![]() ![]() ![]() Last week Kraft Heinz, a food conglomerate, said it was mostly done raising prices this year. Firms that, like Home Depot and Walmart, were quick to flaunt their pricing power last year are now more careful about further price rises, lest this put shoppers off shopping. According to Goldman Sachs, another bank, households have spent a third of their excess savings and will have spent another third by the end of 2023. The tailwind from strong household balance-sheets, fortified by pandemic-induced saving and government handouts, will not blow for ever. Home Depot said that it would spend an extra $1bn on higher hourly wages for workers.Ī bigger worry is the potential drop-off in consumer demand. uBS, a bank, estimates that such moves will cost the company around $1bn a year. In January Walmart announced pay increases which will raise its average hourly wage to more than $17.50. In the case of Walmart and Home Depot, they are rising. Although the worst labour shortages have subsided, wages remain high. Shoppers’ baskets may get lighter still as jitters hit the housing market: according to Barclays, a bank, the more the asking price for properties fall, the less consumers spend on an average trip to Home Depot.įollowing a pandemic-era blow-out, investors expect retailers’ margins to narrow. The company’s share price fell by more than 7% on the news. Home Depot, which also reported its results on February 21st, disclosed its seventh successive year-on-year decline in transaction volumes-and this quarter, for the first time, it was not offset by growth in the average size of transactions. Other retailers tell a similar story, more poignantly. ![]() Most troubling, Walmart forecast sales growth of 2.5-3% for the current fiscal year, below analysts’ expectations. ![]() That was despite heavy discounting of wares in order to clear inventories overstocked as a result of post-pandemic miscalculation about shoppers’ appetite for things like garden furniture. Its higher-margin discretionary offering, which includes toys, clothes and homeware, did less well. A big reason for Walmart’s market-share gains in groceries was cash-strapped consumers, including high-income families, trading down from fancier supermarkets. Look closer, though, and the earnings are full of warning signs. The company’s comparable sales in America grew by a faster-than-expected 8.3%, compared with a year earlier. OP, the nationwide account with insurance benefits, includes phone insurance with accessories like earphones although not laptops etc if that’s better for you.On the surface, Walmart’s fourth-quarter results look like exhibit A for the optimists. Seems like phone and gadget insurance might technically be separate so maybe 4 claims on each category although I haven’t read the t &C’s ,but definitely implies it. If anyone knows of cheaper coverage which includes laptops and phones etc plus lmk I know nationwide/Halifax is around that price with car breakdown etc but they don’t cover laptops (just coverage for an ~£900 laptop is around£ 8-10 per month from my research) Max 4 theft and loss claims per year but unlimited damage claims Worldwide loss, theft, breakage and accidental damage coverage. The Barclays tech insurance pack in my opinion is by far the best, but you do need am account with them,Ĥ Mobile phones, unlimited gadgets including laptops satnavs tablets smart watches etc (upto 1500£ per gadget value ![]()
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