Coca-Cola president & chief financial officer John Murphy said the drinks giant would continue to increase prices in the second half of the year, as the company raised its forecasts on the back of resilient demand (Financial Times £).
Reckitt’s interim chief executive Nicandro Durante said the consumer goods company was cautious about passing on price rises to inflation-hit consumers in Europe, as it reported a fall in sales volumes in the first half of the year (Financial Times £).
Reckitt Benckiser sales volumes fell in the second quarter, while an increase in the price of raw materials offset price hike gains (Mail).
Reckitt has defended imposing price increases as consumers face a cost of living squeeze after the rises helped to offset a drop in its sales volumes (The Times £).
French food giant Danone has taken a €200m (£170m) hit after Vladimir Putin seized its Russian factories. The company, which owns brands including Evian and Actimel, said it will “deconsolidate” its operations in the country (Telegraph).
Co-op has recorded the highest level of shoplifting in its history and blamed police for failing to crack down on violent gangs of thieves. The supermarket logged about 1,000 incidents of retail crime, theft and antisocial behaviour every day in the past six months across its stores — an increase of 35% year on year (The Times £).
Co-op campaign and public affairs director Paul Gerrard told The Grocer he was shocked by the “brazenness and scale” of the crimes committed, particularly with the amount of stock stolen at a time, rising up to £500.
Irn-Bru supplies could “dry up” within weeks, a union leader has said, after workers at the manufacturer announced dates for strikes over pay (The Guardian).
The online protein shakes and cosmetics tycoon Matthew Moulding is plotting his latest surprising transformation with the takeover of the troubled London newspaper City AM (Telegraph).
In a deal that caused widespread surprise across the City yesterday, THG, the online health and beauty retailer, has rescued City AM, the London-based business newspaper, out of administration (The Times £).
The 18-year-old freesheet, which had been on the brink of collapsing into administration, announced on Wednesday that it had been bought by THG for an undisclosed sum (The Guardian).
A business editorial in The Guardian says Moulding “has the right to buy City AM – but he shouldn’t use THG’s cash”. “The retail billionaire’s newspaper deal looks like an indulgence when his core business needs attention.”
British American Tobacco has revealed strong profit growth, bolstered by price hikes and fast-growing demand for tobacco alternatives (Mail).
Future growth could be bumpy but British American Tobacco’s e-cigarette and tobacco-heating devices business was said yesterday to be on course to break even next year (The Times £).
Just Eat Takeaway.com swung to a first half profit as cost cutting initiatives offset falling order volumes (Mail).
Ocado’s naysayers have eaten “humble pie” as hedge funds scrambled to cover their short positions following a 45% jump for the shares over the past month, according to the market report in The Times (£).
As a new documentary investigates shopping habits, a retail expert and a former Aldi buyer tells The Times (£) what’s really worth paying for when it comes to brands versus own label.
The Guardian has a feature exposing “the truth about loyalty cards: discounts, data collection and the very best deals”. “Shoppers could save 50p to £10 for every £100 spent with these money-saving schemes. But are they always worth handing over your personal details?,” the paper asks.
Amazon has proposed a series of measures to ensure third-party sellers are treated fairly on its marketplace platform in the UK in response to a probe by the competition regulators (Financial Times £).
Australia’s big supermarkets are far more profitable than their British peers Tesco and Sainsbury’s, and the gulf has widened during the pandemic, leaving shoppers with fast-escalating food bills in a cost-of-living crisis (The Guardian).
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