BUSINESS LIVE: Wage growth slows to 5.1%; ABRDN confirms new CEO; Centamin prepares for $2.5bn takeover

Aldi could overtake Asda to become the UK’s third-biggest supermarket by opening more stores in an £800m expansion drive.

The discount chain’s UK and Ireland chief executive Giles Hurley said he wants more stores “across the length and breadth” of Britain amid a battle for market share.

The comments came after the German supermarket announced that UK profits tripled to £536.7m last year, while sales rose 16 per cent to £17.9bn.

Carlsberg’s £3.3bn deal to buy Britvic could face an investigation over concerns it will reduce competition in the UK market.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was gathering information before launching a formal investigation into the alliance.

The CMA said it was inviting people to submit their views on the acquisition and the potential impact on competition in the UK.

The two companies said combining Carlsberg’s beer range with squash maker Robinsons’ soft drinks would create an “enhanced proposition across the UK and other western European markets”.

Britvic, which is based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, and also makes the J20 and Tango, had previously rejected a £3.1bn offer.

The woman who designed Kate Middleton’s wedding dress has been appointed creative director of Givenchy.

Sarah Burton will take over at the LVMH-owned fashion house after leaving Alexander McQueen last year.

The 50-year-old British designer is best known for creating the Princess of Wales’s wedding dress in 2011, as well as Pippa Middleton’s bridesmaid dress.

Thomas Pugh, economist at RSM UK:

‘A further slowdown in private sector regular wage growth in the three months to July to 4.9 per cent, the slowest rate since April 2022, should go a long way to easing some of the MPC’s concerns about strong wage growth fuelling inflation.

“But it won’t be enough to persuade the Monetary Policy Committee to cut rates again next week. Indeed, the fall in the unemployment rate to 4.1 percent and the big increase of 265,000 jobs suggest the labor market is tightening again.

“It is true that current employment statistics are so unreliable that it is difficult to trust them.

‘But signs of a revival in job hiring will make the MPC nervous about how much further wage growth will fall and effectively rule out another rate cut next week.

‘Looking ahead, we expect private sector wage growth to gradually slow over the remainder of this year, which would give the Monetary Policy Committee enough room to cut rates again towards the end of the year, likely in November and possibly December. The rate cut cycle in 2025 will then be more aggressive; we currently have four rate cuts planned for next year.

‘There was also good news on economic inactivity, which fell by 112,000, but this was mainly due to the decline in students. The number of people saying they are too sick to work remained close to its all-time high and is almost 670,000 higher than at the start of the pandemic.

‘Getting more of these people back to work would go a long way towards resolving some of the difficult decisions the Chancellor of the Exchequer will have to make in the budget next month.

“Also important for households is that real wages grew by 2.2 percent. That, combined with improved consumer confidence, should boost consumer spending in the second half of this year, contributing to a consumer spending-led recovery.”

Global miner AngloGold Ashanti is to buy smaller rival Centamin, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has operations in Egypt, in a $2.5 billion deal.

Under the terms of the agreement, Centamin shareholders will receive 0.06983 new AngloGold Ashanti shares for each Centamin share and $0.125 in cash.

The perceived value of the offer represents a 36.7 percent premium to Centamin’s closing price on Monday of 120 pence.

ABRDN has appointed Jason Windsor as its new interim chief executive, with the former Aviva executive formally tasked with rebooting the asset manager’s finances and performance.

Windsor took on the role of interim chief executive in May after his predecessor, Stephen Bird, abruptly resigned.

Abrdn, one of Britain’s best-known fund firms, has come under pressure in recent years, reporting outflows of more than £10bn in each of the past two years, but has encouraged investors this year by beating performance forecasts and starting to cut costs.

Douglas Flint, chairman of Abrdn, said Windsor was the board’s “unanimous choice” to lead the company into its next phase.

“He has made a tremendous impression both internally and externally since joining Abrdn, particularly as someone whose actions demonstrate he cares deeply about our customers and our people,” Flint said.

Average weekly earnings before bonuses rose 5.1 percent year-on-year in the three months to the end of July, in line with expectations, while the unemployment rate fell to a 2024 low of 4.1 percent, new data from the Office for National Statistics shows.