Ocado Pretax Profit Jumps on Valuation of M&S Joint Venture
The company reported a statutory profit of £612 million ($820 million) in the first half of the year, compared with a loss of £153 million in the same period a year ago. That includes an accounting boost of £783 million from the Ocado Retail venture with M&S, which took over reporting responsibility this year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
M&S introduces invisible UV tags to track packaging through recycling system
Marks and Spencer has introduced invisible, ultraviolet tags on some milk bottles to track them through the recycling system. The supermarket is the first to roll out the packaging tags, developed by recycling technology firm Polytag, on shop shelves. They have been printed onto the labels of M&S's four-pint, milk bottles available now in nationwide stores, with the aim of boosting recycling rates. Once recycled by households, bottles will be scanned by Polytag's plastic detection units if the recycling facility has been retrofitted with the technology. M&S will then be able to view live recycling data, accessing real-time, barcode-level insights into the recycling of its single-use, plastic packaging. Polytag said the data is designed to accurately track sustainability targets, improve the accuracy of recycling claims and strengthen compliance with regulations that require businesses to pay for the management and recycling of their products' packaging waste. The hope is also that the tags can help to reduce M&S's costs under these extended producer responsibility (EPR) rules through more precise reporting. M&S has also invested £100,000 into Polytag's Ecotrace programme, which aims to drive the rollout of a nationwide, invisible UV tag reader network. Co-op, Waitrose and Aldi have also been working with Polytag to introducing UV tags to their products. Alice Rackley, chief executive of Polytag, said: 'Retailers and brands can no longer afford to lose sight of packaging the moment it leaves their supply chain. 'With EPR now in effect, we're entering a new era where real data is not just helpful, it's essential. 'By tagging products and tracking their journey through the recycling system, we're creating a clear line of sight from shelf to sorting facility. 'M&S taking this first-to-shelf step signals not only a commitment to transparency, but a real shift in how the industry approaches responsibility. 'It's a major milestone for the Ecotrace programme and for the wider UK recycling industry.' Mark Hitschmann, head of packaging at M&S Food, said: 'We expect to gain more data and insight around what is happening to our packaging in the real world through our work with Polytag. 'Our customers consistently tell us that reducing plastic is very important to them so this is another way they can trust that M&S is doing the right thing to help them easily make more sustainable choices when they shop with us.'
Associated Press
15 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Trump will visit Scotland, where his family has golf courses, and will talk trade with Starmer
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will head to Scotland next week, visiting areas where his family owns two golf courses and is opening a third, and will meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss trade ahead of an official state visit to Britain in September. Trump's trip from July 25-29 will see him visit Turnberry, home to a historic golf course and hotel he bought in 2014, and Aberdeen, where one Trump golf course has operated since 2012 and a new one is set to open in August, the White House said Thursday. During the trip, Trump plans to meet with Starmer to 'refine' a previously announced trade deal, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Trump himself had previously said he'd be discussing trade with Starmer and said those talks would take place at 'probably one of my properties' in Aberdeen, but the White House hadn't previously announced the trip. The White House hasn't commented on whether the Republican president plans to golf while in Scotland, though he played his Turnberry course during his first term in 2018, ahead of traveling to Helsinki, Finland, for a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president's son's Eric and Donald Jr. are now running the family business, The Trump Organization, while their father is in the White House. During her briefing with reporters, Leavitt also said Trump and first lady Melania Trump will travel to the United Kingdom from Sept. 17-19 and meet with King Charles. That trip had already been confirmed by Buckingham Palace and will mark Trump's second state visit to the United Kingdom after he first had one in 2019. No U.S. president had previously been invited for a second state visit. 'He is honored and looking forward to meeting with his majesty, the king at Windsor Castle,' Leavitt said. Trump's first golf course near Aberdeen, International Golf Links Scotland, is set to host an event on the European tour, the Scottish Championship, from Aug. 7-10. It will be the first time the course has staged a European tour event, though it held a tournament on the seniors' tour in 2023 and 2024 and will do so again this year, the week before the Scottish Championship. Located on the Ayrshire coast, around 200 miles (320 kilometers) southwest of Aberdeen, Trump Turnberry is one of 10 courses on the rotation to host the British Open — the oldest of the four major championships in men's golf — but hasn't staged that event since 2009, before Trump bought the resort.
Bloomberg
15 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Wall Street Worries a Health Insurance Meltdown Is Far From Over
The tide of US government money that has been pouring into health insurers for decades is reversing more abruptly than expected, putting strategies that drove profit growth for years in doubt. Elevance Health Inc. 's earnings on Thursday were the latest blow. The company slashed its profit outlook after struggling to contain higher medical costs in Affordable Care Act plans and lagging reimbursements from Medicaid safety net plans for the poor.
