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Drivers are still paying too much to fill up their cars, with fuel margins at supermarkets double what they were in 2019, the competition watchdog has warned this morning.
High prices in the industry cost motorists more than £1.6bn in 2023 alone, with competition among retailers still “failing” consumers, the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) said.
A third report by the watchdog as it continued to monitor the sector also found retailers’ fuel margins – the difference between what a retailer pays for its fuel and what it sells at – are still significantly above historic levels.
The CMA also took another look at competition among the supermarkets on food, despite finding no cause for concern in July 2023.
It said its analysis should provide shoppers with “reassurance that competition in the groceries sector appears to be effective in bearing down on retail margins”.
CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell added: ““At a time when household budgets are under huge strain, it’s our job to make sure people can be confident they are getting good deals and that they are not being harmed by weak competition or unfair sales practices.
“Last year we found that competition in the road fuel market was failing consumers, and published proposals that would revitalise competition amongst fuel retailers. One year on and drivers are still paying too much.”
She said the CMA wanted to work with the Labour government to put in place recommendations for the real-time fuel finder scheme that it proposed last year, which she added would “kick-start” competition among retailers.
“This will put the power in the hands of drivers who can compare fuel prices wherever they are, sparking greater competition.”
Morning update
Real estate investment trust Supermarket Income has completed a £170m refinancings through its first private placement debt issuance and a new unsecured bank facility.
It signed and completed an agreement with a group of institutional investors for a private placement of €83m of new senior unsecured notes, with a maturity of seven years.
And it also refinanced its existing £97 million secured debt facility with Deka through a new £100m unsecured debt facility with ING Bank.
Ben Green, director of Atrato Capital, the investment advisor to Supermarket Income REIT, said: “We are very pleased at the support we have received from new institutional investors both for the company’s new unsecured private placement and for the refinancing of the secured facility.
“The quality of our portfolio continues to appeal to new lenders and allows the company to access debt financing on favourable terms.”
The FTSE 100 is up 0.7% to 8,241.91pts so far this morning.
Early risers include Ocado, up 1.6% to 432.2p, Hilton Food Group, up 1.5% to 897p, and Reckitt Benckiser, up 1.5% to 4,445p.
Greencore and THG are among the fallers, down 3.1% to 173.8p and 1.1% to 64.1p respectively.
Yesterday in the City
The FTSE 100 tip-toed 0.2% higher to 8,172.09pts.
Unilever sat at the top of London’s blue-chip index as shares jumped 6.2% to 4,668p despite missing Q2 sales expectations. Investors were happy with a big beat on margins as profitability improved.
Conversely, Nestle slumped 5.2% to CHF88.66 as it downgraded full-year organic growth forecasts as prices started to come down quicker than it hoped.
Virgin Wines also benefitted as it flagged a better-than-expected full-year performance in a pre-close trading update. Shares rose 6.7% to 45.9p.
British American Tobacco increased 5.2% to 2,710p on an upbeat half-year set of results.
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