Food promotions now make up 22.5 per cent of grocery sales – and it’s up a fifth from last year July 25, 2023 Promotions on food and other items now account for 22.5 per cent of grocery sales, as Brits continue to seek out bargains amid the cost of living crisis. The figure has risen from 20 per cent last year in the same period last year and is the highest over the past 12 months excluding Christmas and [...]
Unilever: New boss promises step-change after ‘flat volumes’ in half-year results July 25, 2023 Unilever made a modest profit in the first half of the year with turnover reaching €30.4bn (£26.2), as it was driven by sales in its personal care and beauty market.
Amazon Warhammer deal spurs Games Workshop to record £170m profit July 25, 2023 Warhammer-maker Games Workshop saw bumper profits this morning as it benefitted from a major December deal with Amazon to turn its popular wargame into a TV series. Profits rose from £156m to £170.6m for the year ending in May, which the firm said was the highest it had “generated since flotation 29 years ago.” Revenues, [...]
Utilita boss: We’ve got ‘no faith’ in Ofgem’s ability to manage the market July 25, 2023 The price cap is still "the biggest single risk to supplier profitability," warned Utilita boss Bill Bullen, as he called for more household support.
UK recession risk just got a whole lot lower after inflation undershoot July 25, 2023 From the Bank of England to recession warnings, Jack Barnett gets under the skin of Britain’s economy in his weekly column Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey would not have been the only person in the City last week breathing a sigh of relief after the better than expected inflation numbers. It was the first [...]
The Notebook: Kokou Agbo-Bloua on fashionomics, inflation musings and our broken food system July 25, 2023 Where interesting people say interesting things. Today it’s Kokou Agbo-Bloua, global head of economics, cross-asset & quant research and UK head of research at Societe Generale Fashionomics: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Since the dawn of time, clothing has been an important part of our human experience. We lost our fur at least [...]
FTSE 100 close: Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds retrace losses as Ocado soars July 24, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 retraced early losses today to close in the black, driven higher by online supermarket Ocado surging after it settled a dispute over its warehouse technology. The capital’s premier index climbed 0.19 per cent to 7,678.60 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the [...]
London office investment slumps to 14-year low July 24, 2023 London office investment slumped to a 14-year low in the second quarter of the year, new data shows, as high interest rates stifled momentum built up in the early months of the year. Some £1.2bn was spent on London offices last quarter, a 59 per cent drop on the £2.9bn spent in the previous quarter [...]
Don’t let the eco-sceptics bend Sunak’s ear against green investment July 24, 2023 Months later, Rishi Sunak is yet to set out a plan to compete with the billions Joe Biden has offered climate-friendly firms in the UK, writes Cameron Smith
Eurozone edges nearer to recession while UK economy ‘stalls’ July 24, 2023 The European economy has edged closer to recession, while the UK is on the brink of slipping into negative growth, closely watched surveys out today reveal. A snapshot of the eurozone’s respective economies showed high inflation and the European Central Bank’s (ECB) efforts to tame it with interest rate rises is cooling activity. Hamburg Commercial [...]