BUSINESS LIVE: Cost-of-living crisis drives record Aldi UK sales

Ladbrokes owner Entain expects third-quarter net online gaming revenue to decline by a “high single-digit percentage” on a pro forma basis, citing regulatory hurdles and slower-than-expected growth in Australia and Italy .

Entain, which also owns Coral betting shops, added that it expects the group’s full-year online gaming revenue to decline by a “low single-digit percentage” on a pro forma basis.

The company had previously forecast about 15 years of annual growth for online gaming revenue, including the acquisitions of STS Holdings and Angstrom Sports, which are expected to close in the second half of 2023.

“We continue to see good underlying growth in our online business and are reiterating our EBITDA guidance for the year despite softer-than-expected revenue growth in the third quarter and the continued rollout of industry-leading safer gaming measures. industry,” said CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen. in a sentence.

Aviva has agreed to acquire AIG’s UK protection business for £460m.

Aviva said on Monday it would buy the unit, known as AIG Life UK, from Corebridge Financial, a New York-listed subsidiary of AIG.

Aviva chief executive Amanda Blanc said the deal would strengthen the FTSE 100 company’s position in an attractive market and help it position itself for “capital-light growth”.

The transaction will add 1.3 million individual protection customers and 1.4 million group protection members, Aviva said, with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals.

The deal would represent a cut of around 5 percentage points in the Aviva group’s solvency coverage ratio II, the company said.

Marks & Spencer has teamed up with Adidas and Sweaty Betty to expand its ‘brands’ strategy.

More than 150 products from the two sportswear brands will launch on M&S’ dedicated Sports Edit platform in early October.

M&S hopes to drive online growth by selling third-party brands, with upcoming additions including Columbia, Regatta and Sorel.

Aldi UK posted record sales of £15.5 billion last year, reflecting growth of 17.1 per cent, as the German discounter benefited from the ongoing cost of living crisis.

The company said it would invest £1.4bn over the two-year period to the end of 2024.

Giles Hurley, CEO of Aldi UK and Ireland, said:

‘Although inflation is falling, households are still under real pressure due to the rising cost of living. As a result, Britain is shopping very differently to how it did 18 months ago: less travelling, more own-brand products and switching supermarkets in search of better prices.

‘What we are seeing is a new generation of savvy shoppers who have turned their backs on traditional full-price supermarkets in favor of low, transparent prices, which is what we are known for. That’s why we continue to welcome more and more customers through our doors: people who come to us for our low prices but stay for the award-winning quality of our exclusive brands.

‘Shoppers know they will always get more for their money at Aldi. “That’s a promise we’ve kept for more than 30 years.”