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Summary
- NHS app’s covid-19 alerts have caused a large number of UK residents to self-isolate
- The development has led to supermarkets and other wholesale firms face food shortage due to staff absence related supply chain disruption
- Sainbury’s has stated that customers may face availability issues, responding to empty shelves reports
Several UK supermarkets, and other wholesale companies are facing an unprecedented shortage of food supplies after the NHS test and trace app sent out a rising number of covid-19 alerts to British residents.
Recipients of such alerts are supposed to self-isolate for up to 10 days according to current quarantine rules. This surge in covid-19 alerts has been dubbed as the ‘pingdemic’ and has caused critical staff shortages and other supply chain related disruptions across various sectors.
Several reports emerged of supermarkets having empty shelves due to stocking and supply chain being disrupted. Supermarket Iceland announced it has closed several of its stores due to the staff scarcity.
let us take a look at 3 FTSE listed stocks in the retail and grocery stores sector.
Ocado Group PLC (LON: OCDO)
Online grocery retailer Ocado is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. The online company’s chief executive had recently quoted that latest lockdown restrictions led to further surge in sales.
Ocado recently announced it was forced to delay or cancel orders after a fire caused by robot collision at one of its warehouses. About 800 staff members were evacuated following the fire. Ocado expects services to resume operating at a normal scale in the next week.
Ocado’s shares were trading at GBX 1,824.50, up by 2.13 per cent on 22 July at 13:13 HRS GMT+1. Meanwhile the FTSE 100 index was trading at 6,997.34, down slightly by 0.01 per cent.
The company’s market cap stands at £13.410 billion.
Also Read: 2 Retail Stocks to Look at As UK Shoppers Return to Supermarkets Post Reopening
J Sainsbury PLC (LON: SBRY)
Supermarket major Sainsbury said that customers may face availability issues of certain items due to the ongoing pingdemic.
Sainsbury’s shares were trading at GBX 280.30, up by 0.22 per cent on 22 July at 14:45 HRS GMT+1. Meanwhile, the food products sector index was trading at 6,974.91, down by 0.52 per cent.
The company’s market cap stands at £6.29 billion and its annual return stands at 48.05 per cent.
Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LON: MKS)
FTSE 250 listed company Marks and Spencer is a UK based retailer engaged across various areas including supermarkets, clothing and other diversified segments. The company in conjunction with other major grocers recently announced it will face some challenges in its Northern Ireland stores due to increasing expenses and possible disruptions in trading due to Brexit related rules in the region.
Marks and Spencer’s shares were trading at GBX 140.40, up by 1.30 per cent on 22 July at 10:39 AM GMT+1. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 index was trading at 22,797.11, up by 1.13 per cent.
The company’s market cap stands at £2.713 billion and its annual return stands at 43.34 per cent.
Also Read: 2 FTSE 250 Retailers in Focus: Marks and Spencer and WH Smith PLC
