Retailer Marks and Spencer has warned that the financial squeeze on UK consumers will hit its profit growth this year (The Financial Times £).
Steve Rowe has bowed out of Marks & Spencer after returning the business to the black but the retailer has warned that profits will fall again this year because of its withdrawal from Russia, lower income from its Ocado Retail venture and a tougher consumer environment (The Times £).
Shoppers are expected to rein in spending seriously in the autumn, after enjoying holidays abroad and the jubilee celebrations this summer, the boss of Marks & Spencer has said, as the retailer said profits would flatline amid “consumer uncertainty” (The Guardian).
Marks & Spencer is ramping up plans to relocate some of its town centre stores, which have ‘lost impetus as a result of failed local authority or government policy’ (The Mail).
Alistair Osborne asks in The Times (£) business editorial if Steve Rowe’s trio of sucessors — chief executive Stuart Machin, co-chief executive and clothing supremo Katie Bickerstaffe and chief strategy & finance officer Eoin Tonge — are really inheriting a business in far better shape.
Nils Pratley in The Guardian says Rowe’s warts-and-all M&S farewell enhanced credibility for investors thanks to the outgoing boss’ frank assesment of what is still left to be done at the retailer.
Shares in Ocado Group fell by as much as 8% as it reported that customers of its grocery delivery business were starting to feel the pinch from the cost-of-living crunch (The Times £).
Ocado has warned that its sales growth will be less than half the rate it had hoped for as the cost of living crisis and return to office work and dining out hit trade (The Guardian).
The group said it expected sales of Ocado Retail this financial year to grow in the low single digits, rather than the 10% it previously guided, while its core earnings margin would be in the low single digits (The Mail).
The boom in pet ownership during the pandemic has prompted Pets at Home’s departing boss to boast that the business is in “great shape” to grow profits further this year despite the challenging backdrop (The Times £).
Pets at Home’s departing boss is set to leave on a high as one of the UK’s biggest lockdown beneficiaries posted its best ever annual results (The Mail).
Walmart has apologized for selling Juneteenth-themed ice cream (The Guardian). The retailer drew outrage with its ice cream, which was part of an assortment of other Juneteenth-themed items including shirts and decorations.
No comments yet