Clients

Global food giant Nestlé has reported its slowest first quarter sales growth since 2009. In the first three months of the year sales were up 5.4% to £15.5bn. In the company’s trading update, Nestlé said that its figures were in line with expectations.

Diageo’s trading update has revealed net sales growth of 5% in the nine months to 31 March. Growth in the US helped balance out weaker sales in Europe.

Weetabix has halted production of Minis and Oatibix Bites blaming the move on the poor quality of the UK wheat harvest. The lower density of the wheat from last year’s harvest led to “operational issues”, according to the brand.

Retailers

Tesco reported a fall in annual profits for the first time since 1994 and confirmed it was pulling out of the US market. The supermarket giant said total UK sales for the year rose 1.8% to just over £48bn, with UK trading profit falling by 8.3% to £2.27bn.

John Lewis has passed the £1bn mark of online sales over a 52-week period. The figure is a year ahead of schedule. Online revenues account for around a quarter of John Lewis’ overall revenues.

Department store chain Debenhams has also seen a rise in online sales with its online business becoming more profitable than its stores for the first time. It grew 46% to £194m in the half year and now accounts for 13% of sales.