Asda boss Roger Burnley blamed Brexit for shattering consumer confidence and knocking the supermarket’s sales in the first half of the year (The Telegraph). Asda said Brexit uncertainty was hurting its customers as it reported a fall in sales for the first half of the year (Sky News). Asda has reported a fall in sales in the first six months of the year and warned about “uncertainty surrounding Brexit” (The BBC). This year’s late Easter helped Asda post a small increase in second quarter sales – but the supermarket’s boss said conditions are still challenging (The Daily Mail).
The world’s largest bricks-and-mortar retailer indicated that it is coping with President Trump’s trade wars as it posted a larger than expected increase in sales and boosted its full-year forecast (The Times £). Walmart has shrugged off concerns surrounding the US-China trade war by posting strong second-quarter results and raising its earnings expectations for the year (The Telegraph).
Walmart has emerged as an island of refuge in America’s increasingly choppy retail waters. A day after Macy’s spooked Wall Street with yet another profit warning, results from the big box retailer on Thursday proved that Americans are more than happy to open their wallets if the mix of price, offering and service is right. (The Financial Times £)
A surge in online shopping helped to lift retail sales last month, fuelling hopes that the economy will recover in the second half of the year (The Times £). Shoppers spent so vigorously last month that the economy is set to return to growth, dodging recession despite the pressure from the US-China trade war and the risk of a ‘no deal’ Brexit (The Telegraph). Some rare good news emerged for Britain’s retailers today as official data showed a shock rise for sales thanks to an online spending boom (The Daily Mail). Online spending bolstered UK retail sales last month, while department stores notched up their first increase this year, as consumers shrugged off Brexit fears (The Guardian). Shoppers in Britain have given retailers a surprise boost in July, helped by the strongest growth in online since May 2016 (Sky News). British retail sales grew unexpectedly in July, helped by the strongest growth in online spending in three years, as consumer spending continued to provide support to the economy into the third quarter (The Financial Times £).
The owner of Poundland is ready for a €4 billion sale or flotation next month. Pepkor Europe has refinanced its high-interest debts and untangled itself from Steinhoff, its scandal-ridden parent company. (The Times £)
A former director of Cadbury and finance chief at Reckitt Benckiser is among the leading contenders to chair Premier Foods, the owner of Mr Kipling and Angel Delight. (Sky News)
A long-running legal tussle between the food companies Mondelez International and Kraft Heinz and a US market regulator reignited in fury, just hours after it had been formally concluded by a federal judge. (The Financial Times £)
A push into rural China helped Alibaba surpass Wall Street forecasts in the last quarterly report before Jack Ma, its co-founder and figurehead, gives up the chairmanship (The Times £). China’s Alibaba trumped analysts’ expectations with a 42% year-on-year jump in quarterly revenues a day after its rival Tencent disappointed the market by posting more modest growth (The Financial Times £)
US retail sales jumped by the most in four months in July, indicating that consumer spending remains robust and partly soothing fears over the health of the world’s biggest economy. (The Financial Times £)
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