Rolls Royce, ITV BBC online streaming service, M&S and Ocado: your commercial news round-up
updated on 28 February 2019
We’re keeping the news round-up Brexit-less this week and focusing on commercial issues elsewhere – including the new Britbox online streaming service launched by the BBC and ITV to rival Netflix, and struggling fashion retailers Laura Ashley and Ted Baker. If you want some tips on how to think about these issues in a commercial context, watch this video on commercial awareness.
- Rolls Royce has reported a loss in the year to 31 December 2018, after problems last year with its Trent 1000 engines caused planes at British Airways to be grounded. The engineering company made a pre-tax loss of £2.9 billion down from a pre-tax profit of £3.89 billion the previous year. The firm is undergoing a major reorganisation, last year announcing that it will cut 4,600 jobs over the next two years.
- The BBC and ITV are in talks to launch a rival to Netflix later this year. BritBox will be a paid-for online streaming service set to launch later this year, offering British boxsets as well as commissioning new programmes from British production companies. ITV will spend £25 million on the venture this year and £40 million in 2020. It was not disclosed how much the BBC would spend. According to ITV’s chief executive, Dame Carolyn McCall, 43% of homes that use the Internet would be interested in subscribing to BritBox.
- M&S and Ocado have agreed a deal worth £750 million that will see M&S replace Waitrose as Ocado’s main supply partner. Marks & Spencer’s chief executive, Steve Rowe, said that he had “always believed that M&S food could and should be online.” The crossover is set to launch in September 2020.
- Fashion retailers Laura Ashley and Ted Baker both reported bad news this week, with Laura Ashley facing a possible £20 million takeover bid from investment firm Flacks Group. Meanwhile Ted Baker issued a profit alert, claiming that the figure could fall even further than predicted. The firm has written off £5 million of unsold stock and its shares plunged after the news.
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