The news this morning continues to be dominated by the two Ts – Trump and tariffs. Click on any news site and you are sure to be met with an image of The Donald looking stern in a big coat. Today the focus as spelled out by the BBC, Guardian, The Times and many others has shifted to the retaliatory from China in the wake of the US implementing a 10% charge on imports of goods from its rival superpower. China has hit back with levies on liquid gas, coal and oil and has also looked to disrupt the US tech dominance with an investigation into Google over alleged anti-trust issues.
Away from global trade we saw more shocking evidence of the impact of retail crime in the UK. The Telegraph reported a warning from high street bosses that technology is fuelling store theft and that a third of shoppers have admitted to stealing when using self-checkouts.
The Guardian has picked up on the latest verdict in the long-running equal pay dispute involving Asda staff. The ruling which was reported by The Grocer yesterday has apparently left 1.2m mostly female shopworkers close to a £1.2bn payout. THE GMB union has said the workers were “on the cusp of justice” after the Manchester employment tribunal ruled that 12 out of 14 lead claimants in the case, which involves 60,000 people had roles that were of equal value to their mostly male counterparts employed in warehouses, despite being paid up to £3.74 an hour less.
There was another interesting feature in The Guardian this morning. The newspaper has taken an in-depth look at the performance of Diageo and set out to explain “How fortunes turned flat at Johnnie Walker and Guinness owner Diageo. Ahead of today’s latest results, the report said investors were in fear of a stall in the drinks giant’s 25 years of dividend growth.
Another good read came in The Mail as it looked at the ongoing tug-of-war between the major financial capitals that want Unilever to list its £13bn ice-cream business. Apparently, analysts at Barclays are urging the fmcg giant towards a dual listing in London and New York. They warn that by just listing in the US it would force many European investors into an unwanted sell-off. Unilever is reported to be considering the dual listing or even a triple listing including Amsterdam with the decision set to be announced by the end of March.
Finally the Independent turns its gaze to WH Smith and suggests that this could be an “odd-time” for it to sell its high street division. The article also goes on the consider what the future holds for its high street stores.
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