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Retail round up - the Sunday papers
Diageo to back deal on alcohol, Swedish retailer plans UK expansion, World Cup and iPad rescue DSG, Vodafone in Chinese sell-off, Bread wars, Tesco to cut 2,000 top roles, Argos sues over price rise
Sunday Telegraph
One of the world's largest drinks' manufacturers is to consider backing an end to the sale of alcohol "below cost" in a move set to re-ignite the debate on links between price and problem drinking. Diageo is to reveal it is minded to support a ban on selling alcohol below the cost of duty and VAT, although it denies any link between price and alcohol-related harm. In its submission to the Home Office consultation on a proposed overhaul of licensing laws, which closes next week, the maker of Guinness, Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff, will oppose any other kind of minimum pricing restriction, saying it would be impossible to come up with a fair definition of what "cost" includes.
Clas Ohlson, Sweden's third- largest retailer after Ikea and clothing chain H&M, is planning to open up to 200 stores in Britain, creating about 7,000 jobs. The company, which has 115 outlets in Sweden, Norway and Finland and is listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm, sells hardware, electrical goods, and kitchen and bathroom accessories. It has opened seven UK stores – in Croydon, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Reading, Watford, and Kingston-on-Thames – mostly in former Woolworths and Zavvi outlets. The eighth UK store will open later this year in Dudley, with up to nine more planned in the company's current financial year.
DSG, the owner of Currys and PC World, is this week expected to say that UK sales in its first quarter rose by around 3.5pc on a like-for-like basis, driven by strong sales of Apple's iPad and flat screen televisions for the World Cup. The retailer is set to announce that group sales – including turnover at its overseas stores – grew by 2pc on a like-for-like basis. Nomura, the broker, said of DSG: "We forecast a strong first-quarter sales period, with Currys offsetting ongoing weakness at PC World, driven by easy comparative figures, the World Cup and iPad sales," the broker said.
Sunday Times
Vodafone is preparing to raise more than £4 billion by selling its shares in China Mobile, the first of a string of planned disposals. Investors expect the deal to be rubber- stamped next month. It is deciding whether to find a strategic investor for the stake or to sell the shares on the Hong Kong stock market, where China Mobile is listed.
Supermarkets are defying soaring wheat prices to launch a bread war. Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons have slashed the price of a basic white sliced loaf to 30p from about 47p, despite wheat being 60 per cent more expensive than three months ago.
Mail on Sunday
Tesco is slashing about 2,000 management roles at its Express convenience stores as part of a restructuring plan. The supermarket chain has begun a 90-day consultation period with employees who hold the title of duty manager. This will be replaced by the post of deputy manager, which Tesco said was a more responsible position and would be offered to about half of the 2,000 workers involved in the consultation process.
The owners of Peacocks which has 500 stores and owns the Bonmarche chain, will kick off a search for potential buyers next month, valuing the business at an estimated £600 million.
Independent on Sunday
Argos is suing A P Moller-Maersk, the world's largest container shipping company, for more than $13m (£8m). The high street chain, owned by the FTSE-100 Home Retail Group, accuses the Danish logistics group of reneging on a contract to ship 5,000, 40ft containers from the Far East to the UK in each of 2010 and 2011, as well as attempting to impose a "unilateral" three-fold price increase in January.
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