Sainsbury’s + Asda, Apple, slow economy, Cambridge Analytica, Tesla: your commercial news round-up
updated on 03 May 2018
News of the Sainsbury’s and Asda merger has sent shockwaves through the supermarket sector this week. Designed to fight the pre-eminence of the giant Tesco, as well as helping to see off the Lidl/Aldi success stories, the merger would create a company with 330,000 staff and an annual revenue of around £51 billion. Both supermarkets have vowed that no jobs will be lost, nor stores closed, but MPs have raised concerns about the negative effect on suppliers. For other commercial news, read on:
- Apple is returning a significant chunk of money to shareholders after impressive iPhone sales. Having sold just over 52 million iPhones in the three months to March, the company finds itself in a position to return $100 billion to its shareholders.
- The Office for National Statistics has revealed that the UK economy grew at its slowest rate since 2012 in the first quarter of the year. Despite predictable catastrophising that the recent bad weather has been the cause, the fall from 0.4% to 0.1% is more likely to be because of the “fall in construction output and a sluggish manufacturing sector”.
- Cambridge Analytica has closed for business, a direct result of its involvement in the Facebook data selling scandal. The now defunct company will still have to face an investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office, with individuals and directors being pursued specifically.
- Tesla has suffered record losses of $709 million in the first quarter of 2018, as well as having to spend around $745 million to produce its new Model 3 in sufficient numbers to meet demand. Elon Musk was notably riled by questions from analysts on the company’s results, including saying that they were too dry and “boring”.
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