Thread: Thai Baht Rates .

Tesco price row: Unilever CFO defends cost hike against Brexit backdrop

Unilever’s chief financial officer has defended the company in its row with Tesco over price rises for household brands ranging from Marmite to Persil, describing the increases as “normal”.

Tesco is running low on stock of a number of Unilever products – including Marmite, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Lynx body spray – after the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company halted deliveries as a result of the dispute.

Unilever is one of Britain’s biggest suppliers of branded food and household goods and claims its products are found in 98% of UK households. Its brands also include Comfort, Dove, Hellmann’s, Magnum, Persil, Vaseline and PG Tips.

The company is trying to charge Tesco an extra 10% for its goods, blaming the pound’s fall against the euro and the dollar since the Brexit vote on 23 June.

The row will be embarrassing for the supermarket’s chief executive, Dave Lewis, who was previously Unilever’s UK and Ireland chairman.

Graeme Pitkethly, Unilever’s chief financial officer, insisted on Thursday morning that price increases to offset rising costs were a normal part of doing business. “We are taking price increases in the UK. That is a normal devaluation-led cycle,” he said.

He said he was confident the dispute would be “resolved pretty quickly”.

The UK accounts for less than 5% of Unilever’s business, Pitkethly said, as the company announced better than expected quarterly results after pushing through price increases around the world. The company posted underlying sales growth of 3.2% for the past three months, ahead of analysts’ expectations

UK consumers, however, have been told to brace themselves for price rises. Pinar Hosafci, a senior food analyst at Euromonitor International, said: “Brexit has been a trigger that started this and it is likely that other companies, which are reporting in euros, including the likes of Nestlé and Ferrero, will follow suit. This move could be more detrimental to Tesco than Unilever, which owns a number of power brands that are either leading or at best ranking in the second place.”

Why the Spanish love tea, Marmite and Cathedral City cheddar

The British Retail Consortium said shops would be doing their best to hold down prices for customers, but that the impact of the falling pound would eventually work its way through to shelf prices. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: “Retailers are firmly on the side of consumers in negotiating with suppliers and improving efficiencies in the supply chain to control the inflationary pressure that is building through the devaluation of the pound.

“However, years of falling shop prices and higher costs have left limited scope for retailers to continue absorbing this pressure, and everyone in the supply chain will need to play their part in maintaining low prices for consumers.”

The big supermarkets are likely to fight particularly hard to prevent price rises as they are all battling to stop consumers taking their trade to discounters Aldi and Lidl, which sell more own-brand goods.

Downing Street refused to comment on how retailers and suppliers should respond to the fall in sterling. A spokesman for Theresa May said: “It is a decision for companies how they market and sell their products … It is a commercial decision.”

Nick Lee, professor of marketing at Warwick Business School, said both Unilever and Tesco were gambling on their customers being loyal: “They need each other but are jockeying for best position in a new uncertain environment. I expect we’ll see a lot of this in the coming months as players in this space look to renegotiate deals, and try to play on public sympathy to pressure their negotiation partners.”

With the great Marmite war, the reality of Brexit has started to bite

Roy Williams, the managing director of the supply chain consultants Vendigital, also said the Tesco row would be the first of many: “More disputes over prices are likely in the coming months, as many of the currency hedges that suppliers put in place to protect them from exchange-rate changes start to run out. Ultimately, the effect of these cost increases will be felt by consumers.”

Shares in Unilever and Tesco opened lower on Thursday, with Unilever down by 2% and Tesco falling by 2.5%.

Neil Wilson, a market analyst at ETX Capital, said: “Against the backdrop of its spat with Tesco, the statement … highlights how cost pressures are creeping into UK retail, potentially knocking dividends and share prices for a number of well-known stocks.”

Unilever has also tried to charge other retailers more, including Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons. Speaking on Wednesday night, a source said: “Unilever is using Brexit as an excuse to raise prices, even on products that are made in the UK.”

Marmite is produced in the UK in Burton-on-Trent, but Unilever pointed out that commodities are priced in dollars, affecting the cost of products even if they are made in Britain. The company reports in euros.

Tesco said: “We are currently experiencing availability issues on a number of Unilever products. We hope to have this issue resolved soon.”

A spokesman said the supermarket was offering Unilever products as usual in stores, even though they had vanished from its website.

https://www.theguardian.com/business...ce-row-marmite

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

We, personally, can still survive but the reality is that if we were to rent our Thai property here in desirable Wongamat we would in fact be better off in Blighty which will have switched roles with Thailand and become the third world economy coon state in which we can exploit our greater purchasing power.

Nights out, decent meals, a nice bottle of vodka, and so on, even if you cut their cost in the UK by 25%, would still be no bargain.

Sterling will settle down when it reaches parity with the Euro.

Originally Posted by snakeeyes

Tesco price row: Unilever CFO defends cost hike against Brexit backdrop

Unilever’s chief financial officer has defended the company in its row with Tesco over price rises for household brands ranging from Marmite to Persil, describing the increases as “normal”.

Tesco is running low on stock of a number of Unilever products – including Marmite, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Lynx body spray – after the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company halted deliveries as a result of the dispute.

Unilever is one of Britain’s biggest suppliers of branded food and household goods and claims its products are found in 98% of UK households. Its brands also include Comfort, Dove, Hellmann’s, Magnum, Persil, Vaseline and PG Tips.

The company is trying to charge Tesco an extra 10% for its goods, blaming the pound’s fall against the euro and the dollar since the Brexit vote on 23 June.

The row will be embarrassing for the supermarket’s chief executive, Dave Lewis, who was previously Unilever’s UK and Ireland chairman.

Graeme Pitkethly, Unilever’s chief financial officer, insisted on Thursday morning that price increases to offset rising costs were a normal part of doing business. “We are taking price increases in the UK. That is a normal devaluation-led cycle,” he said.

He said he was confident the dispute would be “resolved pretty quickly”.

The UK accounts for less than 5% of Unilever’s business, Pitkethly said, as the company announced better than expected quarterly results after pushing through price increases around the world. The company posted underlying sales growth of 3.2% for the past three months, ahead of analysts’ expectations

UK consumers, however, have been told to brace themselves for price rises. Pinar Hosafci, a senior food analyst at Euromonitor International, said: “Brexit has been a trigger that started this and it is likely that other companies, which are reporting in euros, including the likes of Nestlé and Ferrero, will follow suit. This move could be more detrimental to Tesco than Unilever, which owns a number of power brands that are either leading or at best ranking in the second place.”

Why the Spanish love tea, Marmite and Cathedral City cheddar

The British Retail Consortium said shops would be doing their best to hold down prices for customers, but that the impact of the falling pound would eventually work its way through to shelf prices. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: “Retailers are firmly on the side of consumers in negotiating with suppliers and improving efficiencies in the supply chain to control the inflationary pressure that is building through the devaluation of the pound.

“However, years of falling shop prices and higher costs have left limited scope for retailers to continue absorbing this pressure, and everyone in the supply chain will need to play their part in maintaining low prices for consumers.”

The big supermarkets are likely to fight particularly hard to prevent price rises as they are all battling to stop consumers taking their trade to discounters Aldi and Lidl, which sell more own-brand goods.

Downing Street refused to comment on how retailers and suppliers should respond to the fall in sterling. A spokesman for Theresa May said: “It is a decision for companies how they market and sell their products … It is a commercial decision.”

Nick Lee, professor of marketing at Warwick Business School, said both Unilever and Tesco were gambling on their customers being loyal: “They need each other but are jockeying for best position in a new uncertain environment. I expect we’ll see a lot of this in the coming months as players in this space look to renegotiate deals, and try to play on public sympathy to pressure their negotiation partners.”

With the great Marmite war, the reality of Brexit has started to bite

Roy Williams, the managing director of the supply chain consultants Vendigital, also said the Tesco row would be the first of many: “More disputes over prices are likely in the coming months, as many of the currency hedges that suppliers put in place to protect them from exchange-rate changes start to run out. Ultimately, the effect of these cost increases will be felt by consumers.”

Shares in Unilever and Tesco opened lower on Thursday, with Unilever down by 2% and Tesco falling by 2.5%.

Neil Wilson, a market analyst at ETX Capital, said: “Against the backdrop of its spat with Tesco, the statement … highlights how cost pressures are creeping into UK retail, potentially knocking dividends and share prices for a number of well-known stocks.”

Unilever has also tried to charge other retailers more, including Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons. Speaking on Wednesday night, a source said: “Unilever is using Brexit as an excuse to raise prices, even on products that are made in the UK.”

Marmite is produced in the UK in Burton-on-Trent, but Unilever pointed out that commodities are priced in dollars, affecting the cost of products even if they are made in Britain. The company reports in euros.

Tesco said: “We are currently experiencing availability issues on a number of Unilever products. We hope to have this issue resolved soon.”

A spokesman said the supermarket was offering Unilever products as usual in stores, even though they had vanished from its website.

https://www.theguardian.com/business...ce-row-marmite

All very well but Unilever tried to make the same increase in Ireland who I think are still using the Euro .....

^
Are you fooking serious the £1 is fooked it's as simple as that ,

My German acquaintance here who works for a large construction business in Germany with international contracts, related an anecdote in which, post Brexit, a British company has already raised the price of some machinery to be supplied imminently. Apparently, they now want to increase it again but he says "they can keep it" and he'll go elsewhere.

The problem with Brexit and the exchange rate is that the nazi Brexit fuckwits and dickheads such as Johnson are all rhetoricians entering the twilight of their political careers and they simply lack any sense of reality and the means to engage with it.

They actually believe in the fantasy that Britannia will once again rule the waves because the British are a superior race blessed with an acumen that ensures the world will come begging for their custom, whereas the awful, catastrophic truth is that the ship of state is in the process of being scuttled at sea and we are quite literally sinking.

In one way it is a privilege to be able to watch the wilful, self-inflicted economic destruction of a country as it it happens - I can't personally recall such an event occurring in the UK previously but one truly does wonder what the retarded Brexiteer will actually do when his idiotic, narrow little world of cheap jingoism and profound ignorance comes crashing down on his pointy little head.

http://www.vasuexchange.com/

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

My German acquaintance here who works for a large construction business in Germany with international contracts, related an anecdote in which, post Brexit, a British company has already raised the price of some machinery to be supplied imminently. Apparently, they now want to increase it again but he says "they can keep it" and he'll go elsewhere.

The problem with Brexit and the exchange rate is that the nazi Brexit fuckwits and dickheads such as Johnson are all rhetoricians entering the twilight of their political careers and they simply lack any sense of reality and the means to engage with it.

They actually believe in the fantasy that Britannia will once again rule the waves because the British are a superior race blessed with an acumen that ensures the world will come begging for their custom, whereas the awful, catastrophic truth is that the ship of state is in the process of being scuttled at sea and we are quite literally sinking.

In one way it is a privilege to be able to watch the wilful, self-inflicted economic destruction of a country as it it happens - I can't personally recall such an event occurring in the UK previously but one truly does wonder what the retarded Brexiteer will actually do when his idiotic, narrow little world of cheap jingoism and profound ignorance comes crashing down on his pointy little head.

Economic destruction? Which economic indicators are you looking at that lead you to this ill informed conclusion as everything all going well from where i'm sitting.

The midpoint rate by the markets has now hit 42.99.

By the way, Bumbumboy, I don't think there are many blokes who shot their load while fucking a HIV infected person who complained about the orgasm.

You dimwitted gorm.

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

one truly does wonder what the retarded Brexiteer will actually do when his idiotic, narrow little world of cheap jingoism and profound ignorance comes crashing down on his pointy little head.

Obviously 'pretend it's not happening' for the most profoundly stupid, and 'maintain it's just a blip' for the merely deluded.

This is why the concept 'karma' came into being: because the impact of mind numbing stupidity on the mind numbingly dim is in reality so unsatisfying.

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

The midpoint rate by the markets has now hit 42.99.

By the way, Bumbumboy, I don't think there are many blokes who shot their load while fucking a HIV infected person who complained about the orgasm.

You dimwitted gorm.

Just as I thought there are no economic indicators that you'd like to share that show the UK is on the point of economic destruction. Although your beloved Bolshevik Broadcasting Corp does have a couple of new scare stories on its site for you to masturbate over.

Err, the devaluation of a currency by 22% in 11 months is a fucking indicator of strength????

You really are vying for TD's dumbest mofo of the year award, aren't you?

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

Err, the devaluation of a currency by 22% in 11 months is a fucking indicator of strength????

You really are vying for TD's dumbest mofo of the year award, aren't you?

When you import a fuk load more than you export its normally a sign your currency is over valued. This is just a long overdue rebalancing that will benefit the UK in the long run. Not so good for sex tourists/residents though.

Originally Posted by buriramboy

When you import a fuk load more than you export its normally a sign your currency is over valued. This is just a long overdue rebalancing that will benefit the UK in the long run. Not so good for sex tourists/residents though.

Yes, the balance of payments deficit was a problem before Brexit and is/was unsustainable in the long run. Time for a rebalancing of the UK's "unbalanced economy".

31 March 2016
Britain’s trading position with the rest of the world has deteriorated sharply with the current account deficit swelling to its widest on record, fanning fears about the sustainability of the economic recovery.

https://www.theguardian.com/business...-trade-deficit

Originally Posted by buriramboy

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

Err, the devaluation of a currency by 22% in 11 months is a fucking indicator of strength????

You really are vying for TD's dumbest mofo of the year award, aren't you?

When you import a fuk load more than you export its normally a sign your currency is over valued. This is just a long overdue rebalancing that will benefit the UK in the long run. Not so good for sex tourists/residents though.

Funny, I thought that we imported most of our energy, 60% of our food and most of our consumables because we couldn't supply these products ourselves. Fuck me, now I know it was because our £ was far too fucking strong, innit. Now we've had it devalued by 22% that means we're gonna not import nuffink anymore but will export every fink and we'll all be bleeding' rich. Fuck me, you're a fucking genius!

And, so, now we've cut everyone's salary by 22% in the fucking country that'll mean everyone will be too fucking poor to spend out and that will mean all of them imports will stop and become less than all our exports, innit? Yeah, gotcha, innit.

You know what, Bumbumboy, reading your drivel is perhaps the nearest thing to a fucking gibbon being able to read the fucking Telegraph and then learning how to write so it can then post shite on the internet.

42.94 and south. The exchange booths will b showing 40 soon and then its way down.

Those guys who retired in 2002/3 on their fixed £ sterling pensions must be getting quite concerned. The speed of the devaluation is really quite something now.

Hammond and his boys will be working overtime to give May the data for the next PES rounds she will need to square the circle, not only in meeting department bids but settling the EU debts.

The crisis moment will be parity with the $US. The shock to the supply chain across the board will be traumatic and no one will be able to stem the demand for immediate higher wages. Classic stagflation, falling tax revenues, impending recession, rising unemployment, more borrowings but rising inflation as literally everything we use rises in costs by 25%.

If I were May I'd call an election and make EU membership the plank of Tory policy forcing out the right wing nazis.

It is the only sane thing to do otherwise the £ will be worth nothing. Worthless deadbeats anchored in their northern dystopia in England with no future of course are desperate for armageddon so as to provide passing interest to their futile existence and bring their fellow men down to their abject level.

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

Worthless deadbeats anchored in their northern dystopia in England with no future of course are desperate for armageddon so as to provide passing interest to their futile existence and bring their fellow men down to their abject level.

Are you gonna be sharing a social club with these oiks in the near future?

You may be fortunate enough to bump into Buriram Boy

He's quite a nasty piece of work and thoroughly unpleasant. Not my cup of tea at all.

A forex site I use projects £ @ 1.02 to $ in 2020.
And
Baht to $ @ 40.1 in 2020

I'll leave you Brits to figure out the effect on your purchasing power here.

Originally Posted by Norton

A forex site I use projects £ @ 1.02 to $ in 2020.
And
Baht to $ @ 40.1 in 2020

I'll leave you Brits to figure out the effect on your purchasing power here.

That would be ~ 41Baht to the sterling, you wont have to wait until 2020 to see that..

2020? We're looking at parity in Mar 2017.

For folk to manage in the UK with the £ on par with the $ and less than the euro, the average annual income would have to increase from the current £27,000 to at least £35,000 which of course will ensure an inflationary spiral of its own.

What i cannot understand is that the Tories know this, as indeed the Treasury are telling them daily, yet are not coming out strongly for at least another referendum in which it is made clear only a cretin would vote to leave since a brexit would mean economic ruin for all except the rich.

They really are caught in the glare of that stupid democracy headlight which in truth is quite meaningless. Telling folk like Bumbumboy et al their vote is worthless is scarcely worth a fart in a breeze.

The trouble is. the more the Tories dither while messrs Johnson, Fox and Davies spout their inane fantasy drivel, the more the world realises Britain has no meaningful government and the £ continues to fall.

It really is a car accident.

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

We're looking at parity in Mar 2017

Originally Posted by lom

you wont have to wait until 2020 to see that.

That being the case you will be lucky to get 36 baht to the £.

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

What i cannot understand is that the Tories know this, as indeed the Treasury are telling them daily, yet are not coming out strongly for at least another referendum in which it is made clear only a cretin would vote to leave since a brexit would mean economic ruin for all except the rich

You've unknowingly answered your own question.

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

He's quite a nasty piece of work and thoroughly unpleasant. Not my cup of tea at all.

You should try speaking to some people who have actually met me, quite a few past and present from this board and thaivisa.