Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB) announced the appointment of PepsiCo Executive as its new CEO on Wednesday. Laxman Narasimhan will succeed Rakesh Kapoor as Chief Executive Officer. He will join the British consumer goods company as CEO-designate and is due to be appointed to the board as an Executive Director from 16 July. Laxman Narasimhan will become group CEO from 1 September. Laxman Narasimhan is currently the Global Chief Commercial Officer for PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP), where he is responsible for the company’s integrated long-term growth strategy. He has held a place on the PepsiCo executive committee for the past four years. In addition to serving as Chief Executive Officer at Reckitt Benckiser, he will also directly lead the health business unit, the company added in a statement. Laxman Narasimhan will receive a salary of £950,000 for his new role as CEO, the company added. “Laxman has exceptional strategic capabilities and consumer insight with a proven track record in developing purpose-led brands and driving consumer centric and digital innovation. This, combined with his excellent people engagement and leadership skills, gives the Board confidence that he will continue to evolve the strong culture of RB and deliver outperformance,” Chris Sinclair, Chairman of the Board, commented on the new appointment. “I’m delighted to be joining RB as the next Chief Executive Officer at an exciting time for the business. It is a special company with a long history of outperformance, creating innovative products and iconic brands which improve the health and lives of people across the globe. I’m looking forward to working with an exceptional group of leaders over the coming years to continue to transform RB,” Laxman Narasimhan also added. Just last month, Reckitt Benckiser saw a 1% rise in its first-quarter sales, expecting to see “improving growth” during the remainder of the year. At the start of the year, the company posted a 65% drop in its annual profit as a result of one-off gains from the previous year.

Nestle’s (SWX:NESN) European Chief Executive Officer Marco Settembri believes that a hard Brexit will have a limited impact on its UK business. “We don’t see any disruption in the business,” Marco Settembri said at an investor conference, according to Reuters. “I don’t believe there will be a crisis, but we can go on in a hard Brexit scenario,” Marco Settembri continued. Headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland, Nestle S.A is a leading multinational food and drink company. For Nestle, Britain is the company’s fifth largest market. In the UK, Nestle revealed at the end of last year that it struggled to stockpile its products any further as warehouses were “almost full”. Unilever (LON:ULVR) was also reportedly stockpiling products ahead of the UK’s departure from the European Union. The comments made by Nestle’s European head come amid prevailing Brexit uncertainty. With Theresa May’s resignation, the party has said that it hopes to see a new leader installed by the end of July. Since the original vote back in 2016, Brexit uncertainty has largely impacted various sectors. For many food and drink companies, the solution has been to stockpile products – Ornua begun stockpiling cheese last year, Cadbury’s owner stockpiled ingredients, Premier Foods also planned to join the list, in addition to Unilever and Nestle. Elsewhere in Brexit related news, but this time concerning the car industry, it emerged only last week that Ford (NYSE:F) will close its Bridgend plant in 2020, making the car manufacturer one of many to close as sales fall and Brexit-related uncertainty prevails. For now, Nestle’s European head believes that a hard Brexit will have a small impact on its business in the UK, but will this really be the case? As of 12:30 CEST Tuesday, shares in Nestle SA (SWX:NESN) were trading at -0.26%.

Crest Nicholson reported a fall in profits in its half-year results for the six months to April 30. The house builder said that revenue rose by £501.9 million, compared to £467.6 million the year before. However, profit before tax fell 11% to £64.4 million, as flat pricing and building cost inflation impacted margins. The company’s shift away from the London private property also impacted profitability during the period. Crest Nicholson has increasingly opted to move away from the capital in light of its increasingly stagnant property market, in part due to political and economic uncertainty. The company have since focused upon developing joint ventures and partnerships, in a bid to strengthen its balance sheet. The move was credited with increasing forward sales 5% to £625.2 million. The board has agreed to pay an interim dividend of 11.2 pence per share. Commenting on the figures, Chris Tinker, the firm’s interim chief executive, said: “The Group has made good progress on delivering its revised strategy during this period of heightened political uncertainty. Having paused growth and de-risked our open market sales programme through increased pre-sales and partnership working, it is pleasing to report our first half revenues up 7% from this time last year. Our strategy to reduce forward sales risk through an increased proportion of pre-funded, presold homes has also realised a 15% increase in our total forward sales position. This increased certainty has traded an element of operating margin, which together with generally flat pricing and continuing build cost inflation, has contributed to a reduction in the operating margin.” Crest Nicholson is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Shares in the company (LON:CRST) are currently trading broadly flat +0.22% as of 11:45AM (GMT).

Sainsbury’s announced the appointment of a former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) executive as head of its banking unit. The UK’s second largest supermarket unveiled Jim Brown as chief executive of its bank. Brown is set to assume the role on 19th of June, following a short handover with his predecessor, Peter Griffiths. Alongside RBS, Brown also headed Williams and Glyn and Ulster Bank Group. The appointment is subject to regulatory approval. Mike Coupe, chief executive of the supermarket, commented on the appointment: “Jim has a wealth of experience and a strong track record of leading banks through significant change, which will help him lead Sainsbury’s Bank through the next stage of its journey. I am delighted to welcome Jim to the Sainsbury’s management team.” Meanwhile, Jim Brown added: “I’m really excited to be joining Sainsbury’s, which has a very strong brand and is well trusted by its customers. The combination of Sainsbury’s, Argos and Nectar, along with Sainsbury’s Bank, provides a real and unique opportunity to offer customers easy access to digitally-led financial services. I have been impressed by everyone I have met so far and am very much looking forward to joining the team.” Sainsbury’s was dealt a blow earlier this year after the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked a proposed £7.3 billion merger between the supermarket and rival Asda. If the deal had gone ahead, it would have seen the creation of the UK’s largest supermarket, surpassing Tesco. Shares in the supermarket (LON:SBRY) are broadly flat, trading down 0.40% as of 10:56AM (GMT).

The Estonian ride-hailing app Bolt announced that it is live in London rivalling its larger competitor, Uber (NYSE:UBER). Formerly known as Taxify, the company is based in Tallinn, Estonia. A post on Bolt’s website reads that as of 11 June, Bolt is live in the nation’s capital city. “London is more than just a city. It’s a symbol of a cosmopolitan way of life, a life full of choices and opportunities. We believe that the drivers in London deserve to have a choice of higher earnings while the passengers deserve a smarter way to move around the city,” Bolt’s website reads. One of Bolt’s main methods of competing in London is by promising to take a smaller cut of its driver’s earnings. Bolt insists that its drivers pay only 15% commission on completed trips, up to 50% less than its competitors. Additionally, Bolt said that it will add £1 to any journey that begins, finishes or travels through the ultra-low emission zone 24/7, to assist in paying congestion charge costs. This £1 contribution will go directly to the driver, the company added. Moreover, Bolt said that, on average, its passengers will save 5-10% per trip. Among its features, it’s also offering an in-app SOS-button that directly notifies the emergency services when pressed, as a method of upholding its driver’s and passenger’s safety. Bolt’s return to London comes almost two years following the revocation of its operating license. Its operating license was suspended in September 2017 after questions emerged concerning how its permit was obtained in the first place. The London ride-hailing app market is particularly busy, with Uber as Bolt’s larger and global rival. Uber itself has faced many controversies in the past, from its work place culture to the poor treatment of its drivers. Just last month Uber drivers across the UK took part in strikes against pay and work conditions, ahead of the launch of its IPO. As of 19:59 GMT-4 Monday, shares in Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER) were trading at -3.51%.

Ted Baker warned of the “extremely difficult” trading conditions on Tuesday that continue to impact the business’s performance. Shares in the business were trading almost 26% lower on the announcement. The luxury British fashion brand said that ongoing consumer uncertainty in a number of its key markets and elevated levels of promotional activity across its global markets have lead to “extremely” tough trading conditions during the current financial year. As a result, the company expects that a few of these external factors will have an impact on its trade, and its trading partners, throughout the rest of the year. Ted Baker has said that it now predicts underlying profit before tax for the financial year to lie in the range of £50 million to £60 million. In addition to its warning of the difficult trading environment, the business also announced a 3.8% increase in its revenue for the 19 weeks to 08 June, when compared to the same period a year prior. Ted Baker added that this performance is a reflection of the difficult and uncertain trading conditions, the unseasonable weather to hit North America and the highly promotional retail environment across its global market. “As a team, we are proactively addressing the challenges we face as an industry. Several of our new product initiatives will commence imminently and we are confident in our collections for the coming season. We are relentlessly focused on achieving cost efficiencies as well as further cost savings throughout the business,” Lindsay Page, Chief Executive Officer of Ted Baker, commented on the announcement. Indeed, Ted Baker is not the only business to cite the difficult conditions to hit the UK high street, with retail sales dropping by 2.7% in May, according to data from the BRC. Both in store and online, retailers have struggled to survive the uncertain trading conditions to hit the UK amid store closures and staff cuts. As of 09:22 BST Tuesday, shares in Ted Baker plc (LON:TED) were trading at -25.78%.