The market share of the Big Four supermarkets has tumbled to a 15-year low as the march of the German discounters Aldi and Lidl continues (The Daily Mail). Aldi and Lidl have raked in an additional £1bn in sales over the past year as more shoppers desert rival supermarkets (The Telegraph).
Home Bargains’ sales exceeded £2.5bn for the first time as the rapidly expanding discounter opened another 26 stores and reiterated its target of operating up to 1,000 outlets (The Financial Times £). The brothers behind Home Bargains received a multimillion-pound payout last year as the discount retailer pushed ahead with an ambitious plan to double the number of its stores (The Times £).
UK pub and brewing group Marston’s said it expected a fall in profit this year as it took a hit from lower food sales, sending its share price sharply down (The Financial Times £). Pub titan Marston’s has warned that Britons are settling for a pint instead of splashing cash on eating out (The Telegraph).
The Qatari owners of Harrods paid themselves a £125m dividend last year despite a dip in profits. (The Telegraph)
The pound has jumped to its highest level against the dollar since May after an unconfirmed report that a draft Brexit deal with the EU may be close. (Sky News)
British banks have been instructed not to take big up or down bets on the pound, the governor of the Bank of England told MPs yesterday, as he warned the country to expect serious volatility in currencies and share prices in the next few days (The Times £). Banks have been banned from making big bets on the pound as fraught Brexit talks trigger wild swings in the currency (The Daily Mail).
A “large proportion” of traders and businesses will not be ready for new customs and regulatory controls enforced under a no-deal Brexit, a watchdog has warned. (Sky News)
The Daily Telegraph has stopped giving away bottles of water with copies of its newspaper at branches of WH Smith, as the company focuses on selling website subscriptions rather than shoring up sales of its print product. (The Guardian)
Mounting concern over more than 100,000 court claims it is defending in the United States did not stop Johnson & Johnson from raising its full-year profit forecast yesterday. (The Times £)
The world’s largest publicly traded cannabis company, Canopy Growth, will be the first to be allowed to import medicinal cannabis in bulk into the UK. (The Financial Times £)
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