DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Britain's Tesco to target value offers after strong Christmas
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Clubcard branding is seen inside a branch of a Tesco Extra Supermarket in London, Britain, February 10, 2022. Tesco, like Sainsbury's, is absorbing some of its cost inflation rather than passing it all on to consumers. The group maintained its forecast for 2022-23 retail adjusted operating profit of between 2.4 billion pounds and 2.5 billion pounds ($2.9-$3.0 billion), down from the 2.65 billion pounds earned in 2021-22. It expects retail free cash flow of at least 1.8 billion pounds and profit from Tesco Bank of 120-160 million pounds. Shares in Tesco have fallen 17% over the last year, but are up 7% over the last month.

Tesco (TSCO.L) and Marks & Spencer (MKS.L), two of Britain's biggest retailers, posted better than expected Christmas sales as people snapped up festive treats despite a deepening cost-of-living crisis. In-store sales were particularly strong, with strikes by postal workers giving an extra reason to return to the High Street. Results on Wednesday from another big supermarket, Sainsbury's (SBRY.L), showed a similar trend, confounding retailers' worries that Christmas trading would be sluggish given double-digit UK inflation and low consumer confidence. It said on Thursday that its revenues were down 3% in the four months before Dec. 31, with UK sales down 8%. Outside the Christmas splurge on food and gifts, Britain's retail market is already finding consumers are cutting back.

☆ UK's M&S reports strong Christmas sales in food and clothing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - British retailer Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) reported strong Christmas sales, with demand for turkeys helping to deliver its highest ever share of the food market and partywear boosting its clothing sales. It benefited from improved availability of seasonal lines including turkeys, where it said it retained its leading market share for the third year running. As a whole, it reported a better-than-expected increase in like-for-like food sales of 6.3%. The retailer's strong performance adds to evidence that shoppers were determined to spend at Christmas despite inflation running at 10.7% and consumer confidence close to record lows. Tesco(TSCO.L), Britain's biggest retailer, also reported stronger than expected Christmas sales on Thursday, with like-for-like sales up 7.2% in the six weeks to Jan. 7.

☆ Britain's Tesco sticks with profit outlook after strong Christmas sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies UK Q3 like-for-like sales up 4.3%Six weeks to Jan 7 UK like-for-like sales up 7.2%Expects full year profit of 2.4-2.5 bln stgHas "good momentum" going into 2023LONDON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Tesco (TSCO.L), Britain's biggest retailer, kept its full-year profit guidance after it joined rivals in reporting stronger than expected Christmas sales despite an escalating cost-of-living crisis. The supermarket group, which has a 27.5% share of Britain's grocery market, said on Thursday UK like-for-like sales rose 4.3% in its third quarter to Nov. 26 and were up 7.2% in the six weeks to Jan. 7. 2 supermarket group Sainsbury's reported a 5.9% rise in underlying sales for its Christmas quarter, while discounters Aldi UK and Lidl GB have also reported bumper Christmas sales. The group maintained its forecast for 2022-23 retail adjusted operating profit of between 2.4 billion pounds and 2.5 billion pounds ($2.9-$3.0 billion), down from the 2.65 billion pounds made in 2021-22. It expects retail free cash flow of at least 1.8 billion pounds and profit from Tesco Bank of 120-160 million pounds.

☆ Commodity-linked stocks push FTSE 100 higher; retailers slide
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) gained 0.6% to hover near a more than four-year high scaled on Wednesday, while the more domestically focused FTSE 250 mid-cap index (.FTMC) rose 0.9%. Retailers Tesco (TSCO.L) and Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) slipped between 0.3% and 1.6% despite strong sales, as both companies warned of inflationary pressures. Financial stocks were among the top gainers on the FTSE 100, with banks like HSBC (HSBA.L) and Barclays (BARC.L) rising 0.9% and 1.4%, respectively. The FTSE 100 has had a bright start to the year so far, rising in almost every session. Centrica (CNA.L) climbed to the top of FTSE 100, jumping 6.1% after the British Gas owner raised its full-year earnings forecast.

☆ Morning Bid: Disinflation elation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Whether the Federal Reserve policymakers will publicly chime with the disinflation narrative or not, many acknowledge their policy stance is now 'data dependent' from here. And unless disavowed of it by hard evidence, markets already assume the inflation battle is as good as won. The dollar and U.S. Treasury yields were slightly lower. China's inflation rate crept back up last month too but it remains below 2% and annual producer price inflation is still in negative territory. Although UK bond yields and sterling skidded lower on Wednesday in mix of recession concerns and energy price disinflation hopes, there was better news on the retail front today.

☆ Britain's Sainsbury's raises profit sights after Christmas sales rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The UK's second largest supermarket chain after Tesco (TSCO.L) had previously forecast 2022-23 underlying pre-tax profit of between 630 million and 690 million pounds ($767-$840 million). It made 730 million pounds in 2021-22. Prior to the update analysts were on average forecasting 644 million pounds, according to a company compiled consensus. Grocery sales rose 5.6%, while general merchandise sales increased by a better-than-expected 4.6%. Sainsbury's owns the Argos general merchandise business.

☆ Consumer stocks drag FTSE 100 lower amid recessionary jitters
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies FTSE 100 down 0.3%, FTSE 250 off 0.4%Robert Walters down on profit warningInvestors await Fed Chair speechJan 10 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 retreated from a three-and-a-half-year high on Tuesday, led by consumer stocks amid recession worries, after hawkish comments from two U.S. Federal Reserve officials raised worries about future rate hikes. The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) declined 0.3%, while the domestically focussed FTSE 250 mid-cap index (.FTMC) fell 0.4%. On Monday, Fed officials said inflation data due later this week would sway the central bank's decision about rate hikes. Among individual stocks, recruiter Robert Walters (RWA.L) slumped 8.1% after the company warned that its full-year profit was expected to be slightly below market expectations. Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Lidl GB expects more customers to switch from rivals after bumper Christmas
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Lidl GB, part of Germany's Schwarz retail group, said on Monday over 1.3 million more customers shopped at its stores in the seven days to Christmas Eve. Also unlike their traditional rivals, Aldi and Lidl are still opening lots of new stores. Last week Aldi UK reported a 26% increase in December sales. However, investment to keep a lid on prices has held back profit at both Aldi and Lidl. Lidl GB highlighted strong sales of Christmas vegetables sold for 19 pence a pack, Christmas puddings, prosecco, mulled wine and cheese.

☆ After Christmas relief UK retailers face 2023 reality check
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Ahead of Christmas, European retailers fretted that the key trading period could be the worst in at least a decade. Next, often acclaimed as a bellwether for the UK consumer economy, said it expected sales and profit to fall in 2023. The strain on Britons' household budgets is likely to begin to tell this month as Christmas credit card bills arrive. UK consumers will this year face persistent inflation in essential goods, particularly food and energy. M&S's apparel business will likely have benefited from Britain's severe cold snap in December which Next said dramatically boosted sales.

☆ Factbox: How British retailers fared over cost-of-living crisis Christmas
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - British consumer spending over the Christmas period has so far held up better-than-expected, providing some relief to retailers who had feared an escalating cost-of-living crisis would hit the key holiday sales period. Only a small number of retailers have so far reported their Christmas sales. ALDI UKThe British arm of German discount supermarket group Aldi said its sales in December rose 26% compared to the previous year. B&M (BMEB.L)British discount retailer B&M said comparable sales rose 6.4% in its key Christmas quarter, showing that shoppers sought out value options as they grappled with the cost-of-living crisis. BOOTS UK (WBA.O)Health and beauty products retailer Boots UK said its December retail sales were up around 15% year-on-year, highlighting strong sales in gifting and fragrance categories.

☆ Inflation drives Britain's record Christmas grocery sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Kantar said grocery price inflation was 14.4% in December, down from 14.6% in November, with prices rising fastest in markets such as milk, dog food and frozen potato products. “This is the second month in a row that grocery price inflation has fallen, raising hopes that the worst has now passed," McKevitt said. Online grocery sales rose 4%, though its share of the market fell 0.6 percentage points to 11.6%. Overall UK inflation is running at 10.7% and consumers face the prospect of a tighter squeeze in 2023, with higher taxes and mortgage rates and scaled-back government support on household energy bills. UK grocers' market share and sales growth (%)Source: Kantar($1 = 0.8345 pounds)Reporting by James Davey Editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Britain’s broken egg industry shows the price of food inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - In Britain, the damage wrought by rampant inflation can be seen in the fate of the humble egg. With war in Ukraine driving energy and chicken feed costs higher, farmers say what they get paid is no longer enough, upending the economics of a key food staple. Driven by consumer demand, British egg producers have for years focused on free range, which now represents 70% of the market. That, combined with a cost-of-living crisis fuelled by soaring food and energy costs, limits their room for manoeuvre, retailers say. Yet egg producers say that while the supermarkets have raised retail prices and paid farmers more, that increase is not enough to cover exploding costs.

☆ UK consumer spending fails to keep pace with inflation: surveys
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - British consumer spending ticked up last month at a rate that greatly lagged behind inflation, according to surveys on Tuesday that underscored the pressure on household budgets ahead of the Christmas holidays. Barclaycard said spending on its credit and debit cards rose 3.9% year-on-year in November, far behind the annual 11.1% increase in consumer prices in October that was the highest reading in 41 years. Some 94% of Britons surveyed by Barclaycard said they were concerned about the impact of soaring household energy bills on their personal finances. Many Brits intend to reduce festive spending on presents and parties in an effort to save money," said Esme Harwood, director at Barclaycard. However, sales growth remained far below current inflation, suggesting volumes continued to be down on last year," said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.

☆ Analysis: Retailers turn to robots in cost inflation fight
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

He estimates the retail industry is 40% automated, but sees that jumping to 60-65% over the next three to four years. The march of the robots can be seen in fashion stores and food shops globally as an industry that employs millions grapples with the cost of rising wages, energy and raw goods. While processes at online retailers are largely automated, vast parts of a traditional retailer's operations are still carried out manually, according to consultants at McKinsey. Looking at the fashion industry, McKinsey expects fashion companies to double investment in technology from 1.6% to 1.8% of their revenue in 2021 to between 3.0% and 3.5% by 2030. "Retailers are saying 'robots are the future,'" Michel Spruijt, Brain Corp's chief revenue officer, told Reuters, adding that the shift could "free up workers from tedious" tasks.

☆ UK retail sales recover only partially as outlook darkens
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Andy Bruce | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Retail sales volumes rose in October by 0.6% month-on-month, following a 1.5% drop in September. The ONS said retail sales volumes remained 0.6% lower than their pre-pandemic level, a reminder of the economic challenge facing finance minister Jeremy Hunt who on Thursday said Britain was in a recession. However, he also announced tax hikes and a more austere approach to public spending to fix the public finances and the country's economic policy reputation after former prime minister Liz Truss's controversial "mini-budget". "There is no question that the retail sector will face unprecedented challenges in 2023," said Lisa Hooker, industry leader for consumer markets at PwC. Britain's biggest supermarket group Tesco (TSCO.L) on Wednesday reported a sharp rise in the number of shoppers looking for "reduced to clear" food.

☆ Christmas shopping comes early for Britons in grip of cost crunch
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies 30% of Britons began Christmas shopping before mid-OctFigure last year was 18% - NielsenIQ survey findsBudgets stretched by inflationLONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - More Britons began their Christmas shopping early this year as they navigate a worsening cost-of-living squeeze by budgeting their spending, market research group NielsenIQ said. Nielsen said sales growth at British supermarkets picked-up over the last month on a value basis, masking a drop in volumes once inflation is accounted for. It said growth was 5.3% in the four weeks to Nov. 5 year-on-year, having increased 4.7% in last month's data set. NielsenIQ said that crisps and snacks and soft drinks were the only two categories to see volume growth in the four week period with growth of 2.9% and 0.6% respectively. General merchandise volume sales fell 7.6%, it said.

Nestle and P&G both raised prices by less than 9.5% in the same period, having roughly matched one another since mid-2021. Unilever said price rises vary by category and market and not all consumers were experiencing the 12.5% hikes. Unilever has high exposure to regions and countries with high inflation including Latin America, Turkey and Russia, while P&G is more U.S.-focused, Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne said. "These countries have high inflation, linked to weak foreign exchange. "We are still absorbing significant cost, which has led to a notable decline in our gross profit margin," a Nestle spokesperson said.

☆ Israel's Trigo raises $100 mln to expand autonomous shopping technology
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JERUSALEM, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Israel’s Trigo said on Wednesday it raised $100 million in a private funding round to ramp up deployment for its technology that allows customers to shop without having to wait in line at a store’s checkout. The round was led by Singapore investment firm Temasek and 83North. Trigo said its technology transforms existing supermarkets into fully autonomous digital stores through the use of ceiling-mounted cameras that track customer movement and product choices, to make shopping “frictionless”. It said it would use the new funds to expand further into the United States and Europe, while developing an inventory management application suite. Trigo noted its technology is being used by Tesco PLC (TSCO.L) in Britain, ALDI (ALDIEI.UL) in the Netherlands, Wakefern in the United States and and Netto and REWE (REGRP.UL) in Germany.

☆ Retailers Tesco and Lidl fight over logo's trademark in UK court
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Sam Tobin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] The logo of retailer Lidl is seen in Schaenis, Switzerland April 3, 2019. He said in written arguments that Lidl’s underlying case is that Tesco has “copied Lidl’s logos ... to benefit from the association with Lidl’s reputation for high quality goods sold at a low price”. Documents provided to Lidl by Tesco in the course of the litigation also show that “many of their customers believe the Tesco [Clubcard Prices] logo to be the Lidl logo”, Brandreth added. A trial of Lidl’s initial lawsuit and Tesco’s remaining counterclaims is due to be heard at the High Court in London early next year. The case is Lidl Great Britain Limited and another v Tesco Stores Limited and another, CA-2022-001407.

☆ Half of Britons to spend less this Christmas - Kantar
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Half of Britons plan to spend less on Christmas this year as a cost of living crisis, amid surging food and energy costs, curtails their purchasing power, market researcher Kantar said on Monday. It said one in three shoppers who expects to spend less plans to cut gift budgets for close friends and family by over 25 pounds ($28.30) per person. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterA survey published last week showed consumer confidence remained close to a record low as households responded to the combination of high inflation and Britain's chaotic politics. Kantar said 37% of UK consumers are struggling with their financial situation, while 47% are worried about Christmas. ($1 = 0.8834 pounds)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by James Davey Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ What Cramer is watching Friday — a new wild card for Musk and Twitter, more earnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter (TWTR) and Musk new wild card. A separate report in the Washington Post said Musk is planning to cut the Twitter workforce by 75%. Jeffries lowered price target for Club name Estee Lauder (EL), but maintains its buy rating. Dow Inc. (DOW) price target raised to $47 from $45 at Citi. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

Separate official data showed Britain's borrowing grew by more than expected, underscoring the challenge facing new finance minister Jeremy Hunt and whoever succeeds Liz Truss as prime minister next week. Sales volumes fell by 1.4% from August - almost three times the 0.5% fall in a Reuters poll of economists. Separate data published by the ONS showed Britain borrowed 20.01 billion pounds ($22.37 billion) in September, more than the 17.1 billion pounds expected in the Reuters poll of economists. So far in the 2022/23 financial year, which began in April, borrowing stands at 72.5 billion pounds, down about 26% from the same period last year but almost 36 billion pounds more than in the April-September period of 2019, before the pandemic. He said borrowing this year could be almost 200 billion pounds, double the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast.

☆ What Cramer is watching Thursday — Tesla slides, IBM surprises, Danaher rolls on
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

IBM — A truly good quarter with excellent numbers when it comes to mainframe and hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence. Club holding Danaher (DHR) beat and raise ... no slowdown, all systems go ... company says growth was broad-based across all segments of the company. Company beat top and bottom line estimates as travel demand remains strong. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

☆ Analysis: World Cup could be nightmare before Christmas for Britain's supermarkets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Retail executives say the World Cup, moved to the winter to avoid the intense Qatari summer temperatures, has totally thrown the algorithms they increasingly use to predict trading and plan their logistics. "It's also an executional headache, because right when you want to have everything Christmas out, you've got to somehow reflect slabs of booze and snacking for the World Cup," he said. During the last World Cup in July 2018, which coincided with a prolonged period of hot weather, shoppers visited UK supermarkets an extra 13 million times, according to market researcher Kantar. Of course, customers visiting stores to buy festive goods could buy in World Cup supplies at the same time. "It's not going to be as big as the summer World Cup, that is clear," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.

Search resuls for: "TSCO"

25 mentions found