Unilever's quarterly sales growth beats estimates
The consumer goods company reported underlying sales growth of 3.8% for the three months ended June 30, compared with 3.6% expected by analysts in a company-compiled poll.
Unilever's ice cream business, called The Magnum Ice Cream Company, is on track for demerger in mid-November, the company said.
The company, which also owns brands such as Vaseline and Liquid I.V., kept its 2025 forecast unchanged.
Unilever reported an underlying operating profit of 5.8 billion euros for the half-year period, slightly ahead of market expectations of 5.7 billion euros.
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Scotsman
a minute ago
- Scotsman
Is it a Bank Holiday today?
What to know about the UK's next official day off work if you're feeling that summer slowdown 🌞 Sign up to the weekly Cost Of Living newsletter. Saving tips, deals and money hacks. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Many Brits are wondering if mid-August marks their next day off work The late summer bank holiday is a long-standing tradition in the UK It's a popular time for festivals, seaside trips, and family gatherings Dates for bank holidays can differ depending on where you live in the UK The next UK-wide bank holidays after August come during the festive season It feels like it's been ages since the last bank holiday, so surely we're due one again, right? We all know there's a big one coming in August, but when exactly is it? Could it be today? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The late August bank holiday has been part of the UK calendar for decades, originally intended to give workers a break before the summer season wrapped up. The popular summer holiday is often marked by festivals, trips to the seaside, family barbecues, and one last dose of summer before autumn begins to creep in. But if you've found yourself wondering whether Monday, August 18, 2025 is a bank holiday, the answer is: unfortunately, no. Even though today isn't a bank holiday, it's easy to see why people check – August has that 'holiday' feel, and many of us are looking forward to squeezing in one last summer adventure. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But when exactly is the August bank holiday? On what official days off from work can Brits look forward to in the remainder of 2025? (Photo: Pexels) | Pexels Is today a bank holiday? While the mid-August Monday might have you dreaming of a long weekend, the actual late August bank holiday doesn't arrive until the following week. In 2025, it falls on Monday, August 25 across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Its placement on the last Monday of August is ideal for making the most of warm weather while it lasts. Many use it for quick getaways, big events, or just enjoying a lazy day at home. Whether you're planning to hit a music festival, take a trip to the coast, or simply enjoy a quiet day with family and friends, now is a good time to start pencilling in your plans. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But it's worth remembering that bank holiday dates can vary depending on where you live in the UK. While England, Wales, and Northern Ireland all observe the August bank holiday on the last Monday of the month, Scotland has its summer bank holiday on the first Monday of August. So for Scots, the long weekend has already been and gone this year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad When is the next bank holiday? If you're already thinking ahead, the next UK-wide bank holidays after August will be Christmas Day on Thursday, December 25 and Boxing Day on Friday, December 26, 2025. That means the late August long weekend is your last chance for an official day off before the festive season.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Rachel Reeves to cut ‘bats and newts' in boost to developers
Rachel Reeves is preparing to strip back environmental protections in an effort to boost the economy by speeding up infrastructure projects. The chancellor is considering reforms that would make it far harder for concerns about nature to stop development, which she insists is crucial to restoring growth and improving living standards. The Treasury has begun preparing for another planning reform bill and is thinking about tearing up key parts of European environmental rules that developers say are making it harder to build key projects. Labour ministers have repeatedly insisted that their current planning overhaul will not come at the expense of nature, promising a 'win-win' system where developers will pay to offset environmental damage. But Reeves is understood to believe that the government must go significantly further, after expressing frustration that the interests of 'bats and newts' are being allowed to stymie critical infrastructure. She has tasked officials with looking at much more contentious reforms, which are likely to provoke a furious backlash from environmentalists and cause unease for some Labour MPs. A smaller, UK-only list of protected species is being planned, which would place less weight on wildlife — including types of newt — that is rare elsewhere in Europe but more common in Britain. Developers would also no longer have to prove that projects would have no impact on protected natural sites, under plans that would abolish the 'precautionary principle' enshrined in European rules. Instead, a new test would look at risks and benefits of potential projects. Further curbs to judicial review are also being considered by Reeves to stop key projects being delayed by legal challenges from environmentalists. No decisions have been made, but work is underway and Treasury sources acknowledged there was a growing belief that the government needed to go further, as Reeves says she wants to make boosting Britain's sluggish productivity the centrepiece of her autumn budget. She argued this week that building more infrastructure such as roads and railways were crucial to this aim. A Planning and Infrastructure Bill currently going through parliament attempts to encourage development through a 'nature restoration fund' through which developers will be allowed to press ahead with projects by setting up schemes elsewhere to offset their environmental impact. • The grid is struggling — and our green future hangs in the balance But the plan has been criticised by environmental groups while also attracting scepticism from some developers, who fear it will not work in practice and do little to speed up building. Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, who stood down as energy minister in May, is urging his former colleagues to go further to achieve Labour's promise of 150 major infrastructure projects. 'While I think the planning bill will work for housing, I don't think it is sufficiently focused on the major infrastructure projects, so it is encouraging that the Treasury is going to have another look at whether we've really got this right,' he said. 'The government has to face up to the tensions in the Habitat Regulations which are making it hard to build essential infrastructure and the reality is that at some point someone needs to make a hard decision and say 'on some things, you just have to press ahead'.' The rules, which incorporate the EU Habitats Directive into British law, ban killing of hundreds of species, including types of bats, news, voles, snails, spiders, insects and woodlice. Developers must prove there is no risk to protected sites and species before being allowed to go ahead with projects, under rules which critics say impose an 'impossibly high standard' on vital projects. Reeves is increasingly sympathetic to such criticism, after repeatedly hitting out at 'ridiculous' environmental protections. She said last month that she cared 'more about the young family getting on the housing ladder than I do about protecting some snails', after a speech in January in which she said developers should be able to 'focus on getting things built, and stop worrying about bats and newts'. Sir Keir Starmer has also expressed frustration with the ability of campaigners to delay projects through legal challenges, and is already introducing rules which limit judicial review to override the 'whims of nimbys'. 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Becky Pullinger, of the Wildlife Trusts, said maintaining environmental standards was 'essential if we are to achieve targets to protect and restore the natural world which is suffering huge declines, saying Reeves should abandon 'the myth that deregulation will lead to economic growth'. But Robbie Owen, head of infrastructure planning at Pinsent Masons, said: 'Ministers are finally realising that their rhetoric about reform doesn't match up up the reality of their bill. We have been saying to ministers and officials all year that the bill needs to go further and it seems that message has finally been heard.'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
ALEX BRUMMER: Buyout grocers crushed by debt anvil
Of all the private equity deals of recent years, the most ill-timed were those done for supermarket groups Asda and Morrisons during the pandemic. Ambition in both cases was high, but the deals left both grocers weighed down with a monstrous amount of debt and unable to compete with rivals. Predictably, Tesco with its vast buying power and ability to offer lower prices has raced away since the pandemic and now has 28.3 per cent of the grocery market. It continues to gain share at a rapid pace. The secretive, German-owned interlopers Aldi and Lidl have European-wide buying power across a narrower range of goods and an own-brand model. They have become price setters at a time of food inflation. Sainsbury's, with a market share at 15.1 per cent, intelligently chose to invest in price matching on a core range of goods with Aldi. It is an investment which has paid off. The most recent data from market research group Kantar show the scale of the challenge for private equity-controlled Asda and Morrisons. The former, now under the stewardship of veteran Allan Leighton, is struggling with year-on-year sales down 7 per cent. Morrisons, on paper at least, looks to be doing better with sales up 1 per cent. It is reckoned, however, that this might be a case of the hare and the tortoise. Morrisons, led by enthusiastic Lebanese-born chief executive Rami Baitieh, looks to be doing better. A series of asset sales, including its petrol forecourts, means it has brought down debt levels from £8.5billion, when it was bought by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 2021, to £3.8billion. The difficulty is that its idiosyncratic 'farm to fork' model of food retail means it has a higher cost base than competitors. In addition, its famous 'marketplace' style counters, selling everything from bread to fish, are more expensive to operate with greater wastage and staff costs than shelf to consumer. Rivals estimate that baskets can be up to 7 per cent more expensive. At a time when price is everything, with Aldi going great guns, Morrisons' much admired model may condemn it to the slow lane over time. In contrast Asda, the tortoise with declining sales, is in a much better position. A smart deal by private equity group TDR saw it acquire the 22.5 per cent stake owned by the Issa Brothers at what industry sources suggest was a bargain basement price, estimated in June 2024 at £500m. As well as lower legacy interest rates Asda's stores are endowed with in-store concessions including pharmacies, optician counters, Greggs, Music Magpie and much else, giving it a marketing edge over competitors. It is also on a convenience store opening spree and has part ownership of EG fuel forecourts. It doesn't hurt that the group has a cornerstone investor in mega-retailer Walmart which retains a 10 per cent stake. The bidding wars for Asda and Morrisons, which in hindsight drove the acquisition cost and debt level up, were in retrospect a dreadful mistake. Private equity firms boast that away from the glare of scrutiny surrounding listed companies, they can make tough decisions. They reckoned without a fast-changing post-pandemic and Ukraine war market which would see low prices, driven by Aldi and Lidl, become a dominant theme. Tesco and Sainsbury's rapidly adjusted. The debt anvil crushed the ambitions of Morrisons and Asda.
