Tesco is in the media spotlight once again over its accounting irregularities as it prepares to file half-year results later in the week.
The supermarket is facing further legal action from a group of investors who claim they suffered financially after a £326m black hole was revealed in the supermarket’s accounts, The Mail writes. A group of asset managers, hedge funds and pension funds, including UK and international investors, will file the lawsuit in the UK within the next four weeks, according to Bentham Europe, the litigation funder (The Financial Times). The potential claim from 60 shareholders over £150m of losses comes after the grocer was forced to suspend four senior executives and call in investigators in September 2014, when it discovered its profits had been artificially inflated by £250m, The Guardian reports.
The papers also previewed the supermarket’s half-year results, which will be unveiled on Wednesday. The Telegraph says that Tesco’s turnaround will be given another boost this week when Britain’s biggest supermarket chain is expected to post a doubling in profits and a third straight quarter of UK sales growth. The Sunday Times says Tesco is in shape for price war as it is set to report an increase in profits, cementing its recovery under Dave Lewis and giving it the firepower heading into Christmas. However, The Mail on Sunday warns that the pensions black hole is casting a shadow on the results. The paper writes that Tesco could be forced to hike payments into its staff pension scheme – after an increase in the deficit to as much as £5bn. The company is currently paying £270m over a ten-year period but falling yields on long-term investments mean the supermarket giant is facing a larger pension gap than anticipated. The Times reports this morning that companies will take more than 20 years to fill the shortfalls in their pension funds, according to Goldman Sachs.
The food giant behind Soreen fruit bread and Ginsters pasties has paid its family owners an £18m dividend after profits at the group leapt last year (The Mail on Sunday). Leicestershire-based Samworth Brothers, which employs 8,500 people, made the payment after profit increased 27 % to £47m.
A new brewery opened every three days in the UK last year as entrepreneurs sought to capitalise on the thirst for craft beers, according to accountancy group UHY Hacker Young (The Financial Times). The number of UK breweries rose by 8% to around 1,700 over the past year as the surge in popularity of craft beers continues, the research showed (The Guardian).
An organic baby food start-up, backed by the TV gastronome Prue Leith and Craig Sams, the co-founder of the upmarket confectionery firm Green & Blacks, is forecasting a turnover of £2m in its first year, having secured lucrative deals with Waitrose, Asda and Booths (The Sunday Telegraph).
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