UK ministers are set to announce a further delay to post-Brexit border controls on animal and plant products coming from the EU, amid fears that extra bureaucracy on imported goods will fuel inflation (The Financial Times £).
Asda has begun publishing local fuel prices at its forecourts online, becoming the first retailer to launch the service following pressure from the competition watchdog and MPs over widened profit margins at the pump (The Guardian).
Shoplifters are overrunning retailers and avoiding public rebuke because politicians have accused supermarkets of profiteering, the chief executive of Co-op Food has said. Matt Hood said there has been a surge in crime at his stores and that he was “disappointed” people were defending looters after MPs criticised rip-off prices (The Telegraph).
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has struck an agreement to jointly acquire a soft drinks bottler in the Philippines for $1.8bn (£1.4bn) (The Mail).
Haleon reported better than expected sales as consumers stocked up on well known products such as Sensodyne toothpaste and Panadol painkillers at higher prices despite the cost of living crisis (The Financial Times £).
The FTSE 100 company said its revenue had risen by 10.4% to £5.7bn in the six months to the end of June, with a mix of prices up 7.5% and volumes rising by 2.9% (The Times £).
The consumer healthcare company now expects organic revenues to expand by 7 to 8% this year, up from previous guidance of ‘towards the upper end of the 4-6% range’ (The Mail).
The Tempus shares column in The Times (£) rates Haleon as a ‘hold’ following the results, flagging “potential sales from a leading shareholder and litigation” as an “overhang”.
The Questor shares column in The Telegraph cast an eye over Unilever, giving the stock a ‘buy’ rating, arguing if new CEO Hein Schumacher can keep sales growth moving in the right direction “there is plenty of scope for the shares to rise”.
Smurfit Kappa emphasised its green credentials yesterday as it revealed that a slowdown in retail and manufacturing had hit demand for its packaging products and trimmed 14% off its bottom line (The Times £).
An opinion column in The Guardian by Adrian Chiles argues “we must resist” self-service checkouts in supermarkets. “The whole picture verges on the dystopian.”
The number of people visiting Britain’s high streets fell last month as the rising cost of living, soggy weather and disruption to rail travel kept shoppers away (The Times £).
No comments yet