Supermarkets

Walmart inflation alarm, Unilever’s pricey remedy

28 Jul 2022

America’s largest private employer’s market value fell $35 bln amid a profit warning. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how customers shifting to low-margin food is a harbinger for rivals. Also, the Dove maker is pushing quality versus quantity sales.

Grocers’ plot to replace suppliers may backfire

8 Jul 2022

Europe’s supermarkets are clashing with food makers over price hikes. Replacing goods like Heinz baked beans, as Britain’s Tesco has done, with cheaper in-house brands helps keep margins intact. The painful flip-side is a top-line hit from selling more cut-price substitutes.

Kraft Heinz grocer war, China’s creaking economy

7 Jul 2022

Tesco has pulled products made by the $47 bln baked bean producer over price rises. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists debate how this loss of variety could open the door for rivals to expand. Also, the People’s Republic’s means of hitting economic goals.

Kraft has secret sauce in UK grocer food fight

4 Jul 2022

Supermarkets like Tesco are dropping the U.S. food giant’s wares after “unjustifiable” price hikes. That earns brownie points from shoppers and shunts politicians’ gaze to Kraft’s beefier margins. But less choice on the shelves may push business to cut-price rivals like Aldi.

Boots deal will add to Reliance’s retail black box

9 Jun 2022

The Indian conglomerate submitted a binding bid for Walgreens’ UK pharmacy chain in a consortium with Apollo. It’s a big pivot for Mukesh Ambani. Opacity around his retail expansion and a determination to win at all costs are a worry. Bulking up will make things worse.

UK grocer buyout creates bond market indigestion

29 Apr 2022

Banks led by Goldman and BNP Paribas that funded CD&R’s $9 bln Morrisons buyout have sold a chunk of the debt at a big discount. Inflation and a supermarket price war mean bondholders can now name their price. The debt hangover may make other deals trickier.

Capital Calls: Electric vehicles

17 Mar 2022

Concise views on global finance: Tesla and BYD price hikes show that EV makers need to push harder to slim down designs and jettison expensive materials.

Capital Calls: Continental, Harley-Davidson

8 Feb 2022

Concise views on global finance: German car-parts maker Continental may spin off its self-driving unit, while the iconic maker of motorbikes has turned supply shortages to its own advantage.

Walmart gets taste of the Lotte treatment in China

7 Jan 2022

Officials lambasted the U.S. retailer for network security problems, in what looks like blowback over allegations that Xinjiang-made products were yanked from shelves. The South Korean chain was hounded out of China by similar methods. Worst case, Walmart could share that fate.

Reheated French grocer deal is still unappetising

6 Jan 2022

Auchan may launch a second bid for $16 bln Carrefour. Roping in private equity would allow it to pay in cash, a more palatable dish for its rival’s shareholders than last year’s offer. Job losses and shaky strategic logic mean the French state will be hard to convince.

Pharmacy bidding war stands to get more feverish

2 Dec 2021

Aussie supermarket chain Woolworths has offered 13% extra to buy Priceline owner API over an agreed deal with Wesfarmers. The premium now stands at a whopping 53%. Deep-pocketed buyers, a frenzied M&A market and the implied returns are a prescription for additional sweeteners.

Capital Calls: Biden’s deficit, Austria lockdown

19 Nov 2021

Concise views on global finance: A nonpartisan analysis finds a $160 billion hole in the U.S. president’s social programs; while new Covid restrictions spark selloff in European airlines and hospitality.

Capital Calls: Google, Twitter, Swedish grocer

10 Nov 2021

Concise views on global finance: The search giant’s defeat in appealing a $2.8 bln EU fine is tolerable if American judges don’t follow; the social media network hopes to charge hardcore U.S. users a monthly fee; ICA Gruppen’s top shareholder takes the $12 bln retailer private.

Rapid grocery delivery will keep investors waiting

19 Oct 2021

Loss-making startups from Getir to Deliveroo are ferrying booze and nibbles to homes in under half an hour. Economies of scale will eventually help, although most operators will at best break even. Until delivery robots come along, shareholders will be subsidising lazy living.

Russian IPO salad hides some dodgy ingredients

18 Oct 2021

Helped by a global boom, new listings by the country’s companies are at their most active since 2007. Investors are more used to sanctions risk, while Covid-19 has spruced up hopefuls such as real estate website Cian. Others, like St Petersburg’s bourse, may be lumpy leftovers.

Viewsroom: IMF’s big brouhaha, European retailing

14 Oct 2021

The multilateral lender’s boss, Kristalina Georgieva, rode out data-rigging charges. Now she has got a lot to prove. Swaha Pattanaik ticks through how she can remake her legacy and reform the institution. Aimee Donnellan walks through the aisles of French supermarket finance.

Carrefour’s domestic shopping aisle looks bare

11 Oct 2021

A tie-up between the $15 bln French grocer and rival Auchan fell apart amid a valuation dispute. Concerns over competition and jobs complicate local mergers, while a failed Canadian takeover showed foreign buyers are unwelcome. Carrefour has little choice but to expand abroad.

Britain’s grocery LBO boom invites risky price war

5 Oct 2021

CD&R paid $10 bln for Morrisons, months after rival Asda also fell to private equity. Supermarket chains already face thin margins and brutal competition. But with more of the sector now loaded with debt, rivals like Aldi may be emboldened to slash prices and grab market share.

Morrisons losers will check out UK’s Sainsbury’s

2 Oct 2021

CD&R won an auction for Britain’s fourth biggest supermarket with a 7 billion pound bid, edging out a consortium led by SoftBank’s Fortress by just 1 pence per share. The winner could be overpaying, making rival grocer Sainsbury’s look more attractive as a fallback option.

Nordic retail robot IPO carries steep price tag

29 Sep 2021

AutoStore, the SoftBank-backed firm that sells automated warehouses, is listing in Oslo for up to $15 billion. It’s a bet on the boom in online shopping and grocery delivery. Yet the rich valuation relies on breakneck growth in a competitive market and downplays legal risks.