AG Barr, the maker of Scottish fizzy drink Irn-Bru, has raised its profit forecast after it shrugged off supply chain disruptions as sales rebounded with the reopening of the British economy (The Financial Times £).
The firm said on Monday that trading momentum has ‘continued and sales have grown ahead of… expectations’ across its soft drink and Funkin cocktail mixer businesses since it reported its interim results in September (The Mail).
Fears that global supply chain disruptions could lead to empty shelves have prompted Asda to charter its own cargo ship to ensure that it has enough toys, clothes and decorations in the run-up to Christmas (The Times £).
The supermarket, which revealed in a trading update on Monday that sales fell 0.7% in the three months to 31 October, said the ship carrying 350 containers of items from east Asia was its first ever private charter (The Guardian).
New Covid-19 restrictions announced by the prime minister to tackle the Omicron variant are unlikely to derail the economy, but they could trigger a pingdemic costing at least £2bn (The Times £).
Retailers have said they cannot be expected to police the reintroduction of mandatory mask wearing in shops in England from Tuesday as enforcing the rules can be a “trigger for abuse” (The Guardian).
The Tempus shares column in The Times (£) takes a look at questions facing investors in SSP Group as it faces a slower potential recovery.
JD Wetherspoon has dealt a big blow to Heineken by replacing the Dutch brewer with Anheuser-Busch InBev as its biggest beer supplier (The Times £).
Shortage of abattoir workers and higher input costs are pushing some UK pig farmers to cease independent production (The Financial Times £).
Fortress Investment Group is among the parties to have approached Punch Pubs’ shareholders about a £1bn takeover of the business (Sky News).
A large shareholder in DX Group has demanded a seat on its board after the logistics business delayed its results in light of an internal investigation (The Times £).
Upstart e-cigarette makers are vying to get their products prescribed on the NHS, as they target a potentially lucrative new market before Big Tobacco commits to the lengthy licensing process (The Financial Times £).
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