With the summer holidays in full flow, there is a dearth of retail news in the papers this morning.
The Financial Times features Heineken’s half-year results with the brewer boosted by strong Latin America sales. The growth of premium brands such as Desperados in Latin America and Asia helped the company avoid the hangover suffered by rival ABInBev, which suffered a big drop in comparative volumes after the World Cup in 2014. Operating profits at the group rose 3.4% to €1.6bn for the first half of 2015 on €9.7bn sales.
The paper’s Lex column said the results showed why the Dutch brewer was often touted as a takeover target. “Carlsberg may have Elephant and Lion. There are African sorghums named Zebra and Leopard. But Heineken has Tiger, which is flying off the shelves in parts of Southeast Asia.”
Sainsbury’s Bank has cut interest rates on mid-sized personal loans to a new record low of 3.5%, but you must be a for Nectar cardholder to apply. The supermarket giant has undercut the likes of M&S Bank, Nationwide and First Direct by reducing the cost of borrowing between £7,500 and £15,000 by 0.1% for those repaying over one to three years (The Daily Mail).
The Daily Telegraph reports that Kraft is recalling 36,000 cases of cheese slices because people are choking on the wrappers. The company received ten complaints and three reports of choking, with the affected packages distributed to the US, Puerto Rico and Grand Cayman. “A thin strip of the individual packaging film may remain adhered to the slice after the wrapper has been removed. If the film sticks to the slice and is not removed, it could potentially cause a choking hazard,” Kraft said.
Walmart, along with several New York retailers, including Sears and Amazon, have agreed to remove realistic toy guns from their shelves and pay $300,000 in penalties as part of a settlement with the state (The Guardian).
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