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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 23 AUGUST 2017 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Lidl tops Waitrose to become UK's seventh biggest grocer Lidl has beaten Waitrose to become the UK's seventh largest supermarket chain, according to latest grocery mar- ket share figures. The German discount food retailer has increased its market share to 5.2%, up by 0.7% year-on-year, Kantar Worldpanel reports. Families are driving its sales as they tend to buy more items in one supermarket visit, Kantar said. With 5.1% market share, Waitrose has been pushed into eighth place. "Ten million households visited [Lidl's] expanding network of stores during the past 12 weeks, with alcohol and fresh produce performing particularly well as the retailer increased sales by 18.9% overall," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retailer and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel. "Lidl is growing sales 40% faster with families than with households without children." The biggest supermarket chains in the UK, by market share are: Tesco (27.8%) Sainsbury's (15.8%) Asda (15.3%) Morrisons (10.4%) Aldi (7%) Co-op (6.3%) Lidl (5.2%) Waitrose (5.1%) Iceland (2.1%) Owcado (1.4%) Since the financial crisis in 2008, the four biggest grocers Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons have faced increasing pressure from luxury supermarket brands like Waitrose, as well as German discount chains like Aldi and Lidl. Grocery market share figures from March 2017 onwards show that UK supermarkets are now experiencing their best sales growth in five years. "All four of Britain's biggest grocers managed to grow sales for the fifth consecutive period, a run of collective success not seen since 2013," said McKevitt. "However, this welcome period of sustained growth hasn't been enough to entirely offset pressure from the discounters: the big four now account for just 69.3% of the UK grocery market – down from 76.3% five years ago – and that looks set to fall further in the coming months." Slow start for markets Calamatta Cuschieri European and Asian markets slipped on thin trading volumes Monday as tensions between the US and North Korea came back into focus. The FTSE 100 closed lower on Monday, weighed down by fi nancial stocks with HSBC and Barclays being the biggest movers in that direction, howev- er, mining stocks were ultimately bolstered by strong safe-haven metal prices. US stocks fluctuated after erasing early losses, while the dollar edged lower amid growing unease about persistent low inflation and as investors await central bank speeches at Jackson Hole. The S&P 500 Index rebounded to trade flat after hitting the lowest since July amid the tumult in Washington that imperils the president's policy agenda. Total buys Maersk's oil business Energy company Total has agreed to buy Maersk's oil & gas business in a $7.45bn deal, the French company's biggest acquisition since 1999 and another sign of the accelerating pace of energy deals after a long downturn. Total's chief executive officer, Patrick Pouyanne is following through on a hint last month that he was ready and willing to make acquisitions to grow production, taking advantage of a plunge in company valuations. The combination with Maersk Oil gives Total about one billion barrels of oil equivalent of proven and probable reserves, about 80 percent of which are in the North Sea, according to the statement. It will add output of about 160,000 barrels a day of oil equivalent to the French group next year, rising to 200,000 a day by 2020. McDonald's falls out with India partner Fast food chain McDonald's said on Monday it planned to shut all 169 of its restaurants in India's northern and eastern regions, escalating a dispute with its local partner and potentially putting thousands of workers out of jobs. The move by McDonald's India follows a protracted legal dispute with its partner, Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt Ltd that started in 2013 due to alleged irregular siphoning activities by CPRL's managing director, Vikram Bakashi. The US company said it was "compelled" to take the action because its partner had breached the terms of their franchise agreements. The north and east Indian outlets under the McDonalds-CPRL franchise employ 6,500 people directly and many more indirectly. The decision will likely lead to thousands of job losses and further dent McDonald's share of India's booming quick service restaurants market, where it has already been losing ground to rivals like Domino's Pizza. Disclaimer: This article was issued by Peter Petrov, Junior Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com. mt. The information, views and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.