Some holders of bonds issued by French food retailer Casino are working with financial adviser Perella Weinberg Partners to push for better terms, should the company’s planned tie-up with smaller food firm Teract proceed, three sources familiar with the matter said, reports Reuters. The investors, who hold some Casino bonds maturing in 2026 and 2027, are seeking to move quickly before details of the tie-up are agreed, the sources added. The group includes around a dozen firms consisting of investors and hedge funds, one source familiar with the group said. Investors in loans to Casino are also in the process of mobilising and lining up their own advisers, two of the sources and an additional source said, declining to be identified, as the discussions are private.
The current economic situation has led Spanish consumers to change their consumer habits, with more store visits, less spending, and a strong focus on private label, which now accounts for 49% of the shopping basket, reports ESMmagazine.com. In view of this, Spanish supermarket chains Mercadona and DIA have introduced a series of measures to help consumers save money while doing their grocery shopping. Mercadona has lowered the prices of 500 daily consumer products until the end of the year, quantifying savings for customers at €200 million. The retailer claims that the savings figure will impact margin by 0.6%, on top of the 1.1% drop since 2020, in order to minimise the increase in cost prices at source and industry.
New Zealand food prices surged in March, as flash floods and a cyclone this year jacked up fruit and vegetable prices, with economists expecting first-quarter inflation data due later this week, to keep the Central Bank on its policy-tightening path, reports Reuters. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) caught markets off guard earlier this month by hiking the official cash rate by 50 basis points, to 5.25%, in an effort to rein in inflation expectations. Statistics New Zealand noted on Monday that food prices rose by 12.1% in March, year on year – the biggest annual increase in more than 30 years – though economists from the nation’s largest banks had expected an even stronger price surge.
Read More: Weekly Round-Up ... 11 April 2023
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