Below are the key afternoon headlines from today’s papers, featuring the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
The UK car industry on Monday reeled from its worst annual sales slump since the financial crisis and warned of more pain to come from a potentially disastrous no-deal Brexit. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders revealed a near-7% slide in registrations in 2018 to 2.37 million, the worst fall since sales dived by more than 11% in 2008. The figures were driven by a huge fall-off in demand for diesel cars, down 30% last year after a regulatory crackdown in the wake of emissions-cheating scandals, as well as faltering business and consumer confidence. Growth in hybrid car sales has also been hit by the removal of Government subsidies. But the industry’s woes pale into insignificance compared with the potential impact of a no-deal Brexit, with Theresa May’s proposals set to be rejected by Parliament next week.
Dunelm leaps after profits fillip eases fears over retail in the City. Dunelm Group (DNLM) was cheered by the City on Monday after it said profits for the year would be better than expected, allaying fears of a retail Armageddon. The company, which sells anything from bedding to blinds and furniture, said revenue was up 9% to £282 million for the second quarter to December 29, thanks to a 37.9% rise in online sales. Same-store sales were also up 5.7% year-on-year. The shares jumped 11%, or 65p, to 643.7p, as it said profits would be “modestly” ahead of expectations, reinforcing the growing view that Christmas was not as bad for retailers as was first feared. Dunelm, due to update the market next week, added it expects full-year profits to be at the top range of analysts’ forecasts.
Aldi toasts its best ever Christmas with sales of almost £1billion as shoppers go in for its premium ranges. Aldi has opened a jam-packed week of supermarket Christmas trading updates with some positive numbers as it raked in sales of almost £1billion in December. The UK arm of the fast-growing German discounter said it enjoyed its best ever festive period, with the jump in sales driven by demand for its premium ranges. In a sparse trading update, Aldi pointed out that the week of December 17 was its busiest, during which sales rose 10 per cent year-on-year. It said too that shoppers snapped up 17 million bottles of fizzy wine and 50 million mince pies last month.
Shell fires up £550m Tiger chemicals plant. Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) has fired up a $700m (£550m) investment in a new chemicals producer that will make its US Gulf coast site the largest of its type in the world. The Tiger expansion project began producing the chemicals used to make plastics and lubricants on Monday as Shell galvanises its advance into the global petrochemicals race. The project adds a fourth unit to the Geismar site, which will expand its output by 425,000 tonnes of alpha olefins a year to 1.3 million tonnes. These petrochemical building blocks are used as feedstock to produce household detergents, plastics, lubricants, and drilling fluids that are in growing demand across the world.
Norwegian Air blames Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) for financial woes. Problems with Rolls-Royce engines have hit the finances of Norwegian Air as the low-cost airline disappointed with its passenger growth. Long-haul operations were “particularly affected” in the second half of 2018 by engine problems on Norwegian’s fleet of Boeing Dreamliners, boss Bjorn Kjos said on Monday. Alongside “tough competition, high oil prices and operational challenges”, the problems with Rolls-Royce engines prompted Norwegian to roll out cost-cuts in late December in a bid “to boost our financials in 2019”, Mr Kjos said. “[These] will have an immediate and continued positive influence throughout the year.”
