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Business Today
Business live
Food brands ‘raised prices faster than their costs rose’; Saudi Arabia fund buys Heathrow stake
Live  
Food brands ‘raised prices faster than their costs rose’; Saudi Arabia fund buys Heathrow stake
Rolling coverage of business as UK regulator says branded products have contributed to food inflation
Headlines
Gambling  
Tory MP who chided regulator received £8,000 from betting industry
Tory MP who chided regulator received £8,000 from betting industry
TV and film  
Guardian strikes deal with company behind The Crown
Telecoms  
UK broadband and mobile users brace for above-inflation mid-contract hikes
Energy  
Ukraine war has marked a turning point in Europe’s gas consumption, says IEA
Charlie Munger  
Right-hand man of Warren Buffett dies aged 99
Vaping  
Elf Bar adverts banned in UK over ‘greener’ recycling claims
Secondhand goods  
Online marketplaces report surge in sales
England and Wales  
One in seven HR heads believe men are better suited to top jobs
Fox Corp  
Rupert Murdoch to be deposed in Smartmatic defamation case
Wilko  
Former chair tells MPs she was devastated by collapse of retailer
‘Really horrendous’  
Former worker describes impact of Wilko’s demise
Economics  
Jeremy Hunt’s debt reduction plan ‘a very big fiscal risk’, says OBR
Multiverse  
Euan Blair’s apprenticeship firm reports near-tripling of losses
Lloyds  
Chief urges UK policymakers to keep their hands off banks’ profits
Channel 4  
Chief says TV advertising slump is worst in 15 years
Today's agenda
Food brands in the UK have pushed up their prices by more than costs increased, the competition regulator has said after examining the sector in response to concerns about greedflation adding to the cost of living crisis.

In a report the Competition and Markets Authority said that “three-quarters of brands that provided comparable data have increased their unit profitability during the recent period of high food price inflation”.

The regulator added that “in most cases, shoppers can find cheaper alternatives”, suggesting it does not have concerns over unfair competition.

However, the regulator said that this was not the case in the baby formula market. It will look at whether “ineffective competition in the baby formula market could be leading to parents paying higher prices”.

It also said it will look at the impact of loyalty scheme pricing by supermarkets.

Saudi Arabia’s powerful Public Investment Fund has paid £1bn for a stake in Heathrow airport, as the infrastructure group Ferrovial sells a quarter of the business.

Ferrovial late on Tuesday said it had agreed the sale of a quarter of Heathrow, which it has owned for 17 years, for £2.4bn.

The Saudi PIF will take 10%, while the European private equity group Ardian will buy 15%.

The share price of Halfords Group has fallen by 18% after the motoring and cycling retailer warned it was seeing signs of a UK consumer slowdown with a “challenging” market for new bikes.

The London-listed company said it had seen volatile trading patterns and “some market softening in our discretionary big-ticket categories, which has been reflected in slower LFL [like-for-like] sales growth”.

The market for bikes in particular was “challenging and below expectations due to well documented consumer environment”, Halfords said.

Investors are on the lookout for any signs of weakening consumer appetite, as rising interest rates add to difficulties for households hard-pressed by inflation.

Halfords still managed to increase its revenues by 14% to £874m in the half-year to 29 September compared with the same period last year, but that was mostly because of strong growth in its car services business. Retail sales rose by only 3.2%.

The agenda
• 9.30am GMT: Bank of England consumer credit (October; previous £1.39bn; consensus £1.5bn)
• 9.30am GMT: Bank of England mortgage approvals (October; previous 43,328; consensus 45,000)
• 10am GMT: eurozone economic sentiment (November; previous 93.3; consensus 93.7)
• 10am GMT: eurozone consumer confidence (November; previous -16.9; consensus -16.9)
• 10.30am GMT: Competition and Markets Authority chair at House of Lords committee
• 1pm GMT: Germany harmonised inflation preliminary year on year (November; previous 3%; consensus 2.6%)
• 1.30pm GMT: US GDP second estimate (Q3; previous 4.9% annualised; consensus 5%)

We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ...
Opinion
Morally, the Wilko family should look at themselves in the mirror
Morally, the Wilko family should look at themselves in the mirror
 

Natalie Hanman

Head of Environment, The Guardian

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Media
Netherlands  
Omid Scobie’s book on royal family pulled from Dutch shelves over ‘error’
Omid Scobie’s book on royal family pulled from Dutch shelves over ‘error’
Exclusive  
Top Tory strategist’s lobbying firm advising Daily Mail owners on Telegraph bid
Spotlight
Tessa Clarke of Olio on the battle facing female entrepreneurs
‘The investment industry is just a wall of men’  
Tessa Clarke of Olio on the battle facing female entrepreneurs
The boss of the food sharing app has cut waste, helped reduce emissions – and shown venture capitalists what startups led by women can do
Popular on business
‘Really horrendous’: former worker describes impact of Wilko’s demise
‘Really horrendous’: former worker describes impact of Wilko’s demise
Jeremy Hunt’s debt reduction plan ‘a very big fiscal risk’, says OBR
Unilever accused of breaking plastics pledge as sachet sales approach 53bn
Lloyds chief urges UK policymakers to keep their hands off banks’ profits
Wilko rescue failed because ‘everyone got a little bit greedy’, says HMV owner
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