A quiet morning in terms of major grocery news which may come as a relief to many in the industry given the drama of recent weeks.
The was plenty of coverage of British American Tobacco’s latest results announcement. The FT focussed on the tobacco giant’s expected return to profit in the US for the first time in three years. This it suggested would be in mid-2025 and based on strong demand for nicotine pouches.
The results were also covered by Reuters which reported that the Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes maker had upgraded its annual sales growth target to 1%-2% as revenue in the first half of the year was ahead of expectations and that it had seen improved sales in the US.
Reuters was also the place for interesting international news as it reported on Amazon South Africa expanding it offer to include non-perishable groceries, petfood and health supplements as it looks to attract new customers. The global online giant has only been operating in the country for a year and still trails South Africa’s e-commerce leader Takealot.com.
The newswire also reports that HelloFresh’s CFO Christian Gaertner is to step down from the business in the fourth quarter of 2025. Reuters reports that shares in HelloFresh fell 3% after the news was announced yesterday and that they have fallen 11% since January.
The thorny subject of tariffs is never too far away from the news these days and this time it was the turn of spirits maker Remy Cointreau to issue warnings over the impact of the plans from US president Donald Trump. According to Bloomberg the business has pulled its previous sales targets as a result of the uncertainty of the tariffs impact in key markets such as the US and China.
Investors looking for a steer this morning may well be keen to have a look at the Telegraph. An opinion piece from Questor’s Robert Stephens runs the rule over the investment potential in Diageo. He suggests that despite it share price falling by 51% since reaching record high in December 2021, the Smirnoff and Guinness owner still has long term investment appeal.
Finally, the BBC highlights an exciting copycat packaging row between a major branded supplier and Aldi. This time the dispute in in the US and the report suggests that Mondelez International has filed a lawsuit against Aldi US which accuses the retailer of copying its famous Oreo branding. Aldi US did not respond to the Beeb but Aldi was keen to point out that it was not involved in the case in any way.
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