Supermarkets stand to rake in bumper petrol profits as the soaring price of oil threatens to exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis. The grocery giants have raised profit margins on petrol over the past three months, according to data provided by the RAC. (The Times £) 

John Lewis Partnership has stoked hopes it may reinstate its treasured staff bonus after it smashed its £100m annual profit target. In a leaked memo, the company said profit had been lifted by bumper Christmas sales at its Waitrose supermarkets and a major cost-cutting drive (The Mail). John Lewis is returning to profitability as strong Christmas sales helped it recover from an unprecedented annual loss (The Telegraph). 

Growing demand for vapes and heated tobacco helped to bolster revenue at British American Tobacco last year, as the company prepares for a future with lower cigarette sales and an emphasis on newer products (The Financial Times £). British American Tobacco is to make a share buyback of as much as £2bn as the maker of Dunhill and Lucky Strike cigarettes continues to generate vast amounts of cash and after it reduced losses in its e-cigarettes business for the first time last year. (The Times £) 

Big Tobacco’s bets on smoking alternatives are starting to pay off. The UK’s British American Tobacco expects its non-combustible business to turn a profit by 2025, while at Marlboro maker Philip Morris International almost a third of revenue comes from these products. But the reduced-risk business model relies relies on there being smokers to convert. (The Financial Times £) 

Prospective bidders for Boots have been given until the end of the month to lodge first-round bids in a £7bn auction for the health and beauty chain. (The Times £) 

The private equity firm behind Burger King UK has added a third investment bank to its advisers as it pushes ahead with a £600m flotation. Bridgepoint is understood to have hired Peel Hunt alongside Bank of America and Investec to advise it on an initial public offering in the first half of the year. (The Times £) 

For the wine industry the change to alcohol taxation, announced in last autumn’s Budget and due to come into effect in February 2023, looks like a nightmare in the making, compounding bureaucratic headaches that importers are already experiencing as a result of Brexit. (The Financial Times £) 

The contest to run the lottery burst into the open last week with reports that Camelot, the incumbent, had scored highest in an early assessment of four bidders. The Gambling Commission insisted it had yet to make a decision, but the leak has led to criticism of the regulator, which is responsible for choosing a winner. (The Times £) 

The cost of a home-poured G&T is bubbling up due to a jump in tonic prices at the supermarket. Shop price data from the research firm Assosia suggests that the price of mixers made by major tonic brands such as Schweppes and Fever-Tree has risen sharply this month (The Guardian). The cost of a homemade G&T could become more expensive as the price of popular tonic waters soars (Sky News). 

The price of pasta, tinned tomatoes and strawberry jam jumped last year as the cost of supermarket staples rose, new figures for the BBC suggest. Overall, the price of a basket filled with 15 standard food items rose by £1.32, or 8%, in just one year. (The BBC) 

Jack Monroe has praised Asda for cutting the cost of products in its Smartprice range - and making them more widely available (Sky News). The anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe returned to her local supermarket on Saturday for the first time since her tweets about the increasing price of groceries went viral to find that her campaign had been successful (The Guardian). 

The new generation of fast grocery delivery services such as Getir and Gorillas may be providing convenience for consumers, but in the Netherlands they are increasingly seen as a blight on neighbourhoods. Authorities in the country have started to take action against hundreds of so-called “dark stores” — distribution hubs for on-demand groceries where workers zip in and out on scooters, prompting complaints that they are causing disruption and are a nuisance. (The Times £) 

Tate & Lyle shot to the top of the FTSE250 after upgrading its profit forecasts. (The Daily Mail) 

Spending in smaller UK regional centres has bounced back stronger at the start of the year than in London and other larger cities more reliant on office workers for high street trade, according to a recent study. (The Financial Times £) 

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