Closing summary
Time to recap.
Lidl has become the latest major supermarket chain to ration sales of some fruit and vegetables after an increase in shoppers looking for them after rival retailers implemented their own restrictions.
The UK’s sixth-largest supermarket chain said it had introduced a buying limit of three items per customer on peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers after a “recent increase in demand”.
Lidl says it acted after an increase in demand, following restrictions at rival supermarkets.
A Lidl spokesperson says:
While we still have good availability across the majority of our stores, due to a recent increase in demand we have taken the decision to temporarily limit the purchase of peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers to three items per person.
“This will help to ensure that all of our customers have access to the products they need.”
Here’s the full story:
Another supermarket chain, Morrisons, is in the spotlight today, as debts rise and profits fall under its private equity owners.
Pressure is mounting on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to rethink his plan to cut energy bill support in April.
Charities and opposition parties say it is a mistake to allow typical household energy bills to rise to £3,000 per year from April, up from £2,500 per year at present. That increase is due to planned changes to the government’s Energy Price Guarantee in April – when winter fuel bill support worth £400 per home will end.
This morning, energy regulator Ofgem announced that its energy price cap was being cut by £1,000 per year, meaning average bills would be around £3,280 per year from April, down from £4,279/year in January.
Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley said many households face a very tough time, adding that there is “a case for examining with urgency the feasibility of a social tariff for customers in the most vulnerable situations.”
The pound has rallied on reports that Rishi Sunak has sealed a deal with the EU to end the dispute over the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol. Sterling has gained a cent against the US dollar to $1.205 this afternoon.
A report has warned that Rishi Sunak’s government is hiding £28bn of “stealth cuts” to public services over the next five years, such as education, healthcare, childcare and transport.
In the City, Primark owner Associated British Foods has lifted its financial expectations for this year.
ABF now expects its adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share will be “broadly in line with the previous financial year”.
ABF which also runs agriculture, ingredients, sugar and grocery businesses, says Britons started shopping early for the summer, and has also benefited from easing inflation.
Associated British Foods (ABF) said people were planning for their holidays despite the cost of living crisis, with strong sales of luggage and beachwear such as sunglasses, swimwear, beach footwear and even shorts.
John Bason, ABF’s finance director, said the company had seen an increase in sales of luggage and “people buying for hot summer holidays – and they’re doing it in January”.
The total value of all homes across the UK has reached a record high of £8.7tn, estate agent Savills reported, but rising mortgage costs are likely to lead to a dip in 2023.
And Elon Musk has fired another 200 staff at Twitter including the executive behind the revamp of its paid-for premium service, according to a report.
Over in Washington, the World Bank has estimated that the two major earthquakes that hit Turkey on 6 February caused about $34.2bn in direct physical damage.
However, total reconstruction and recovery costs facing the country could be twice as high, the World Bank said today, adding that Turkish economic growth will be lower than forecast too.
Reuters has more details:
The bank estimates that the earthquakes would also shave at least half a percentage point off Turkey’s forecast gross domestic product growth of 3.5% to 4% in 2023, Humberto Lopez, World Bank country director for Turkey, told reporters.
The situation in Syria, which was also affected by the quakes, was “really catastrophic”, said Anna Bjerde, World Bank Group vice president for Europe and Central Asia. The bank will release a separate damage estimate for Syria on Tuesday.
Bjerde said the initial rapid damage assessment for Turkey of $34.2 billion was equivalent to about 4% of its economic output in 2021, but that did not include indirect or secondary impacts on the growth of its economy, or the most recent earthquake a week ago.
“Our experience is that reconstruction needs can run as high as two to three times the estimated direct physical damage,” she said.
