Heineken’s results in the week it bought Kirin’s Brazil business was picked up by most papers. The Financial Times writes that shares in the Dutch brewer hit a three-month high on Wednesday after it posted improved operating profit margins for 2016 and forecast a better performance this year, but warned of volatile economic conditions and unfavourable currency movements. The Telegraph takes an UK angle as the Heineken boss praises the British pub ‘institution’ ahead of Punch Taverns takeover. He said that British pubs are an “institution” that continue to provide great opportunities for business as the company presses on with its acquisition of pub chain Punch Taverns.
The Financial Times’ Lex column praises Heineken as a “well-run consumer goods company” but adds that getting big strategic moves right is not as easy as it looks.
The Guardian has an exclusive on leaked papers from the European parliament’s agriculture committee that the EU is worried over an influx of ‘British champagne’ once Brexit ends food naming rules.
Waitrose, Iceland and Marks & Spencer have bagged the top slots in a supermarket survey by Which? based on customers’ levels of satisfaction when shopping in store and online (The Guardian).
Danone has forecast a slowdown in profit growth this year and launched a drive to cut €1bn in costs by 2020, as the world’s largest yoghurt maker prepares for a steep rise in milk prices (The Financial Times). The cost-cutting plans were unveiled as part of results that showed that like-for-like sales had increased by 2.9% last year, the slowest pace for nearly 20 years (The Telegraph).
PepsiCo beat expectations for its fourth quarter thanks to strong sales in the US as the drinks-and-snacks giant made progress on its journey to offer healthier products, The Financial Times reports. Revenue rose 5% in the three months to $19.5bn.
A dispute over the ownership of Stolichnaya vodka comes under the spotlight in The Financial Times. The paper says the battle is a hangover from Russia’s chaotic 1990s.
Amazon is rumoured to be about to embark on a shake-up of the fashion industry with its own label to take on M&S, Next and Boohoo (The Mail). Trade magazine Drapers reported rumours the Seattle-based giant’s own-label clothing could be launched as early as this spring.
No comments yet