Tuesday newspaper round-up: Budget, UK retail sales, China iPhone sales
Food delivery and digital subscription services are witnessing a surge in sales while department stores, fashion chains and restaurants are taking a hit, as consumers opt to stay in with a takeaway to avoid the recent storms and the coronavirus outbreak. In the latest blow to retailers already suffering from the shift to online shopping, more than a quarter of shoppers said they were avoiding high streets and other busy places because they were afraid of contracting the bug, according to a survey by debit and credit card operator Barclaycard. – Guardian
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is facing mounting pressure to announce a package of emergency measures in Wednesday’s budget designed to support companies and households through the worst of the coronavirus outbreak. Business leaders warned that the growing scale of the disruption for the economy amid widespread panic on financial markets meant urgent steps were required to shore up confidence. The Institute of Directors said Sunak needed to announce measures on Wednesday to provide UK companies with extra breathing space to spread out their tax payments. – Guardian
The battered retail industry suffered a fresh hit last month as shoppers stayed at home to escape storms Ciara and Dennis and the threat of coronavirus loomed. Widespread flooding led to a 0.4pc slowdown in sales at stores open more than a year compared to 12 months earlier, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG said. – Telegraph
A post-election “Boris bounce” in the confidence of business leaders has been destroyed by the coronavirus outbreak, a new survey has revealed. More than one in five bosses believe the outbreak of Covid-19 poses a “high” or “severe” threat to their companies, as employers encourage staff to work remotely and cancel travel plans. – The Times
Sales of the iPhone in China fell 61 per cent last month as the coronavirus epidemic took hold, a report showed yesterday. Apple sold 494,000 of its smartphones in the country compared with 1.27 million in the same month last year, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. Sales of iPhones in January stood at two million. – The Times