Business news in brief
Revenue jumps at Ocado as second lockdown boosts sales
Ocado saw sales jump by more than a third in the run-up to December, as harsher lockdown conditions in England benefited the online supermarket. Retail revenue jumped by 34.9 per cent compared to last year in the 13 weeks to the end of November, Ocado said, reaching £579.6m. The supermarket said its customers had placed around 360,000 orders a week on average during the period, only an increase of 10,000 compared to last year. The company is half owned by Marks & Spencer and started delivering its products in September this year. The partnership is continuing to generate strong sales as people stocked up on M&S fresh everyday essential categories, Ocado said. PA
Losses rise 20-fold at pub chain Marston’s during lockdown year
Losses increased nearly 20-fold at pub giant Marston’s in the last year, as the business faced a tough ride trying to weather the Covid-19 storm. Pre-tax loss reached £397m in the 12 months to early October, up from just £20.1m a year earlier. Nevertheless, Marston’s said it had managed to outperform many of its
rivals for part of the year. In the fourth quarter, like-for-like sales reached 90 per cent of 2019’s levels, which was 7 per cent ahead of the UK’s pub sector, according to figures from Peach Tracker which the company highlighted. “2020 has been an extraordinarily difficult year for the pub and wider hospitality sector which has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic,” said chief executive Ralph Findlay. PA
Borrowers warned over up-front fee loan scammers
People whose incomes have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic are being urged to watch out for scammers offering them loans to pay for Christmas which require an up-front fee. Loan fee frauds accounted for one in eight scam reports made to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last December. The scams happen when people are asked to pay a fee in advance for a loan or credit that they never then receive. The FCA said the average loan fee fraud scam costs consumers £220 each. It added that with research suggesting people spend an average of £355 on Christmas gifts, loan fee scams could cost the equivalent of around two-thirds of the value of the presents sitting under a Christmas tree. PA
Deal agreed to end two rail franchises
FirstGroup has reached an agreement with the government over the termination of two rail franchises, the transport giant said. The Department for Transport has accepted that no payment is required in return for scrapping Avanti West Coast’s contract as the brand was “performing well prior to the pandemic”, according to the Aberdeen-based company. But a contribution of £33.2m is required by FirstGroup to end South Western Railway’s deal. The negotiations were part of Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements introduced due to the collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus crisis. PA
Tui swings to €3bn loss
Holiday giant Tui revealed it has swung to a €3bn (£2.7bn) annual loss and said it would slash costs further to weather the hit from the pandemic. The German group’s hefty underlying loss for the year to 30 September comes against earnings of €893.5m the previous year, after revenues plunged 58 per cent to €7.9bn. Tui said it has raised its long-term cost-cutting target by another €100m to €400m as it revealed swingeing job cuts amid the crisis has seen its workforce fall by 32 per cent to 48,300. The firm – which last week secured a third government bailout in Germany – put faith in the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to boost holiday demand in 2021. PA