODUCTION: Retail industry is a recession proof industry and the industry has been growing even during the time of recession. The main reason for this is because of the fact that people have to eat, drink and wear clothes despite of what the situation of economy is. Because of this reason, a lot of investors choose to invest in companies within the retail industry particularly grocery stores. OVERVIEW OF A&P: The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. (A&P) is a US supermarket chain; the company was once one of the biggest companies in the US but it has been reduced in size. A&P runs 435 supermarkets in eight eastern states and the District of Columbia (AP Freshonline). In late 2007, A&P acquired its longtime rival, Pathmark Stores, for about $1.4 billion, reversing years of decline at the grocery company. A&P is a subsidiary of Tengelmann Group, a German Retailing Group which owns about 40% of A&P. A&P operates only in the US and is headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey. It employs approximately 45,000 people (Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, 5). OVERVIEW OF SHOPRITE: Shoprite Holdings Limited (Shoprite) is an investment holding company that operates through its subsidiaries and offers fast moving consumer goods retail services by operating a range of hyper markets, stores and outlets. It operates through 1,394 stores, including 265 franchised outlets and 1084 corporate outlets in 17 countries. Shoprite is headquartered in Western Cape, South Africa, and primarily operates in South Africa, the Indian Ocean Islands and various other African Countries. It employ s about 88,000 people. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES: Both companies offer a range of products and services which mainly include