Conviviality, the company behind Bargain Booze and Wine rack, has mounted an emergency £125m fundraising handled by Investc, its broker The Times (£). The measure, an attempt to save it from collapse, came in an update after the markets closed yesterday. The company said the placing was the “most appropriate mechanism to recapitalise the business” otherwise it was “unlikely to be able to trade on a going concern basis”.

The Guardian reports that Conviviality said that if its share placing was successful, it now expected annual underlying profits of £45.5m-£46m, compared with the £55.3m-£56.4m range it announced on 13 March – below previous City expectations of £70m.

Shell aims to increase its forecourts to 55,000 by 2025 and open 5,000 new convenience stores selling coffee and food at its sites, the world’s biggest fuel retail brand said yesterday The Times (£).The bad news for British motorists, says Sky News is that half of these 11,000 new sites will be in just five countries: China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Mexico.

Millennials have been rushing to buy Waitrose’s £8 avocado-shaped Easter eggs which have become the fastest selling own-brand eggs ever sold in its 114-year history, reports The Daily Telegraph. The Easter egg remained sold out online yesterday morning, and social media users complained that they were unable to get their hands on one. The newspaper notes Nielsen figures showing the avocado was the third most popular grocery product of last year and quotes The Grocer’s editor, Adam Leyland, who said the middle classes, especially “couldn’t get enough” of avocados because of its super-food qualities.

Processed food giant General Mills warned cost pressures, including an historic shortage of truck drivers would squeeze profits this year. The Financial Times (£) says the discounting strategies of Amazon and Wal-Mart are making it hard for producers to raise prices.

Berlin-based meal kit business HelloFresh announced a 52% hike in global sales from €597m (£521m) in 2016 to €904.9m. Sales growth in the final quarter was higher still, rising 59% to €252.8m. It also narrowed its losses year on year. Adjusted loss before earnings, tax, depreciation and amortisation came in at €70.1m last year, compared with a loss of €82.6m in 2016 Financial Times £.

Reckitt Benckiser, the £43bn company behind Clearasil and Cillit Bang, has ditched talks with Pfizer about buying its consumer healthcare business. The Times (£). The decision paves the way for Glaxosmithkline to complete the acquisition.

Boots has replaced Marks & Spencer as women’s top brand in YouGov BrandIndex’s Women’s Rankings, reports The Independent. John Lewis took second place in the rankings, followed by Heinz. M&S dropped to fourth place.

Meanwhile, the monthly industrial trends survey from the Confederation of British Industry’s employers’ group showed the order book balance fell from +10 in February to +4 in March, the lowest since October The Times (£).

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