Greggs will reinvest profits in a bid to become an all-day dining challenger to McDonald’s. The food-to-go chain reported total sales up 14.7% to £546m, compared with a 5.2% increase in the same period last year. Pre-tax profits climbed 52% to £36.7m (Financial Times £).
Greggs said it expected to open 100 new stores this year (The Times £). The chain will roll out late opening and evening meals (The Daily Mail). It said it continued to profit from the popularity of its vegan sausage roll (The Telegraph). Roger Whiteside, chief executive, said the vegan pastry had helped change the perception of Greggs “an old-fashioned bakery from the north” to a “modern food-on-the-go brand” (The Guardian).
Reckitt Benckiser has cut the group’s full-year like-for-like net revenue growth target from 3-4% to 2-3%. It reported flat like-for likes in the second quarter – below analyst consensus estimates of 1.9% growth (Financial Times £). Rakesh Kapoor, the outgoing chief executive, said he was “definitely not happy with where we are with consumer health now” (The Times £). Declining birth rates and cheaper condoms in China dented sales of the group in the first half of the year (The Telegraph). “Tough competition against Durex condoms in China dents revenues at consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser” (The Daily Mail).
Anheuser-Busch InBev says it will fight a government order banning sales in New Delhi for allegedly evading local taxes. The brewer denied the allegations and said it looked forward to receiving “a fair hearing” (Financial Times £).
The number of shops on Britain’s high streets is now falling after reaching an all-time peak last year, according to exclusive analysis commissioned by Sky News from Local Data Company.
The body of India’s “coffee king”, VG Siddhartha has been recovered from a river after a massive search, raising questions over the future of Café Coffee Day, India’s largest coffee retail chain. He had held talks with Coca-Cola prior to his death about a potential sales of a stake (Financial Times £). He set up the chain, part of Coffee Day Enterprises, which now has 1,700 stores, in 1996 (The Guardian). Siddhartha went missing on Monday after apparently walking away from his car and driver (BBC). The company shared a widely circulated letter signed by Siddhartha in which he said he was in debt and had “failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts”.
Casino’s controlling shareholder, Jean-Charles Naouri, is fighting to keep hold of his indebted empire says the Financial Times (£) in The Big Read analysis.
L’Oreal reported second-quarter like-for-like sales up 6.8% to €7.26bn. The growth was weaker than expected. The group said it would buy back up to €750m shares in the second half, and cancel the shares acquired (Financial Times £). The company’s North American sales fell in the second quarter as a makeup boom fuelled by YouTube beauty bloggers and Instagram selfies lost steam (Bloomberg).
A writedown of goodwill and intangible assets at Gillette mainly because of currency devaluation pushed Procter & Gamble to a net loss of $5.24bn in the three months to the end of June (Financial Times £). It said it recognised market contraction of blades and razors, primarily in developed markets had also hit grooming. Organic sales climbed 7% in its fiscal fourth quarter – the strongest quarterly growth since 2006. The shares were up by $5.23, or 4.5%, to $121.23 by lunchtime in New York yesterday (The Times £).
Alphaville, in the Financial Times (£), ruminates on Beyond Meat’s sale of 1% of its shares so soon after its public offering.
The overall GfK consumer confidence index for July came in at minus 11 – an improvement from minus 13 last month but far below the positive readings taken before the referendum (The Times £).
The UK’s cherry industry has bounced back after almost withering, says The Guardian, which notes that some supermarkets no longer need to import cherries in summer to meet demand.
Readers of The Guardian nominate their favourite canal-boat shops, including Candy Boat, a sweetshop on the Peak Forest canal, and The Oatcake Boat, on the Trend and Mersey canal.
“Trump’s threat to tax French wines labelled ‘completely moronic’” says The Guardian. The threat is retaliation for France’s announce levy for US technology companies.
Amazon and Walmart are among five major retailers researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, are suing for allegedly infringing four patents related to “filament” LED light bulbs. None of the retailers immediately responded to Reuters requests for comment.
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