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Highlights
- PM Boris Johnson is likely to announce a return to imperial measurements during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
- Supermarkets are not in favour of the move, saying that it will push the prices of groceries further up.
During the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is likely to announce the decision to bring back imperial measurements, that is, pounds and ounces. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is set to launch a consultation on Friday, which will explore if retailers should be able to switch from metric measurements to imperial ones. However, supermarkets are against the idea.
According to the retailers, reintroducing measurements in pounds and ounces will push the prices further up at a time when the UK households are already struggling with the high cost of living. The British Retail Consortium (BRC), a representative of some of the UK's biggest supermarkets and retail chains, has warned that the move would raise the costs and complexity for the grocers if the existing products are to be relabelled.
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BRC also termed it as a distraction from the country's problems, adding that the manufacturers and the retailers are already allowed to list the products in imperial measures alongside the metric ones.
Meanwhile, the move has found support from some pro-Brexit politicians, who are calling it a benefit of leaving the EU.
Amid the development, let's check out some FTSE-listed supermarket stocks and see how they have been faring.
Tesco Plc (LON: TSCO)
The British supermarket chain is a constituent of the blue-chip FTSE 100 index. It has more than 3,400 stores across the country. Recently, it reaffirmed its commitment to egg farmers in the UK and announced new five-year contracts for all its five shell egg suppliers.
The company currently has a market capitalisation of £19,551.88 million, and its shares closed at GBX 259.00 as of Tuesday. Tesco's one-year returns at present stand at 16.01%. However, the year-to-date returns stand in the negative territory at -10.66%.
J Sainsbury Plc (LON: SBRY)
The company trades as Sainsbury's, and it is the UK's second-largest supermarket chain. It recently grabbed headlines after announcing a £500 million support to keep the prices of groceries in check.
Sainsbury's has a market cap of £5,341.75 million at present. Its share price has plummeted by 14% in the past one year. On a YTD basis, it has fallen by over 17%. The shares of the company closed at GBX 228.40 on 31 May 2022.
Marks and Spencer Plc (LON: MKS)
The British retailer sells food, clothing, accessories, beauty products, and home improvement products. Last week, it announced that it is moving away from town centres due to a rise in online sales of clothes and homeware.
Shares of the company closed at GBX 149.85 on Tuesday. The market cap of Marks and Spencer currently stands at £2,935.46 and the share price has come down by 9.40% in the past one year.
Note: The above content constitutes a very preliminary observation or view based on market trends and is of limited scope without any in-depth fundamental valuation or technical analysis. Any interest in stocks or sectors should be thoroughly evaluated taking into consideration the associated risks.
