The FTSE 100 is down 0.4 per cent in early trading. Among the companies with reports and trading updates today are Aldi UK, Aviva and Entain. Read the Monday 25 September Business Live blog below.

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Upbeat Oliver Bonas bags £9m profit

Consumer shifts drive record Aldi UK sales

Neil Shah, director at Edison Group:

‘Aldi’s record profits owe a lot to its supermarket sweep of UK households, with two-thirds now shopping at the German discount supermarket giant.

‘Aldi UK’s burgeoning growth, marked by a 17.1 per cent increase in sales at £15.5 billion last year, is significantly attributed to consumer shifts during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, with a heightened preference for economical own-label products.

‘The business is amplifying its investment to £1.4 billion through 2024, following a significant uptick in 2022 profits. This announcement is synchronous with Aldi UK inaugurating its 1,000th store and revising its target to 1,500, signalling robust growth and expansive market strategies. The refined investment will predominantly fund the expansion and refinement of stores and distribution networks and technology enhancement.

‘Aldi, surpassing Morrisons, now ranks as the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket and, along with Lidl, is manifesting rapid growth, altering shopping habits, and cementing its position in the market by drawing in value-seeking consumers.

‘This fortified market stance underscores Aldi’s commitment to offering value-driven, cost-effective alternatives, attracting nearly a million new customers in a year.’

Entain outlook weakens

Ladbrokes owner Entain expects third-quarter online net gaming revenue to be down by ‘high single digit percent’ on a pro-forma basis, citing regulatory headwinds and slower-than-expected growth in Australia and Italy.

Entain, which also owns Coral betting shops, added it expects group online gaming revenue for the full year to be down ‘low single digit percent’ on a pro-forma basis.

The company had earlier forecast annual growth in the mid-teens for online gaming revenue, including the acquisitions of STS Holdings and Angstrom Sports, which is expected to close in the second half of 2023.

‘We continue to see good underlying growth in our online business and are reiterating our EBITDA guidance for the year despite softer than expected revenue growth in Q3 and the ongoing roll-out of industry-leading safer gambling measures,’ CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen said in a statement.

Builders warn of 50,000 fall in new homes

Aviva to buy AIG Life for £460m

Aviva has agreed to acquire the UK protection business of AIG for £460million.

Aviva said on Monday it would buy the unit – known as AIG Life UK – from Corebridge Financial, a New York-listed subsidiary of AIG.

Amanda Blanc, CEO of Aviva, said the deal would strengthen the FTSE 100 company’s position in an attractive market and help position it for ‘capital-light growth’.

The transaction will add 1.3 million individual protection customers and 1.4 million group protection members, Aviva said, with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals.

The deal would represent around a 5 percentage point cut to Aviva’s group solvency II cover ratio, the company said.

Marks & Spencer to sell Adidas and Sweaty Betty online

Marks & Spencer has teamed up with Adidas and Sweaty Betty as it extends its ‘brands’ strategy.

More than 150 products across the two sportswear brands will launch on M&S’ dedicated Sports Edit platform in early October.

M&S is hoping to drive online growth by selling third party brands, with upcoming additions including Columbia, Regatta and Sorel.

Cost-of-living crisis drives record Aldi UK sales

Aldi UK delivered record sales of £15.5billion last year, reflecting growth of 17.1 per cent, as the German discounter benefited from the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

The business said it would invest £1.4billion in the two-year period to the end of 2024.

Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK and Ireland, said:

‘Although inflation is easing, households are still under real pressure from higher living costs. As a result, Britain is shopping very differently to how it did 18 months ago – fewer trips, more own label products, and switching supermarkets in search of better value.

‘What we’re seeing is a new generation of savvy shoppers who’ve turned their back on traditional, full-price supermarkets in favour of transparent, low prices, which is what we’re famous for. That’s why we’re still welcoming more and more customers through our doors – people who come to us for our low prices but stay for the award-winning quality of our exclusive brands.

‘Shoppers know they’ll always get more for their money at Aldi. That’s a promise we’ve kept for more than 30 years.’

Britons are scrapping their overseas holidays as they feel the pinch of the cost of living crisis.

Nearly 40 per cent of adults in the UK abandoned foreign holiday plans this year to stay at home and save money because of the crisis, according to a new survey.

Just over half (53 per cent) of those polled said they stuck to their jet-setting plans, while almost one in ten (9.1 per cent) said they were still undecided.

Nearly three in five (58 per cent) of those quizzed admitted they were spending more time at home compared with before the crisis.

Almost one third (32 per cent) said they were spending ‘a lot more time’ at home, while just over a quarter (26 per cent) said it was ‘a bit more time’.

Britons are scrapping their overseas holidays as they feel the pinch of the cost-of-living crisis, according to new research 

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The insights come from a survey commissioned by the interior design business InteriorNet, which asked digital pollsters Find Out Now to conduct a UK-wide nationally representative survey of 2,000 adults to study their responses to the cost-of-living crisis, covering topics ranging from spending on home improvements to altered travel plans.

InteriorNet commissioned the poll after noticing a spike in those searching its platform for affordable home-design solutions.

The firm pairs owners or tenants wanting to transform their properties with interior designers ‘across all budgets’.

Less than half (43 per cent) of those polled said their lifestyle had managed to stay the same as before the crisis when it comes to going out.

Asked about other life aspects, one third (33 per cent) of young adults aged 18 to 24 in the study said they had shelved plans to move house due to the squeeze on their finances.

And 37 per cent of adults under 34 said they were looking to spend money on sprucing up their home rather than moving house.

Sixty-nine per cent of respondents said they were more conscious of the amount they spend on their home than before the crisis.

Nearly 40 per cent of adults in the UK scrapped foreign holiday plans this year to stay at home and save money because of the cost-of-living crisis, according to a new survey

Among them, 33 per cent said they were ‘much more conscious’, 23 per cent said they were ‘somewhat more conscious’ and 13 per cent said they were ‘slightly more conscious’.

This was more the case among young people in the study, in which 81 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds said they were more conscious about spending money on their home.

Commenting on the results, founders Stella Pozzi and Sashola Prestcote said: ‘This poll gives a real insight into the stress the majority in the UK are feeling as a result of the cost-of-living crisis.

One third (33 per cent) of young adults aged 18 to 24 in the study said they had shelved plans to move house due to the squeeze on their finances

‘Many have scrapped foreign holiday plans and dreams of moving house. This means millions of people are spending more time at home than ever to save money.

‘We have noticed that they are therefore looking for affordable ways to spruce up their environment, calling on the scores of talented designers out there who can help advise how to make simple changes on a budget.

‘The survey illustrates the massive effects the crisis is having on normal people who are having to make fundamental changes to the way they live.’

Chris Holbrook, founder of Find Out Now, said the findings suggest that lifestyles in Britain are ‘very different to what they were just four years ago’.

He added: ‘We can see that many have been spending more time at home since the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated that even further.’

Benefits: Bottling boss Zoran Bogdanovic took home millions last year

The boss of Coca-Cola HBC has pocketed more than £500,000 in ‘cost of living’ benefits in the last two years.

Zoran Bogdanovic, chief executive of the soft drinks bottling giant, received the payments as part of an overall salary, bonus and perks package adding up to a staggering £8million over the two years.

The astonishing figures from the Mail on Sunday, the sister title of This is Money, highlight the lavish handouts received by the very well paid bosses of some of Britain’s biggest companies.

These perks include generous allowances for their partners, commuting costs and designer clothes. Other benefits include subsidised housing, club memberships and home security costs.

Bogdanovic was paid £4.1million last year, including almost £400,000 in benefits. He picked up a ‘cost of living and foreign exchange rate adjustment’ of £285,000 and a housing allowance of £91,000. He also received a ‘home trip allowance’ of £2,240 and a ‘partner allowance’ of £860.

Shareholders recently railed against Bogdanovic’s pay package. In one of the biggest protests against executive excess this year, almost a third of them voted against the company’s pay report.

However, such votes are not binding and boards can simply thumb their noses at investors.

Although the company’s shares are quoted in London, Bogdanovic, a Croatian national, is based at Coca-Cola HBC’s headquarters in Zug, the upscale hedge fund capital of Switzerland where living costs are considerably higher than in his homeland.

HBC – whose partner the Coca-Cola Company features singer Rita Ora in a recent advertising campaign – declined to comment.

Bogdanovic’s pay package concerns UK small investors and pension savers because as a member of the elite FTSE 100 index, Coca-Cola HBC shares are automatically included in popular index tracker funds.

Share performance has lagged the index since Coca-Cola HBC joined the main London stock market in 2013.

As ordinary employees were forced to pay more for their daily commutes, a number of FTSE 100 bosses received tens of thousands of pounds to be chauffeured to their offices. Fresnillo boss Octavio Alvidrez received £38,000 last year for his driver.

Other executives to enjoy the perks of the top job include new Burberry boss Jonathan Akeroyd, who raked in £4.3million last year, including the maximum £50,000 allowed for a car and designer clothing.

Lavish: Pop star Rita Ora stars in Coca-Cola’s latest advertising campaign

Jack Bowles, head of British American Tobacco, enjoyed a £1.3million payday including £33,000 in costs for the ‘annual maintenance and monitoring’ of his personal and home security system. He also received £39,000 for a chauffeur.

National Grid’s John Pettigrew has the use of a car and driver – a perk that cost the energy giant £43,500 – and he also received a £12,000 company car allowance.

Pettigrew’s £7.3 million package puts him among the highest-paid FTSE 100 bosses. He previously claimed half a million pounds to move from Leamington Spa to London in 2019.

Luis Gallego, who heads British Airways owner IAG, was paid a £250,000 a year ‘transitionary allowance’ for keeping homes in Madrid and London.

Tesco boss Ken Murphy received £102,000 to commute from his family home in Ireland to the firm’s HQ in Hertfordshire.