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Monday – August 09
- Deliveroo Plc (LON: ROO)
Deliveroo, the British online food delivery platform, announced that the Berlin-based rival company Delivery Hero acquired a 5.1% stake in the company. The move comes amidst the rising consolidation trend among food delivery startups that have been experiencing robust growth in order volumes ever since the pandemic.
Delivery Hero’s acquisition of a stake in Deliveroo was a part of the company’s strategy to expand in the UK market and leverage from the growing demand for food delivery. Deliveroo registered a 76 per cent year-on-year increase in its gross transaction value to £1,739 million in Q2 2021, while the total number of orders increased year-on-year by 88 per cent to reach 78 million in the same period.
Tuesday – August 10
- Vodafone Group Plc (LON: VOD)
Vodafone announced plans to reintroduce roaming charges for British users travelling to Europe, starting January 2022. It is the second company to reintroduced roaming charges in the UK, after EE in June made the similar announcement. From 11 August, all new and upgrading customers will be levied a minimum of £1 per day to use their mobile phone in EU destinations, across several tariff plans.
The charges will, however, not be applicable until January 2022. Earlier, all telecom operators had assured no reintroduction of roaming charges post-Brexit. The company also clarified that the change in tariffs will not impact existing customers until they are on their current price plan, and roaming charges in the Republic of Ireland will still be applicable for all customers. Post-January 2022 affected customers would be required to pay £2 per day to use their mobile phones in Europe and £1 if purchased in an eight or 15-day pack.
Wednesday – August 11
- Carrefour SA (LON:0NPH)
France-based retailer Carrefour intends to sell its Taiwanese business, valued at nearly EUR1.6 billion ($1.9 billion) in the coming few weeks. The company selected Morgan Stanley to run the sale and approached several potential buyers, including private equity firms.
The move aligns with the retailer’s strategy to streamline business through possible divestitures, consolidations, or partnerships of its foreign subsidiaries. The retailer acquired Taiwan-based food retailer Wellcome Taiwan in December 2020. The acquisition made Carrefour the second-largest convenience store chain in the country. Post-acquisition, the company reported net sales of EUR1.26 billion in H1 2021 in Taiwan, up by 13% year-on-year.
Thursday – August 12
- Aviva Plc (LON: AV.)
Aviva, a global leading insurance company, announced that it would hand back a minimum of £4 billion to shareholders over the next year. The company plans to generate cash from the sales of eight global units as a part of an effort to massively downsize and streamline operations to focus on its core markets such as the UK, Canada and Ireland. The sum of £750 million will be used for the share buyback scheme.
The company’s adjusted operating profits reached £725 million in H1 2021, an increase of 17 per cent year-on-year, compared to H1 2020. The Board also revealed the interim dividend to shareholders would increase by 5% to 7.35 pence per share.
Friday – August 13
- Boohoo Group Plc (LON: BOO)
Boohoo, a UK-based fast-fashion retailer, in its Economic Impact Report announced plans to invest £500 million for the expansion of its global customer base. The company aims at using the funds for securing new warehouse space and integrating smart technology solutions to improve operational efficiency.
Boohoo’s expansion plans would enable the creation of over 5,000 new jobs in the purchase, logistics, technology and human resources domains. The investment move is a part of the company’s strategy to streamline its supply chain operations by cutting down the number of suppliers involved in the coming months.
