The financial woes of The Co-operative Group have wounded it so seriously that it can no longer boast of being Britain’s biggest-grossing co-op, writes The Times. In revenue terms, the John Lewis Partnership has become the country’s largest business owned and managed by its members, with a turnover of £10.9bn, compared with the Co-op Group’s £10.8n. (The Times £)

The turnover of all the co-operatives in the UK has fallen for the first time in almost 10 years. Co-operatives UK found that the turnover of the entire sector was £37bn, down 2.8% on a year earlier. It was the first year-on-year fall since the data was collected in 2006 and the result of the reduction in the Co-op Group’s stake in the Co-op Bank. (The Guardian)

Nevertheless, the Co-operative sector ‘in good health’ despite the Co-op Bank woes. The number of co-ops grew to 6,800 and they have a record 15m members, a 15 per cent rise on 2010. Ed Mayo, secretary-general of Co-operatives UK, said the fall in turnover was “a one-off accounting hit”. (The Financial Times £)

Separately, the Co-op Bank scandal has sprung back to life as the troubled lender said it is facing a showdown with two regulators. The bank used an obscure stock market announcement about a ‘Tier 2 notes offering’ to issue an update on probes by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority into its near-collapse in 2013. (The Daily Mail)

Tesco’s lavish executive pay has been slammed by shareholder advisory bodies, setting the scene for what is expected to be a stormy annual meeting on Friday. Chief executive Dave Lewis stands to pocket five times his salary next year if all targets are met, which corporate governance body Pirc says is ‘considered excessive’. (The Daily Mail)

More than 300 jobs are under threat after Young’s Seafood lost a key contract to process salmon for Sainsbury’s. Trade union Unite said that the loss of the contract was “extremely serious and worrying” and could lead to the loss of 330 jobs. (The Times £, The Guardian)

One of two brothers behind the Poundworld discount empire has walked away from the company after making millions of pounds by selling his shares to a private equity firm. Laurence Edwards, who began his business career by working on his parents’ market stall in Wakefield, has resigned as a director of Poundworld and has left the business, according to records filed at Companies House. (The Times £)

Alibaba, which last year launched the world’s largest ever stock market flotation, has admitted defeat in its attempts to crack the US retail market after only a year. The Chinese e-commerce giant, which was valued at $231bn following its initial public offering in New York in September - has announced it will offload its US shopping subsidiary 11 Main. (The Telegraph)

UK vaping sales increased by 75% to £459m while spending on nicotine replacement therapies such as patches and gum fell by 3% to £137m, its first decline since 2008, ending four years of annual growth of between 5-6%. Globally, sales of vapour devices grew by 59% to £3.9bn – breaking through $6bn for the first time. (The Telegraph)

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