Shares in British online grocer Ocado surged 32% on Thursday following rumours that it could be a bid target for Amazon (The Financial Times £).
Shares in the company climbed by as much as 47% after The Times (£) suggested that technology heavyweights including the US online powerhouse were pondering the merits of an £8-a-share move, at a near 85% premium, with Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan acting for the potential bidders.
The technology and grocery group saw its share price hit its highest level since late February, in its second day of gains (The Mail).
Ocado’s second largest shareholder has said the retail technology firm should remain listed in the UK, after its shares soared 40% on speculation that it could become the target of a takeover (The Guardian).
The Lex column in The Financial Times (£) weighs in on the story and writes the bid rumours provide “food for thought”. “Whether such excitement is justified remains to be seen, but it does suggest investors in the unloved stock may hunger for a shake-up.”
The Guardian’s business editorial says true believers in Ocado should not be tempted by Amazon. “The speculated bid price of £8 today should not excite those who think a return to £28 is conceivable.”
A decline in first-half profits at Morrisons has been blamed on inflationary pressures and recent “large scale” price-cutting campaigns. Morrisons said its underlying earnings had fallen by 10.7% to £394m in the six months to the end of April (The Times £).
Inflation will fall through the year but “slower than everybody would desire”, the chief executive of Tesco has said, speaking at The Times (£) CEO Summit,
The Times (£) publishes a feature on “how the vegan bubble burst” asking if we have fallen out of love with plant-based diets following the collapse of Meatless Farm, which the paper wrongly says went into administration this week (it was 13 June). The Grocer is set to publish an analysis taking a deep dive into what went wrong at Meatless Farm later this morning on thegrocer.co.uk.
DS Smith, one of the world’s largest cardboard box makers, has suffered the first decline in demand for its packaging in over a decade, as the rising cost of living hits spending on online shopping from the US to Europe (The Financial Times £).
Price increases mean that the leading maker of corrugated cardboard boxes in Britain has been able to shrug off disappointing trading volumes over the past year (The Times £).
Cardboard packaging firm DS Smith has revealed revenue growth of 11% to £8.2bn for the last year, despite operating in a ‘challenging economic environment’ (The Mail).
Swansea-based Au Vodka has topped the For Entrepreneurs, By Entrepreneurs Growth 100 list, having seen turnover jump by a compound annual growth rate of 457% over the past two financial years (The Mail).
A new hurdle is standing in the way of John Lewis Partnership’s foray into property development after it emerged that a proposed high-rise block of build-to-rent flats could miss local authority targets for affordable homes (The Times £).
John Lewis has warned that it risks missing affordable home targets at a flagship property development intended to “put excess space to good social use”. Bosses at the partnership have said that as few as a fifth of homes will be affordable at the site in Bromley, below the 35% level recommended by the town’s council (The Telegraph).
An opinion column in The Guardian by John Lewis Partenrship chair Sharon White argues why more employee-owned businesses could mean fewer strikes.
UK consumer confidence improved for the fifth consecutive month in June buoyed by strong labour market and lower energy prices, according to a closely watched barometer (The Financial Times £).
Consumer confidence has improved this month despite stubbornly high inflation continuing to squeeze living standards, a closely watched index suggests (The Times £).
British retail sales unexpectedly grew last month, boosted by spending on summer clothing and outdoor goods despite high inflation, official data showed (The Financial Times £).
Whitbread hailed an “outstanding” first-quarter performance in the UK as it confirmed that it was exploring “a variety of options” to optimise its food and drink operations (The Times £).
Brussels plans to lift controls on some genetically modified crops to help farmers cope with climate change in a move likely to reignite a Europe-wide debate about the controversial techniques (The Financial Times £).
No comments yet