Commercial news round-up: British Gas, Asda, Pearson, Green & Black’s
updated on 04 August 2017
Although you would expect the news to be in full-on “silly season” mode, there are still a good number of scintillating business stories to keep an eye on – here are just a few:
- British Gas has raised its electricity prices by 12.5%, although has left its gas prices the same. It is likely to encourage competitors to also raise prices before winter, prompting some government ministers to express their concerns, including from shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead, who called it a “whopping rise”.
- Asda has posted disappointing annual profit results for 2016, enduring a 19% drop down to £792 million. The supermarket has faced stiff competition from the rise of the super-discounters, Aldi and Lidl.
- Pearson, the world’s largest educational publisher, is to cut 3,000 jobs after suffering huge losses associated with the US arm of its business.
- Organic pioneer Green & Black’s has produced its first ever non-organic, non-Fairtrade line of chocolate, on sale later this month. The company, now owned by Mondelez International, has said its new line will still feature cocoa beans that are “sustainably sourced, independently verified beans from the Cocoa Life programme”.
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