Sales of Fever-Tree’s tonics and mixers in the United States have overtaken those in Britain as the London-listed soft drinks group pursues its growth ambitions overseas (The Times £). Fever-Tree now generates more revenue in the US than in Britain, following solid growth in ‘off-trade’ sales across the former territory (Daily Mail).

Haleon has agreed to sell lip balm brand ChapStick to private equity group Yellow Wood Partners for $430m as it seeks to simplify its portfolio and pay down debt (Financial Times £). Haleon has offloaded ChapStick in a deal worth more than $500m as the consumer healthcare group seeks to reduce its debts and boost its share price (The Times £). Consumer healthcare giant Haleon has agreed to sell ChapStick to private equity-backed US firm Suave Brands for around $510m (Daily Mail).

UK consumer confidence reached a two-year high in January, according to research company GfK, in the latest positive sign for the economy (Financial Times £).The prospects of interest rate cuts by the Bank of England and of further falls in inflation over the coming year have lifted consumer confidence to its highest point in two years, a closely watched survey shows (The Times £).

Supermarket sandwiches are to become more expensive as a looming rise in minimum wage puts up the cost of making them. Greencore, the UK’s biggest sandwich maker, said on Thursday it would need to increase its prices when the National Living Wage increases by £1 an hour in April. (Telegraph £)

The rate of shoplifting in England and Wales has hit its highest level for more than two decades after rising by nearly a third in a year, the latest crime figures show (The Guardian). It is the first time since current records began in 2002 that the number of shoplifting offences has surpassed 400,000 - above pre-pandemic levels (Sky News).

John Lewis has paved the way for job cuts after telling staff it will halve redundancy payouts, making it cheaper to lay off workers. (Telegraph £)

The UK has stopped its trade talks with Canada, after nearly two years of negotiations on a post-Brexit agreement. Canada’s government had been facing political pressure from domestic cheese producers. It had also been pushing for the UK to relax a ban on hormone-treated beef, which its producers say effectively shuts them out of the British market. (The BBC)

Asda is converting more of its superstore petrol forecourts to card-only, unmanned operations with staff being redeployed into its stores. (BBC)

Retail sales in Britain have suffered a further slowdown this month, falling at the sharpest pace in three years. (The Times £)

On Sunday night agriculture giant Archer Daniels Midland Co issued a statement saying its chief financial officer had been put on leave with immediate effect pending an investigation into the accounting practices and procedures of its nutrition business. The probe was instigated following a request from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. ADM’s shares suffered their largest one-day drop since 1929 when markets reopened on Monday. (Financial Times £)

A trifecta of problems facing the international operations of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises sparked a 30% plunge in the share price of the Australian-owned company on Thursday, erasing more than $1.5bn in value. (The Guardian)

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