The shock departure of Tesco UK CEO Matthew Barnes is the top story in the nationals. The former Aldi boss spent just over a year in the post, reports The Telegraph. Barnes will be replaced by chief commercial officer Ashwin Prasad, and it is not yet known if he has another role lined up, writes The Times. Read The Grocer’s story on the wider management shake-up and the big interview with incoming UK CEO Ashwin Prasad.
Next up this morning is an analysis from The Guardian on the fallout from the M&S cyberattack. There are concerns the attack could derail its fashion strategy, it writes, given that customers have been unable to shop for M&S clothing online since Easter. Meanwhile, the BBC reports the M&S site suffered a full outage on Wednesday evening – meaning customers could not even browse – but the site was back up on Thursday.
Buy-now-pay-later app Klarna comes under the microscope at The Mail. The paper reports on the latest earnings update, delivered by an AI avatar of its boss, Sebastian Siemiatkowski. The tech sought to highlight the benefits of of AI, which has led to a 40% reduction in the company’s workforce. However, The Mail also notes consumer credit losses have risen to $136million – which is around 17% higher than the same point a year ago.
An upbeat start to the day comes from The Standard, which reports consumer confidence increased in May as turbulence around April’s Trump tariffs calmed. However, inflation could mean the relief is short-lived, it writes. Read The Grocer’s story here.
Over at Reuters, US stores Walmart and Target are the subject of a deep dive analysis. Donald Trump’s tariffs are widening the gap between market-leader Walmart and Target, according to their latest quarterly reports. Walmart last week warned it would have to raise prices to deal with tariffs even as it maintained its full-year forecast, it writes. Target, by contrast, slashed its annual outlook to account for “the expected impact of tariffs and heightened uncertainty regarding the economy and consumer spending”.
Also in the US, Reuters also reports the US Federal Trade Commission has dropped its case accusing PepsiCo of price discrimination that favoured Walmart.
Anti-obesity jabs are the focus of a report at Bloomberg this morning. The CEO of Wegovy maker Novo has been ousted, it writes, in a sign of just how far it has fallen behind Lilly and its Zepbound shot. The story is also reported in Reuters.
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