PEOPLE might be hard up, but they are not willing to risk using cheap condoms, the boss of Durex has said.
Reckitt, the consumer goods giant, said lovers are still prepared to pay a premium price — despite its recent rise for a pack of 12.
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The Sun has reported that a packet of “thin feel extra” Durex condoms had shot up 40 per cent — from £9.99 to £13.99 — in the past year.
Reckitt said its health division, which includes Durex and its Dettol cleaning brand, had raised prices by another five per cent over the past three months, but it reported that sales volumes were still growing slightly.
Kris Licht, the chief executive, said Durex was still seeing good growth and there was less willingness by shoppers to switch to cheaper brands.
He predicted that the business had now gone “through the largest price increases” and that an easing of inflation meant any future rises would be more modest.
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Mr Licht added that the company has remained “strong, competitive, resilient” — having made £11billion in sales in the year to date.
Reckitt is now planning to launch a £1billion share buyback.
CAZOO’S A £500M DIPSTICK
ONLINE car dealership Cazoo is still counting the cost of its £500million restructuring last month, which left it in the hands of its creditors.
The New York-listed British business, set up by Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman, said it had sold 50 per cent fewer cars over the past three months compared to last year.
It warned demand for second-hand cars was volatile. The company had been valued at $7billion (£5.6 billion) in 2021 when it raised $1billion (£800million) from investors. It is now worth just £16million.
Cazoo admitted it received a warning from the New York Stock Exchange because its shares had fallen below $1 for more than 30 days, in breach of listing standards.
Usually when shares drop to this level a company is bankrupt or faces being delisted.
Cazoo, which used to be the kit sponsor at Everton and Aston Villa, may make a loss of up to £120million this year.
Sinking down
DRINKERS need more beer money to keep downing Heineken, as the brewer admitted sales of its pricey pints have fallen.
The world’s second-biggest brewer reported a slide in sales in the UK after raising prices by almost ten per cent in the past year.
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Heineken said “a high, single-digit price mix was offset by a total volume decline”.
The Dutch brewer also owns Amstel and Sol and has launched Spanish lager Cruza Campo in the UK this year. But it sold 4.2 per cent fewer drinks globally in the past three months than in the same period last year.
Cash-strapped drinkers are also shunning expensive beer, with sales of Heineken’s premium lager falling by 5.7 per cent globally.
The average price of a pint of lager has risen to £4.62 but some pubs in London charge as much as £7 for Heineken.
James Edwardes Jones, analyst at Royal Bank of Canada, said Heineken’s sales volumes had disappointed the market and that “recent price rises have been much larger than its peers”.
Heineken has blamed a 50 per cent hike in barley prices for the rises.
US BANS A.I. CHIPS TO CHINA
ARTIFICIAL intelligence chip designer Nvidia has been ordered by President Biden to stop shipping some products to China immediately.
Nvidia, based in California and valued at $1 trillion, said the ban had been introduced much earlier than the original mid-November date.
One of the most valuable companies in the world, it told investors it would not take a financial hit. But it does underline the global political tensions in technology battles.
The US also put curbs on chip exports to Iran and Russia.
It comes a week before the UK Government’s AI summit at Bletchley Park, Bucks.
AI is the latest buzz in technology. Microsoft said demand is booming for its OpenAI and ChatGPT products.
AT LEAST THERE IS CINEMA…
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THE hit Barbie film has boosted Mattel.
The US toy giant last night said Barbie doll sales had shot up 16 per cent to $605million (£500million) in the past three months, compared to the period last year.
It comes after years of falling sales as children increasingly opt for tech gadgets. Boss Ynon Kreiz hailed the film as a “key milestone for Mattel”.
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Shares rose 13 per cent on the back of it, but they have dipped since.
The film took £1billion at the box office and Mattel has hoped for £100million in royalties.
NO RELIEF IN HOUSE PRICE DIP
HOUSE prices are on track to keep falling until 2025, according to Lloyds.
The UK’s biggest domestic bank said they could slip by 11 per cent from their peak last year as higher mortgage costs take their toll on the market.
Lloyds said it expects a 4.7 per cent fall this year and a 2.4 per cent dip in 2024.
But boss William Chalmers said prices would still be higher than before Covid.
The bank’s own figures forecast that unemployment rates will hit 5.1 per cent in 2025, compared to Tuesday’s official figures of 4.2 per cent.
Lloyds, which owns the Halifax, gave its forecasts alongside results which showed a tripling in profits to £1.9billion over the past three months, aided by higher interest rates.
The bank said its customers had so far been resilient to mortgage costs and it had lowered the amount it put aside for bad debts.
