Next (LON:NXT) posted a 0.4% decrease in annual profits on Thursday in its results for the year ending in January. The company predicts another decline for the following year as in store sales continue to decrease. The company recorded a pre-tax profit of £722.9 million. This figure is a 0.4% decrease compared to last year’s £726.1 million. Though this aligns with the company’s guidance, it is a third straight decline for the British clothing chain. The group also announced that 53% of its sales were now online. In store sales dropped by almost 8% to £1.95 billion, as online sales rose by 14.7% to £1.92 billion. Footfall across the high street was particularly low during one of the most anticipated shopping days of the year – Boxing Day. Experts said that the average footfall across the UK dropped by 3.1% despite retailers offering generous discounts on their products. The disappointing turnout reflects the broader sector-wide crisis that hit retailers in 2018. For the year ahead, Next has forecasted sales to be up by 1.7%. It is expecting an 8.5% decline in retail sales and an 11% increase in sales made online. “Although we anticipate that our total sales will grow in the year ahead, we are forecasting for profits to marginally decline,” the company said in its results. “We have talked before about the structural costs involved in business moving from Retail to Online. The problem is that, in the short term, many of our Retail costs (such as rent) remain fixed but increasing business Online generates additional variable costs required to handle more deliveries and warehouse work,” it continued. The company predicted a 1.1% decrease in pre-tax profits, down to £715 million. Elsewhere in retail, the struggling sports wear retailer Footasylum (LON:FOOT) was recently purchased by its larger rival JD Sports (LON:JD) in a bid help the 69-store chain amid tough trading conditions. Bonmarche (LON:BON) also made headlines this week as it issued its third profit warning in the past six months. At 08:23 GMT Thursday, shares in Next plc (LON:NXT) were trading at -3.01%.

Google has been fined €1.5 billion by the European Commission over its advertising rules. The search engine has been dealt the penalty after European Commission said that Google had been blocking rival online search advertisers.

Inflation ticked higher in February to 1.9% up from 1.8% recorded back in January, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. The ONS attributed the rise to food, alcohol and tobacco prices. However, these rises were partially offset by falling clothing and footwear prices across the period. The figure was slightly behind the Bank of England (BoE) inflation target of 2%. Commenting on the latest figures, Head of Inflation Mike Hardie said: “The rate of inflation is stable, with a modest rise in food as well as alcohol and tobacco offset by clothing and footwear prices rising by less than they did a year ago. “While average UK house prices increased over the year, the rate is down from last month, and is at its lowest in almost six years. London property prices continued to fall, seeing their steepest drop since the end of the financial crisis, with Wales, the East Midlands and the West Midlands driving the overall growth.” The figures follow the chancellor Philip Hammond’s Spring Statement which he delivered earlier this month. However, the content of Hammond’s speech was somewhat overshadowed by the continuing chaos of Brexit negotiations. The UK is set to depart the EU on the 29 March, and currently no deal has been agreed upon by MPS. Theresa May is expected to ask EU negotiators to postpone the Brexit deadline. It is thought that this would be a short extension until June.  

BMW group (ETR:BMW) announced on Wednesday that its profits for 2019 could fall by over 10%, in addition to pursuing a €12 billion cost savings and efficiency plan. The group warned that its profits for the year are expected to fall “well below” the level of those from the previous year. BMW said that its forecasts for the current year are based on the conditions that global economic and political climates do not change drastically. Under the event that conditions do significantly deteriorate, its outlook could be negatively impacted. It now expects its profits to drop by over 10% for the year. “Our industry is witnessing rapid transformation. In this environment, a sustained high level of profitability is crucial if we are to continue driving change,” Nicolas Peter, Member of the Board of Management of BMW, Finance, said in a statement. “In view of the numerous additional factors negatively impacting earnings, we began to introduce countermeasures at an early stage and have taken a number of far-reaching decisions. Discipline and a clear focus on rigorous implementation are essential as we aim to emerge from these challenging times stronger than ever,” he continued. In response, the group will embark on a cost savings and efficiency plan. Under the group-wide plan to increase efficiency and lower costs, development times for new vehicle models will be reduced by up to a third. BMW “expects to leverage potential efficiencies totalling more than 12 billion euros” by the end of 2022, it said. With the official Brexit departure date just days away, the automobile sector is bracing itself for the worst. BMW announced last year that it would shut its Oxford Mini factory for a month immediately after the official Brexit date. This measure is to allow the company to enter into the next stages of its Brexit contingency plans. Elsewhere, the boss of Ford (NYSE:F) said that a no-deal Brexit could be “pretty disastrous” and impact operations in Britain, making Ford one of the many carmakers to warn against a no-deal. At 11:36 CET Wednesday, shares in BMW AG (ETR:BMW) were trading at -4.56%.

DIY group Kingfisher (LON:KGF) posted a 53% crash in pre-tax profits on Wednesday and is searching for a new CEO. The owner of B&Q announced that pre-tax profits for the year ended 31 January 2019 were £322 million. This is a 53% slide compared to the £682 million figure from the year prior. Profits were damaged by the company’s Castorama France brand, in addition to losses in Russia and Romania. Kingfisher was also hit by a £111 million charge relating to impairments for its underperforming stores. Headquartered in London, the group is the largest home improvement retailer in Europe, and the third largest globally. “During this year, the UK, Poland and Brico Dépôt France performed well, leveraging the benefits of our transformation. However, Castorama France has been disappointing and we are implementing a clear plan to sustainably improve its performance,” Chief Executive Officer Veronique Laury commented in a statement. The company has made the underperformance of Castorama France a clear priority to be addressed over the next year. It has also said that it is considering the closure of 15 poor performing stores across the business over the next two years, in addition to closing 19 Screwfix Germany outlets. The group announced at the end of last year that its sales had risen despite the “difficult retail environment”. Sales rose 1.4% during the quarter as it operated in a “difficult retail environment”. It also announced plans to exit smaller markets in Russia, Spain and Portugal Additionally, Kingfisher said it has begun searching for a new boss. Chief Executive Officer Veronique Laury full supports her departure and will continue in her position until an official departure date is set. Veronique Laury has been in the role since December 2014. When she departs, there will only be five other female chief executives in the FTSE 100. Shares in Kingfisher plc (LON:KGF) were trading at -1.51% as of 10:14 GMY Wednesday.

ASOS shares took a hit during Tuesday trading after the online retailer posted a trading update for the three months to February-end. The fast fashion retailer said sales in the US had proved behind expectations, whilst sales in the UK and Europe also having slowed. Specifically, sales growth in the UK and the rest of Europe were up by 14% and 12%, respectively, totalling £244.4 million and £198.4 million. This proved a contraction from the 19% and 18% of growth noted during the November quarter. Meanwhile in the rest of the world, growth was up 20% during the three month trading period. Nick Beighton, CEO, commented: “Group sales over the period increased by 13% and retail gross margin improved by 40bps. We continued to outperform in the UK with sales growth of 14%. Sales in Europe were up 12%, although France and Germany, our two largest markets, continue to be challenging. Our US performance was behind our plans during the period. As our Atlanta warehouse went fully online, demand far exceeded our expectations. Whilst very encouraging for the longer term, this caused a significant short-term despatch back log which we have now cleared. These delayed shipments will be recognised in P3 and US trading is now regaining momentum. Our ROW segment returned to good growth of 20% after a disappointing Q1.” Despite this, Beighton said the company “remain confident that we will meet guidance for the full year.” The firm is set to publish its interim results next month. Shares in ASOS (LON:ASC) are currently -8.12% as of (GMT). Elsewhere in retail, Debenhams (LON:DEB) shares also fell on Tuesday on news that the company lost its fifth-largest investor.  

Sainsbury’s and Asda have pledged to implement price cuts as it looks to ensure its proposed merger. In a joint statement, the two supermarkets vowed to deliver £1 billion in savings annually by the third year of completion of the merger. The statement added that the supermarkets will be investing £300 million, as well as an additional £700 million over the course of two years. Sainsbury’s and Asda said they would reduce prices by around 10% on ‘everyday items’. With regards to fuel prices, Sainsbury’s have committed to cap its fuel gross profit margin to no more than 3.5p per litre for five years. Meanwhile, Asda will seek to maintain its existing fuel pricing. The merger however, has been thrown into doubt after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation. Thus far, the CMA identified “extensive competition concerns”, relating in particular to prices and quality of goods available to consumers. In Tuesday’s statement, the supermarkets also addressed the CMA’s preliminary findings. It said: “Sainsbury’s and Asda strongly disagree with the CMA’s Provisional Findings and have found the CMA’s analysis of their proposed merger to contain significant errors. This is compounded by the CMA’s choice of a threshold for identifying competition problems that does not fit the facts and evidence in the case and that is set at an unprecedentedly low level, therefore generating an unreasonably high number of areas of concern. In their detailed response to the Provisional Findings, Sainsbury’s and Asda have sought to address these economic and legal errors.” Should the deal go ahead, the merger will create the nation’s largest supermarket, surpassing Tesco (LON:TSCO). Currently, Sainsbury’s is the UK’s second largest grocery retailer, whilst Walmart-owned Asda is the third. Shares in Sainsbury’s (LON:SBRY) are currently +2.57% as of 12:12PM (GMT). Meanwhile, shares in Walmart (NYSE:WMT) are also +1.39% amid the news.

UK employment hit its highest rate since records began back in 1972, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed on Tuesday. The UK’s jobless rate fell to 3.9%, down from 4% recorded the month before. Those not in employment fell by 35,000 to 1.338 million during the final quarter of the year. Meanwhile, employment levels hit record levels of 76.1% during the three months to January. ONS senior statistician Matt Hughes said: “The employment rate has reached a new record high, while the proportion of people who are neither working nor looking for a job – the so-called ‘economic inactivity rate’- is at a new record low.” The government minister for employment, Alok Sharma MP commented on the figures: “Today’s employment figures are further evidence of the strong economy the Chancellor detailed in last week’s spring statement, showing how our pro-business policies are delivering record employment. “2019 has continued to be a record breaker, with the employment rate topping 76% for the first time, record female employment and unemployment falling below 4% for the first time in 44 years. “Our jobs market remains resilient as we see more people than ever before benefitting from earning a wage. By backing the Government’s Brexit deal and giving certainty to business, MPs have the chance to safeguard this jobs track record.” Meanwhile former home secretary and current minister for work and pensions Amber Rudd MP tweeted the following:

💥 Unemployment at a 44 year low. 💥 Employment rate at a record high. 💥 32.7 million people taking home a wage. 💥 Wages have now outpaced inflation for a year. 💥 The number of people in work rose by 222,000, the largest increase for years.https://t.co/fsHoXZTQqo

— Amber Rudd MP (@AmberRuddHR) March 19, 2019

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js The latest ONS employment figures will be a welcome development for the government, particularly as the UK economy continues to suffer amid ongoing Brexit-related uncertainty. The UK is still set to leave the EU on the 29 March in 11 days, nevertheless, parliament has yet to agree upon a deal.