Unilever (ULVR) is weighing up a sale of its traditional tea business including its historic PG Tips brand, amid cooling demand for the British cuppa. City sources said Unilever is exploring a sale of PG Tips and Lipton as part of efforts to cater to changing consumer tastes. Sales of black tea bags fell 3.4% last year, according to Kantar. It is understood that Unilever has revealed it could offload its tea unit in City meetings. One top 20 investor said: “Unilever has said ‘black tea, we’d love to be rid of it. Whether they can get someone to pay for it, that’s the million dollar question’.” The Anglo-Dutch company has also publicly hinted at a sale.
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) has poached a senior Tesco executive to run its struggling clothing and home business – one of the toughest challenges in UK retail. The retailer has drafted in Richard Price, who is responsible for Tesco’s own-label clothing brand F&F, in the latest effort to revive sales. M&S has been suffering as rivals such as Primark and the supermarket chains undercut it on price, while shoppers increasingly buy more clothes online. Mr Price will assume the role from M&S chief executive Steve Rowe, who took personal charge of the clothing business after Jill McDonald was ousted by the retailer in July.
The boss of Countryside Properties (CSP) is standing down after announcing a 5% rise in annual profits to £114.8m and increasing the number of homes built by a third to 5,733. Ian Sutcliffe said he planned to join his wife in retirement, having led the FTSE 250 business since 2015 and through its flotation the following year. Its shares have almost doubled since then to 371.8p, valuing the company at close to £1.7bn. Countryside posted a 16% rise in revenue to £5.7bn, although margins fell slightly to 21.7% after buying Westleigh Group. Westleigh focuses on affordable housing, which has lower margins.
Questor: Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) shares are not as cheap as its pints but they’re still worth holding. Questor share tip: stock boasts the highest valuation in the sector but remains investors’ best bet among the boozers
