Greggs (GRG) had another ‘very strong’ quarter of rising sales as more customers popped in its stores to grab breakfast on their way to work, but the rapid growth is easing back. The company, which has been making headlines with the success of its vegan sausage roll, did not mention the V word once in its latest trading update, but said it had added some new chicken sandwiches to its autumn menu. Greggs also said it has stockpiled ingredients ahead of possible Brexit disruption, which it expects will put pressure on labour and input costs in the coming months. ‘As expected, the rate of year-on-year sales growth moderated as we came up against stronger comparative sales from the previous year, but sales were still up strongly, driven predominantly by growth in customer numbers,’ Greggs said.
The plan to turn around Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) clothing and home business is 18 months behind schedule, its chief executive said yesterday. Steve Rowe said more needs to be done to put the long-suffering divisions back on track and that he was disappointed with progress so far. The assessment, at the firm’s capital markets day, pointed to slow changes in supply chains, which in the past have led to stock shortages. It has made progress in new and improved styles, helping to grow the number of customers by 425,000 in the past year, with the autumn collection modelled by Line Of Duty star Vicky McClure. ‘There is still too much slow-moving stock in our system and we’re hampered by an expensive, inefficient supply chain,’ investors were told.
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) merger with Footasylum (FOOT) is under threat after the competition watchdog launched an in-depth investigation into the proposed tie-up. In a move that will delight competitor Mike Ashley and his Sports Direct group, the Competition and Markets Authority said as it launched a phase-two probe after JD Sports failed to offer remedies to its concerns. The CMA had said the £90million merger could result in a ‘substantial lessening of competition’, having previously warned the deal could lead to ‘higher prices’ and ‘worse choice’ for customers. JD rejected the CMA’s claims and said there were no ‘appropriate remedies’ that it could offer to avoid being referred for an in-depth investigation. ‘JD firmly believes that there is clear evidence that the acquisition would not result in a substantial lessening of competition in the relevant clothing and footwear retail markets where the two businesses operate,’ JD’s executive chairman Peter Cowgill, said.
Infrastrata (INFA) has agreed to pay £6million for Harland And Wolff, which went into administration in August following the collapse of its Norwegian parent group. It had 35,000 workers during the Second World War, and between 1909 and 1914 built the Titanic, the Olympic and Britannic. The shipyard, whose two yellow cranes, Samson and Goliath, are part of the Belfast skyline, has also built oil platforms and wind turbines. Infrastrata will use it to build the metal fabrication for its huge underground gas storage facility in Northern Ireland, in Islandmagee.
SCS Group (SCS) has blamed a mix of Brexit uncertainty and hot weather during the August bank holiday weekend for a reversal of fortunes at the start of its new financial year. The firm said it had a ‘challenging start’ to 2020, with like-for-like sales falling between the end of July and the end of September. Commenting on the past couple of months of trading, ScS chief executive David Knight said: ‘This period was impacted by the record temperatures experienced by the UK across the August bank holiday weekend and the increasing political and economic uncertainty we are currently facing in the UK.’
Crimson Tide (TIDE) has signed a three-year deal with an unnamed retailer to use its mobile software. Its tech has been used by Interserve to log cleaning activities and Nestle has used it to record deliveries. The contracted revenue from the ‘significant’ new deal will be at least £1.4million over the three years and Crimson Tide’s platform will be used in almost 4,000 retail sites in the UK and Ireland.
Ferguson (FERG) surged to the top of the Footsie leaderboard after it surpassed City forecasts. Disciplined cost-cutting helped the group see a rise in revenue to £18billion and a better-than-expected profit before tax of £1.1billion in the year to July 31. Share Centre analyst Ian Forrest praised a ‘quick response’ to a slowdown in the US, where it makes around 90% of its turnover, by cutting around 600 jobs. Last month it revealed plans to spin off the UK arm so it could focus on its North American side, which it said is ‘progressing well’.
Sirius Minerals (SXX) tracked lower, down 0.2p, to 3.75p, after Berenberg brokers cut their target price on the fertiliser miner from 17p to 4p. Analysts cited ‘uncertainty’ about its financing for the cut, saying a strategic investor now ‘appears the only lifeline’.
