Procter & Gamble’s chief executive said calls for the company to be split have dissipated as the world’s largest maker of consumer goods gave a subdued sales growth outlook for its next financial year.
Criticism that the $233bn company had become too unwieldy grew last year while David Taylor’s predecessor, AG Lafley, was still leading the company. “They’ve already dissipated greatly,” Taylor said P&G’s fourth-quarter earnings report. “We chose to play in categories that we’re winning, we played to our core capabilities and that makes good sense.” (The Financial Times £)
Shares in AG Barr lost their fizz yesterday as the maker of Irn-Bru forecast a fall in revenues on the back of the soggy summer weather. The Scottish soft drinks group also conceded that the Brexit vote had caused “a degree of economic uncertainty”, while the weakness of the pound was likely to hit input costs, albeit not until next year (The Times £). “Summer cannot come quickly enough for AG Barr”, writes The Financial Times (£) after it warned on Tuesday that the poor weather would lead to a drop in sales this year.
Greggs, the high street bakery chain known for its sausage rolls, has posted an uptick in half-year sales helped by falafel wraps and other healthier menu options (The Telegraph). Greggs has reported a boost to sales and profits in the first half of the year, as a shift to healthier snacks continues to pay off (The Financial Times £). James Moore in The Independent writes: “Profits and sales are growing handily thanks to the popularity of the health-conscious Balanced Choice range. That’s good for Greggs. It might be good for Britain too.”
Fierce competition on the high street continues to drive down prices, helping cash-strapped consumers. The latest figures from Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium showed deflation of 1.6% for shop prices last month, a slight recovery from the 2% decline recorded in June. (The Times £)
Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s have joined Morrisons in cutting petrol prices by 2p, but campaign groups have accused the supermarkets of being slow to pass on lower wholesale prices to customers. (The Independent)
“Every tipple helps” is The Guardian headline on the story that Tesco has opened a pop-up wine bar in Soho. The supermarket giant has taken over an art gallery for two weeks offering sips and snifters of its finest wine range. (The Guardian)
Shares in Metro tumbled as much as 7 per cent on Tuesday morning, after restructuring costs pushed the German retail conglomerate to a €36m loss in the three months to the end of June. (The Financial Times £)
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