Nestlé upgraded its full-year sales guidance for the second time after the world’s largest foodmaker pushed up prices for products from pet food to ice cream (The Financial Times £).
The Lex column in The Financial Times (£) says “a focus on premium products should help Nestlé navigate the rising inflation and intense competition bedevilling its industry”.
Asda has told investors that the collapse of its petrol stations sale, one of a complex series of deals to fund the £6.8bn acquisition of the retailer, was triggered by fuel suppliers refusing to maintain the same terms (The Financial Times £). The Lex column in The Financial Times (£) also takes a further look at the fallout from the forecourts deal being called off.
Ministers sealed what is only the second bespoke Brexit trade deal after agreeing terms with New Zealand that will allow cheaper wine imports but open British farmers up to competition (The Times £).
Britain has struck a trade deal with New Zealand, a key ally, as ministers hope to stem the country’s reliance on China – but the agreement is expected to add no value to the UK’s gross domestic product (The Guardian).
THG chief executive Matthew Moulding has unwound a pledge of shares as collateral against a personal loan as the ecommerce group strives to restore confidence after a bruising share price slide (The Financial Times £).
The boss of THG has repaid his family’s use of company shares as collateral against a £100m personal loan in his latest attempt to repair relations with the City (The Times £).
The deal with Barclays saw Moulding put up 28m THG shares as collateral for the loan while his wife Jodie pledged 9.8m, and his holding company FIC Shareco Ltd 144m (The Mail).
Deliveroo founder and chief executive Will Shu is under pressure to give up his ‘golden share’ in the company. Investors want the food delivery boss to drop the benefit which gives him 20 times as much voting power as regular shares, a source told The Mail.
Deliveroo enjoyed a 59% increase in orders in the UK and Ireland between July and September despite the return of dine-in restaurant eating, as a partnership with Amazon more than doubled members of its premium subscription service (The Guardian).
Looser Covid-19 restrictions have barely made a dent in takeaway business Deliveroo’s sales, with the firm taking on nearly 30 million more orders in the three months to September compared to the same time last year (The Mail).
The food delivery platform recorded £1.6bn of orders in the third quarter, up from £1bn last year, and it raised its full-year growth forecast (The Times £).
An opinion piece in The Financial Times (£) looks at why Deliveroo’s IPO might not have been the dud it seemed.
Jamie Oliver has pledged to reduce or cut out meat in two-thirds of his new recipes as part of a push to make his business carbon neutral in the next two decades (The Telegraph).
A government research paper recommending people “shift dietary habits” towards plant-based foods has been hastily deleted (BBC News).
British shoppers should be hit with higher prices on meat to help the environment, according to suggestions for a tax on “high-carbon foods” drawn up for the government (The Telegraph).
A business editorial in The Telegraph shouts that “if BrewDog wants to be taken seriously, it has to grow up”. “False claims of solid gold beer cans are just the latest in a series of adolescent stunts undermining brewer’s stock market dreams.”
Inflation slowed unexpectedly last month but price pressure is expected to accelerate throughout the rest of the year, official figures show (The Times £).
The Guardian examines why September’s dip in UK inflation may be a false dawn.
A feature in The FT magazine takes a looks “inside the John Lewis nightmare”. “Millennials aren’t feeling it. Middle England is shopping around. Can the retailer shake itself up?”
US ecommerce sites have become contributors to rising inflation, bucking a years-long trend and heralding the prospect of higher prices and fewer discounts on a wide range of products this holiday season (The Financial Times £).
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