Associated British Foods, which owns Primark and several grocery brands including Twinings and Kingsmill, will not pay an interim dividend to save cash during the coronavirus crisis and has booked a £284 million charge to reflect an expected lower value of stock when its stores reopen.
The company also did not give profit guidance for its full 2019-20 year to end-August, but reiterated they will be "much lower" than envisaged at the start of the financial year, because the group does not know when its stores will emerge from lockdowns across Europe and the United States.
AB Foods said its second half expectations for its other businesses - sugar, grocery, ingredients and agriculture - were unchanged.
All of Primark's 376 stores in 12 countries have been closed since March 22, representing a loss of £650 million of net sales per month.
"One of the world's great clothing retailers is entirely shut," Chief Executive George Weston said on Tuesday.
Primark, which does not have an online business, generates about half of AB Foods' revenue and profit.
The group said it would be able to mitigate half of the operating costs of the Primark business while the stores remain closed, with 68,000 employees receiving furlough payments from governments across Europe.
But it said the timing of the reopening of the stores remains uncertain, while the process of reopening, once it begins, was likely to be complex, with costly social distancing measures needing to be implemented.
"It's the right thing to do and we have no choice anyway because no one's going to want to come into a store which ignores social distancing," Weston told Reuters.
For the group's first half to Feb. 29 adjusted operating profit rose 7 percent to £682 million, on revenue up 2 percent to 7.6 billion pounds.
But statutory operating profit fell 38 percent to £349 million after exceptional charges of £309 million, including the provision for Primark stock.
Weston said it would be "entirely inappropriate" to pay an interim dividend. Not paying one will save the group about £100 million.
It would consider paying a dividend at the year end in the light of trading for the full financial year and the financial circumstances at that time.
"Although uncertainty remains, we have the people and the cash resources to meet the challenges ahead," said Weston.
The UK government has pledged stronger measures to combat anti-social behaviour and shoplifting, which it acknowledges as serious crimes that disrupt communities and harm businesses.
Addressing a House of Lords debate on Monday, Home Office minister Lord Hanson detailed plans to abolish the controversial £200 shoplifting threshold and to introduce a new offence for assaults on retail workers.
“Anti-social behaviour and shop theft are not minor crimes. They cause disruption in our communities,” Lord Hanson stated.
“Shop theft in particular costs retailers across the nation millions of pounds, which is passed on to us as customers, and it is not acceptable. That is why, on shop theft, we are going to end the £200 effective immunity. For shop workers, we will protect them by introducing a new offence, because they are very often upholding the law in their shops on alcohol, tobacco and other sales.”
He also emphasised the government’s commitment to restoring visible neighbourhood policing, with 13,000 additional officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) planned, as well as piloting new “respect orders” to ban repeat offenders from town centres.
Later on Wednesday, the home secretary announced a £1 billion funding boost for police across England and Wales to restore neighbourhood policing. The money will include new funding of £100 million to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood officers, community support officers and special constables.
The debate was initiated by Labour peer Baroness Ayesha Hazarika, who painted a vivid picture of the toll anti-social behaviour takes on workers and communities. “Many people who work in shops feel like they are living in a war zone,” she said. “Anti-social behaviour can so often be the canary down the coal mine and tell a wider story about what kind of society we are living in.”
Baroness Hazarika also urged the use of technology such as facial recognition to target hardened criminals responsible for terrorising shops and local residents.
Lord Hanson agreed, adding that the government is equipping police with the resources to better address persistent offenders, including funding initiatives like Operation Pegasus, which targets organised retail crime.
Retail trade union Usdaw has welcomed the Lords debate tackling anti-social behaviour and shoplifting.
“We very much welcome that Baroness Hazarika has raised this hugely important issue for our members. It is shocking that over two-thirds of our members working in retail are suffering abuse from customers, with far too many experiencing threats and violence,” Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary, said.
“After 14 years of successive Tory governments not delivering the change we need on retail crime, we are pleased that the new Labour government announced a Crime and Policing Bill in the King’s Speech and all the measures that it contains, as set out by Lord Hanson.
“The chancellor announced in the Budget funding to tackle the organised criminals responsible for the increase in shoplifting, and the government has promised more uniformed officer patrols in shopping areas. It is our hope that these new measures will help give shop workers the respect they deserve.”
In response to the mounting pressures faced by postmasters across the UK, the Post Office has unveiled a centralised wellbeing platform aimed at simplifying access to support resources.
Post Office said the surge in shoplifting and violent incidents, documented in the 2024 ACS Crime Report, has only intensified the demand for comprehensive support.
With shoplifting on the rise year-on-year since 2021, and the Christmas trading period presenting heightened risks due to increased footfall and stock levels, the wellbeing of postmasters has become a pressing concern.
The new wellbeing platform, accessible via the Branch Hub app, provides a single point of access to a range of resources designed to meet Postmasters' immediate and ongoing needs. It is divided into three sections:
‘I Need Help Right Now’: Offers urgent support, including access to emergency services, mental health first aiders, , area and business support managers and organisations like Samaritans.
‘More Support and Guidance’: Provides practical tools such as security advice, social media abuse resources, and connections to organisations like Citizens Advice and Mind.
‘Access Community Support’: Encourages peer connections through WhatsApp and Facebook groups, as well as in-person meetings.
The initiative, a collaboration between the Post Office, the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters (NFSP), and Voice of the Postmaster, underscores a shift towards a more cooperative approach between historically independent groups, and creates a shared wellbeing network that is accessible to all postmasters, regardless of affiliation.
Mark Eldridge, postmaster experience director at Post Office, said the initiative will ensure that anyone who needs help can find it quickly and easily.
“It’s about creating a culture of care and resilience in the face of the challenges our postmasters face every day. If the initiative means helping just one postmaster, then we have done our job successfully,” Eldridge added.
Tony Fleming, postmaster at Thorne Post Office, shared how the initiative provided vital support following a traumatic armed robbery at his branch.
“It was incredibly difficult for the person faced with this violent threat, as well as the wider team. It’s a traumatic experience to go through as part of your day job and having the immediate support of the Wellbeing resource was invaluable – it really was wellbeing personified and gave me and everyone in the branch the support to get back to doing what we do best, serving our fantastic community in Thorne,” Fleming said.
Paul Patel, a Hampshire-based postmaster, echoed this sentiment, highlighting the platform’s ability to combat isolation and foster collaboration:
“It has been a difficult time for all postmasters who continue to serve their communities every day often feeling alone in their daily work life. It’s such a privilege to collaborate across the network to support Postmasters wellbeing from forming friendships to guiding for more professional support.”
Christine Donnelly of the NFSP highlighted the initiative’s accessibility and symbolic value.
“From a postmaster perspective this works on several levels. It is an easily accessible resource that offers advice and facts, but it also says by implication that we care, that participants from different areas of the business recognised a need and worked together to make it the best it could be,” Donnelly noted.
“It says you are not alone or the only one - how can you be if there is a whole site available?”
The Post Office plans to evolve the platform based on postmaster feedback, ensuring it remains relevant to emerging challenges.
Earlier this week, Post Office has announced a £20 million boost for postmasters to address their concerns that their income has not kept up with inflation over the past decade.
Both independent postmasters and Post Office’s retail partners that operate branches on its behalf will receive the top-up payment ahead of Christmas. The top-up payment will be based on both the standard fixed and variable remuneration the branch received in November.
Independent retailers have weathered one of their most challenging years in 2024, with multiple headwinds affecting the sector, according to the British Independent Retailers Association (Bira).
With pressures mounting throughout the year, independent retailers have faced an increasingly difficult trading environment marked by changing consumer behaviour and economic uncertainties.
"2024 has presented unprecedented challenges for independent retailers,” said Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira. “Consumer spending on non-food items has declined significantly, while persistent footfall problems and fragile consumer confidence have impacted high streets nationwide. Despite inflation coming under control, interest rates are falling slowly, affecting both business and consumer spending."
"The retail landscape has become increasingly competitive, with large chains implementing deeper and longer discount periods. The rise of ultra-fast fashion retailers like Shein and Temu has created additional pressure on margins, whilst deflation on non-food items has further squeezed profits," he added.
The sector has also grappled with retail crime, with Bira's latest survey showing 78.79 per cent of businesses reporting increased frequency or severity of theft incidents.
Research from PwC earlier this year also highlighted the scale of the challenge, with 6,945 outlets shutting – equating to 38 store closures per day, up from 36 per day in 2023. The figure outnumbered the rate of new store openings, which rose modestly to 4,661, averaging 25 openings each day.
Mr Goodacre said: "The key difficulties independent retailers are grappling with include low consumer demand, as consumer confidence remains fragile and shoppers are highly value-focused. Independent shops struggle to compete on price as large chains are able to discount more deeply and for longer periods."
Looking ahead to 2025, retailers face new challenges. He added: "Medium-sized retailers will see a significant increase in employment costs, while thousands of smaller retailers will be hit with higher business rates as relief drops from 75per cent to 40 per cent."
However, Mr Goodacre said he sees reasons for optimism and added: "We expect 2025 to bring some positive changes. Wages are set to rise faster than inflation, which should boost consumer spending. Both inflation and interest rates should continue to fall, helping to rebuild consumer confidence."
"The circular economy presents a growing opportunity for independent retailers, and with economic growth set to improve, we anticipate better trading conditions. While challenges remain, independent retailers who stay adaptable and resilient will find opportunities in the year ahead."
Nestlé Waters is facing a potential halt to its production of the iconic Perrier mineral water in southern France due to health risks, French media reported.
A confidential report published by French newspaper Le Monde and Radio France revealed that health authorities are recommending a production stoppage due to concerns over the sanitary quality of the water source.
Le Monde said the sparkling water brand, obtained at its source in Vergèze in the Gard prefecture, is under threat of losing its natural mineral water label, noting that “a confidential report from the Occitanie regional health agency leaves little room for any other outcome” and that the “blow could be fatal for Perrier”.
The report, citing an inspection conducted at the Perrier bottling plant in Vergèze, highlights the “regularly degraded sanitary quality” of the water catchment areas. Specifically, the report points to a “virological risk” associated with the water source.
In response to the findings, the regional health agency (ARS) has “invited” Nestlé Waters to “strategically consider another possible food use for the current mineral water catchments,” contingent upon the provision of “additional health safety guarantees.”
Nestlé Waters has not yet issued a formal statement regarding the potential production stoppage. However, the company has previously acknowledged contamination issues at the Vergèze site. In April this year, authorities ordered the destruction of millions of Perrier bottles due to “fecal” contamination detected in one of the water sources.
“Presented at the time by Nestlé and the prefecture as a one-off event linked to intense rainfall, this situation was in fact the consequence of a general deterioration in the quality of the groundwater exploited by Nestlé at Vergèze,” said Le Monde.
The future of the brand and its production site in Vergèze will be decided by the Gard prefecture, which must rule on Nestlé’s application in October 2023 to renew the operating permit for the ‘Perrier spring’. The prefecture told the paper that the decision could be made in the “first half of 2025” after receipt of an “opinion by approved public health hydrogeologists”, in addition to the ARS report.
Earlier in September, Nestlé Waters has agreed to pay €2 million (£1.7m) to close French probes over illegal wells and treatment of mineral water.
The deal ends preliminary probes into the use of wells without authorisation and fraud for filtering its mineral waters - a practice that is illegal in France where mineral waters are supposed to be natural.
The Swiss group will in addition spend €1.1m over two years on projects to restore the environment in several French towns where it operates.
Fed member and Northern district president Martin Ward recently took to the airwaves to slam the rise in shoplifting saying, “it is an everyday occurrence” and opening his doors on a morning fills him with dread.
On Tuesday morning, December 17, Mr Ward, who owns Cowpen Lane News, in Billingham, joined other concerned members of the public to discuss the damming effects of retail crime with Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Retail crime in its true nature has blighted retail over recent years and still there is very little being done. An increase of 28 per cent on 2023 reporting levels of shoplifting was reported by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) earlier this year.
Introduced to the show, Mr Ward advised how, for him, “It is an everyday occurrence unfortunately, now, you don’t know what you’re going to get when you open the doors every morning. It has definitely got a lot worse over the last five to ten years.”
Mr Campbell pressed Martin, asking how members of the public can help. “Should I shout or stop them?” he asked.
Martin replied: “Shouting at them is fine, as long as you are at a distance. The problem you’ve got is these people are dangerous, they don’t want to get stopped, they’ll do whatever they need to not get stopped.”
Martin then recounted when three shoplifters came into his store and, after narrowly missing them to challenge the assailants, he later learnt from the police that one of the criminals was known to carry a knife.
When discussing what actions members of the public could perform to stop this, Michael, a recently retired former police inspector who was also on the call, said that anyone who reports shoplifting, public or shopkeeper, needs to be clear.
He said: “You have got to report it every time. You may or may not get the response you hoped for. Sometimes we would listen to a 999 tape of a report that someone had a shoplifter in the store, and when we got there we would find out there was a violent robbery with a weapon.
“It is really important when ringing the police to actually mention what is happening. If there are weapons involved or violence threatened, please say that as there will be someone who decides which 999 calls get priority and the rule of thumb with those decisions is people become a bigger priority than property every single day.
“If the shoplifting is in progress and involves violence, it is a 999 call every time and you need to mention the violence and that it is ongoing, as that does affect the assessments and priority of the call.”
However, it was also discussed just why witnesses don’t want to get involved and simply let the criminals get away with it, as Martin also explained: “I understand why people do it, they don’t want to get involved, they don’t want to have to go to court and don’t want to make witness statements.
“What I have found with shoplifters is, if you are watching them, they don’t do it directly in front of you, so if everyone is watching it there might be less of it. But it does run the risk that they may just move on to somewhere else.”