Tesco could report a second consecutive quarter of sales growth for the first time in more than five years, fuelling hopes of a sustained fightback against discount rivals. Britain’s biggest grocer is set to announce a rise of 0.2% in like-for-like sales for the three months to the end of May, according to Barclays, one of its house brokers. (The Times £)
Tesco has ceased 24-hour trading at another tranche of supermarkets as part of a shakeup that puts 2,000 jobs on the line. The supermarket has begun a 45-day consultation with nightshift workers and with staff displaced by plans to merge customer service counters. It said 46 stores were affected by the changes, with 20 ceasing round-the-clock trading. (The Guardian)
Saturday saw plenty of coverage of Tesco’s sale of Dobbies, the UK’s second largest garden centre chain, for £217m to two private equity houses Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capita. (The Financial Times £, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail). “Most of [Tesco’s recent] purchases failed to contribute significantly to Tesco’s revenues and have proved a distraction as the group fights to restore profitability”, wrote The Times (£).
Hedge funds have taken out multi-million pound bets against consumer bellwethers in recent weeks as nervous shoppers keep a lid on spending. Sainsbury’s and Morrisons are the target of short-selling by Slate Path Capital, which has become the latest fund to take a dim view of the grocers’ prospects during a fierce price war. (The Telegraph)
Union bosses and MPs have slammed a pay proposal at leading food group Samworth Brothers, which they argue cheats workers out of the benefits of the Chancellor’s new National Living Wage. Samworth, which makes Ginsters Pasties and Melton Mowbray pork pies, has been accused of cutting pay and benefits for staff to help cover the cost of the National Living Wage introduced by George Osborne this year. (The Daily Mail)
Unsurprisingly, there was another raft of BHS news over the weekend. Sir Philip Green refused requests from Dominic Chappell’s representatives to speak to the Pensions Regulator before he bought BHS for £1, according to a previously undisclosed email, writes The Times (£), while the paper also looks at papers revealing the “last chaotic attempts to save dying BHS” (The Times £).
“Green poised to buy out 16,000 out of the 20,000 BHS pension plan members with a cash lump sum”, says The Daily Mail. While The Financial Times (£) writes that Green is working on a plan to protect the pensions of former BHS executives, while encouraging rank-and-file staff to trade a steady retirement income for a less valuable one-off payment. Arcadia told pensions trustee BHS was being “stripped to bone”, says The Telegraph, while The Guardian writes that Green sold BHS due to “expensive” pension rescue scheme.
The Telegraph takes a peek inside the secret innovation lab at drinks giant Diageo. “Hidden within its faceless walls are the bubbling potions, wafting scents and unfamiliar flavours of the innovation lab, the lack of phone signal adds to the feeling that something worth keeping secret is happening behind these doors.”
Of the many Brexit headlines, some of the most notable were: “Pounded! City braced for a 15% plunge in value of Sterling amid fears a bank could crash - putting payments at risk” The Daily Mail, “Frankfurt set to steal euro trade from the City” The Times (£) and “Nobel prize-winning economists warn of long-term damage after Brexit” The Guardian.
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