Your commercial news round-up: Next, Shell, Heathrow, Adidas

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Next has seen increased sales following warm summer weather, whereas Shell has reported a drop in profits due to falling oil and gas prices. Plus, Surinder Arora has released a competing plan to expand Heathrow and Adidas has confirmed price hikes in the US in response to tariffs.

• Retailer Next has reported a 10.5% increase in full-price sales in the 13 weeks to 26 July, compared to the same period the previous year. It cited the “better than expected weather” in the UK and “trading disruption at a major competitor” as reasons for the “over-performance”. The retailer also noted that international sales grew faster than expected and attributed this success to its digital marketing strategy, which it stated “proved more effective than anticipated”. However, looking forward, Next said: “We do not expect either of these factors to have a material effect in the second half [of the year] and so we are not increasing our guidance for UK sales.”
   
• Oil company Shell reported that second-quarter profits dropped by almost a third to $4.26 billion. It stated that the drop was due to falling oil and gas prices, and “lower trading and optimisation margins”. Despite this, the company will continue to invest in its share buyback scheme and announced that it’ll spend $3.5 billion buying back shares in the third quarter. Derren Nathan, the head of equity research at the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, said the recent rise in prices should improve takings in the third quarter.
   
• Hotel businessman Surinder Arora has submitted a competing proposal to expand Heathrow Airport, challenging the airport operator’s existing plan. The proposal includes a 2,800-metre runway that avoids diverting the M25 motorway, unlike Heathrow’s 3,500-metre design. Arora Group stated that its plans will result in "reduced risk" and avoid "spiralling cost". Although the shorter runway could have a limit on its use, according to the BBC, Arora Group has stated that it’ll be able to accommodate aircrafts of all sizes. It said that the new terminal would cost under £25 billion and would be completed by 2040. Meanwhile, in 2018, Heathrow said that its 3,500-metre plan would cost £14 billion, although this number is now expected to be much higher. The expansion was first proposed in 2009 and approved by the Supreme Court in 2020, but progress has been delayed by legal obstacles. If expanded, 720,000 planes could fly from Heathrow a year, up from the current 480,000 cap. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander will assess both bids under the Airports National Policy Statement. Heathrow declined to comment on Arora’s plan.
   
• Adidas has confirmed that it’ll raise prices for US customers, after warning that new tariffs will increase its costs by £173 million. The German sportswear company said the tariffs, imposed following recent US trade deals with Vietnam and Indonesia, will directly affect product pricing. Vietnam and Indonesia together account for 46% of Adidas’s manufacturing, and the new tariffs are set at 20% and 19%, respectively. CEO Bjørn Gulden said: “We do also not know what the indirect impact on consumer demand will be should all these tariffs cause major inflation.” Despite the tariffs, Adidas reported a 7.3% jump in sales over the first half of the year, as its footwear sales rose by 9% and its clothing revenue increased by 17%.

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