Sky News broke the story that Poundworld is finalising plans to shut more than a quarter of its 355 shops to prevent financial collapse. The discounter is expected to announce proposals for a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) during the first half of May, potentially putting about 1,500 jobs at risk. The Daily Mail says landlords will then vote on whether to approve the proposal.

The weaker pound, rising costs and fickle consumer spending has hit the retailer hard, says The Times (£), which adds that the CVA is part of a restructuring plan that will involve raising £60m in new equity from shareholders to help it to slash debt and to invest in the enterprise.

Greenpeace has alleged Hayel Saeed Anan Group (HSA), a palm oil supplier to Unilever, Nestlé, Pepsico and Mars, is destroying Indonesian rainforests, reports The Times. Unilever said it had suspended the placement of orders with two HSA companies and was conducting its own investigations.

Nestlé said it had “identified some issues” with one of its palm oil suppliers in Papua and was working to address them. Mars, Pepsico and HSA did not respond to the newspaper’s requests for comment. Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) said that an HSA company had stated in an email that it had “no connection whatsoever” with the company allegedly engaged in deforestation in Papua.

The report says the claims raise questions about whether customers can trust assurances from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) that its members, including Arma Group and Pacific Oils & Fats, do not have links to deforestation.

Amazon’s bricks and mortar division, which includes supermarket chain Whole foods, enjoyed first-quarter sales of more than £3bn (£2.2bn), reports the Daily Mail. The Financial Times (£) reports that Amazon “trounced” Wall Street expectations with group revenues up 43% to $52bn and net income more than double to $1.6m. Earnings came in more than twice as good as analysts had expected – largely attributed to “very strong demand” in Amazon Web Services and a good performance in online advertising. Its consumer retail business also performed strongly.

Membership of Prime will increase by $20 to $119 a year starting from May. The newspaper’s Lex column focuses on Amazon’s “sizeable” advertising business – a “multibillion dollar programme and growing very quickly”. The Times (£) says if Amazon’s shares open today at the level implied in after-hours trading last night the company will again overtake Alphabet as the world’s second-largest public company by value, behind Apple. The Guardian reports that analysts at Credit Suisse believe Amazon’s shares could soon hit $1,800.

Sachem Head and Elliott Advisors will push for Whitbread to break up faster than the two-year timeframe the owner of Costa Coffee and Premier Inn laid out this week, says The Times (£). Sachem Head is believed to be pushing for a break-up within the next six to nine months. Elliott Advisors wants it to be within six months. Neither activist investor would comment, however. Alison Brittain, Whitbread chief executive, has outlined a 24-month plan for demerger. The newspaper says a standalone Premier Inn could attract bid interest from trade rivals or private equity firms keen to sell off its estimated £5.4bn of property.

PepsiCo beat expectations in the first quarter, the Financial Times (£) reports. It made $4.4bn from its North American beverages unit in the quarter compared with predictions of $4.3bn in sales from the unit, down from $4.5bn in the previous year.

Starbucks has seen a 150% increase in reusable cup use, since it added a 5p charge to all paper cups sold in 35 shops across parts of central and west London, a preliminary assessment by the company has concluded, reports The Independent. Starbucks posted first-quarter revenue up 14% year-on-year to $6bn, while net earnings attributable to Starbucks came in at $660.1m – a slight increase from a year ago, the Financial Times (£). The sales growth was better than expectations but it said it was unclear how its plans to close more than 8,000 US branches for an afternoon next month to carry out racial bias training might affect its full-year projections.

Elliott Advisors, the activist hedge fund that successfully piled pressure on Whitbread to spin of Costa Coffee has bought a controlling stake in Waterstones for an undisclosed sum the Financial Times (£). The story is also covered in The Times (£), The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail, which add that Lynwood Investments will hang on to a minority stake. The Guardian says the deal is expected to be completed early next month. Sky News says it heralds a “new chapter”.

 

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