Supermarkets waive £1.8bn business rates relief; stocks and pound rally – as it happened

Graeme Wearden

from on 2020-12-03 19:23 (#5B5S3)

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as mid-cap stocks hit their highest level in over nine months

Latest: UK stock market rallies
B&M waives 80m in business rates relief
Pound hits highest level against dollar since December 2019
US jobless claims fell last week, but still painfully high
Asda to hand back 340m; Aldi to repay 100m
Introduction: Sainsbury's waives 440m business rates relief

7.22pm GMT

Right, time to wrap up.

Here's today's main stories:

7.00pm GMT

The pound is falling back from its earlier one-year high against the US dollar, following some less-than-optimistic tweets:

Sounds like Brexit talks have gone worse this afternoon...
A senior govt source says at the eleventh hour, the EU is bringing new elements into the negotiation. A breakthrough is still possible in the next few days but that prospect is receding.'

BREXIT - EU NEGOTIATOR BARNIER TO RETURN TO BRUSSELS FRIDAY AFTERNOON, SAYS SKY NEWS DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

6.58pm GMT

The end of the English lockdown, and the re-opening of non-essential stores, has meant a 40-hour shopping marathon at some Primark stores.

My colleague Lucy Campbell was at Brocklebank retail park, south-east London, at midnight, and reports....

Primark said it had anticipated higher demand before the festive season and was trying to keep queues under control by spreading shopping hours over longer periods of time. And in the early hours of Thursday morning, avoiding large crowds as the pandemic rumbled on seemed to be behind many customers' thinking.

I expected shopping in the middle of the night to be quieter, but it's just as packed," said 56-year-old Pauline Scotter, who said the queue to get in when she arrived had gone the length of the store.

5.53pm GMT

Shares in smaller UK companies have rallied to their highest level since the end of February, and the early days of the pandemic.

The FTSE 250 index, seen as a good barometer of the health of the UK economy, has jumped by 1.3% today to end at 20,132 points.

The FTSE 250 index, considered a proxy for Brexit sentiment, jumped on Thursday as investors hoped for a trade deal with the European Union before a year-end deadline, while miners rose as iron ore prices hit a record high.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 1.3% to its highest since late February after Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said he hoped for a deal in the next few days. However, EU officials see uncertainties as significant gaps remain on some main issues.

5.32pm GMT

Back in the City, the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip stocks has hit its highest closing level since the first week of March.

The Footsie has closed at 6,490 points, up 26 points or 0.4% today, which is its best closing point since mid-way through the market crash nine months ago.

A rally in mining stocks has helped the FTSE 100 outstrip the major indices in the eurozone. Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Glencore and BHP Group are adding a sizeable number of points to the index. Rolls-Royce is one of the biggest percentage gainers on the market on the back of a proposal to consolidate work at certain sites.

The civil aerospace sector has been hammered on account of the pandemic but the group wants to divert talent towards the defence unit. The rally in the FTSE is all the more impressive because of the move higher in the pound - which typically dents the index. Continental equity markets are underperforming as the vaccine selection process is relatively slow on account of how the EU handles the authorisation process.

4.54pm GMT

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has urged the government to use the money being returned by supermarkets to support smaller firms, who have suffered badly in the pandemic.

I welcome the decision by several supermarkets to repay the hundreds of millions of pounds they saved during the business rates holiday. I'm urging other major supermarket chains who have done well during the pandemic to follow suit.

The business rates holiday has been a lifeline for many retailers and hospitality businesses which had to stop trading during the pandemic and for which trade will not return to normal any time soon - even with the vaccine on the horizon. They need the certainty of an extension of the business rates holiday to the next financial year.

4.47pm GMT

Discount chain B&M has announced it is also repaying its business rates relief, worth around 80m.

This follows similar u-turns from Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Aldi and Morrisons, and takes the total waived to around 1.8bn.

Although significant uncertainty remains, the Group believes it is now right to forego the business rates relief granted to B&M, which is approximately 80m this financial year.

Having voluntarily returned furlough money, B&M will now engage with local authorities on an appropriate mechanism to waive the business rates relief.

We request urgent reform of the outdated business rates system that is contributing to job losses across the retail sector and is acting as a deterrent to B&M and other potential occupiers taking up vacant space in many locations."

And so B&M joins Asda, Aldi, Morrisons, Sainsbury's , Tesco in handing back its business rates relief. 80m back to taxpayers. Boss Simon Arora calls for a level playing field between online and physical retailers. We request urgent reform of the outdated business rates system"

4.26pm GMT

Sterling's rally against the dollar comes after Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said earlier today that there's a good chance that Britain and the European Union would secure a trade deal within days.

There's a good chance we can get a deal across the line in the next few days," he told Ireland's Newstalk radio. We are in the space of days not weeks."

Surging 1% against the dollar and 0.4% against the euro, the pound appeared to rise after Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney claimed that there's a good chance we can get a deal across the line in the next few days'.

It's the kind of comment that has been heard before in the last couple of weeks, without anything materialising. Nevertheless, with the deadline looming, sterling will take what it can get.

One year high for the British pound on Brexit deal hopes. #Brexit #EuropeanUnion pic.twitter.com/MW0XBlV3Zy

4.19pm GMT

The pound has just hit its highest level against the US dollar in almost a year.

Sterling is on the brink of $1.35 for the first time since 13 December 2019 (the day after the Conservatives won the last General Election).

Sterling rose to its highest against the US dollar in 2020 with the greenback coming under more pressure this afternoon in a repeat of yesterday's moves as the weaker dollar narrative shows no signs of running out gas.

The moves are probably two-fold - one is clearly about dollar weakness with majors posting solid gains vs the buck. The other cause may be markets front-running a Brexit deal with indicators the UK and EU negotiators are heading towards the big push'.

Pound Sterling rallies through Sep high against Dollar to reach the strongest since Dec2019. While much of the gain reflected weakness of US currency, the pound was also buoyed by officials on both sides of U.K.-EU trade talks saying a deal could be reached within days. (via BBG) pic.twitter.com/jp6TjlCu3I

4.04pm GMT

The surge in Boeing's share price has pushed the Dow Jones industrial average back over 30,000 points, and close to last week's record highs.

Optimism over the new bipartisan push for a US stimulus deal is also lifting stocks on Wall Street, with the broader S&P 500 index and the tech-focused Nasdaq both at fresh record peaks.

* S&P 500 HITS RECORD HIGH

3.56pm GMT

Despite America's escalating health crisis, its service sector has posted its fastest growth in over four and a half years.

The latest survey of US purchasing managers at service sector companies, from IHS Markit, shows that output and new business accelerated substantially last month.

Services activity in the U.S. rose at the most marked rate for over five-and-a-half-years in November, amid a substantial upturn in new business. Employment rose at the fastest pace in survey history, while price indices reached record highs. Read more: https://t.co/duhUd2K27L pic.twitter.com/IH5TB6p1oS

3.22pm GMT

Airline news: Ryanair has agreed a deal with Boeing to buy another 75 of its 737 Max jets.

That's a boost for Boeing, after the US Federal Aviation Administration declared the jet was safe to fly again following two fatal crashes in which 346 people died.

Budget airline Ryanair on Thursday ordered 75 additional Boeing 737 MAX jets with a catalogue value of $9 billion, throwing a commercial lifeline to the embattled U.S. planemaker after regulators lifted a 20-month safety ban.

The order from the Irish airline, Europe's biggest low-cost carrier and one of Boeing's most important customers, is the largest for the jet since 2018 before two fatal crashes led to its grounding.

Plan to take delivery of 50 next year alone

The planes are likely to be allowed to fly again by European regulators early next year

They are extremely efficient - Ryanair will get 8 more seats per plane but burn 16% less fuel

Ryanair shares not far from their highest price this year of about 16. That's despite passenger numbers collapsing and making no profits in the last six months. https://t.co/HvmMtWfo8F

3.03pm GMT

Twenty five US states received at least one thousand more jobless claims last week than in the previous seven days, today's jobs report shows.

Many of them cited layoffs in the retail, accommodation and food services sectors -- a sign that the pandemic is hitting the hospitality economy again.

Initial unemployment claims fell more than expected during the Thanksgiving week after being revised up for the previous week. Total claims are still staggeringly high. Exended UI benefits continued to rise, underscoring the scars that are forming on the labor market.

There are a lot of problems with this data. We would expect a drop the week of a major holiday such as Thanksgiving. That is normal. We do not know what magnitude is normal despite an effort to attempt tot better adjusts the data for seasonal fluctuations.

More concerning is the breadth and reasons for layoffs. 25 states had increases in initial UI claims that exceeded 1000. This speaks to how broad based the recent surge in COVID cases has become. Layoffs were heavy in food, health care and retail & hotels.

Those are the sectors that were hardest hit in the early days of the pandemic in late February and early March, before lockdowns went into effect. People canceled health care appointments, vacations and going into restaurants as the crisis unfolded.

Interesting to note that a large percentage of the initial claims were due to layoffs in the accomodation and food services industry.

With coronavirus cases continuing to surge in the US, it's difficult to envisage a rapid bounce back for the hospitality industry. https://t.co/sbcPbPxPpQ pic.twitter.com/RAIpLXJgia

2.36pm GMT

Back in the markets, the pound has risen to a new three-month high against the US dollar.

Sterling is up a cent at $1.3470 against the greenback, which has sagged to its lowest level in over two and a half-years against a basket of currencies.

2.33pm GMT

The drop in fresh US unemployment claims last week may not show the true impact of the pandemic raging in America, warns Richard Flynn, UK Managing Director at Charles Schwab.

Today's positive U.S. jobs data may be a welcome boost to markets, but investors should continue to be wary of the impact of the further lockdowns. Selective lockdowns are being implemented in some states as case counts climb a second time and health care systems risk becoming overwhelmed. Europe's secondary outbreak is ahead of the U.S. and some countries' economies are already experiencing the negative effects of lockdowns.

However, although the term lockdown is being used, it's really lockdown-lite" compared with the restrictions imposed last spring. Places such as schools, churches, manufacturing businesses and construction sites remain open, standing in contrast to the first lockdown, when all these areas of the economy were closed.

1.59pm GMT

The drop in US unemployment claims may be due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Last week's break will have meant less time for states to receive and process jobless claims (and also leads to temporary swings in the labor market).

Normal holiday hiring swings and anticipated seasonal furloughs in certain sectors like construction or retail could muddy the data on the extent of economic damage as COVID-19 cases rise. The tea leaves will be hard to decipher these next few months.

Tomorrow's jobs report could expose deeper cracks in the recovery resulting from the recent surge in pandemic cases. While a repeat of the spring crash is unlikely, it revealed how quickly economic damage can accumulate. Promising vaccine news offers a light at the end of the tunnel, which makes it all the more important that Congress helps the economy hold onto gains made to-date. We don't want to trip over our own feet with the finish line in sight."

UI claims fell to just over 1 million (714K UI initial claims NSA + 289K PUA claims) last wk due to the holiday wk.

The slowdown is likely due to a Thanksgiving lull though it was still not enough to drive claims below the 1M mark; 37th straight wk above 1M.#joblessclaims 1/ pic.twitter.com/iqKvvLIDzg

Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits fell last week to 712,000 from 787,000 revised. But this reflects the Thanksgiving holiday period more than anything else. https://t.co/v9IXSHH9Zp

Finally, a better-than-exp result for initial unempl claims. But don't get too excited, 712k is still 3.4X times more than pre-virus levels. Let's hope tomorrow's employment report is also better than exp. pic.twitter.com/J8QGlYGiqa

1.48pm GMT

The number of Americans receiving unemployment support for at least a fortnight also fell.

The continuing claims total dropped to 5.52m in the week to November 21, from 6.08m the previous seven days.

Initial jobless claims down to 712k vs. 775k est. & 787k in prior week (rev. up); continuing claims at 5.52M vs. 5.8M est. & 6.089M in prior week (rev. up) ... greatest increases in IL (+18,8k), MI (+17.3k) & WA (+13.5k); greatest decreases in LA (-33.6k), MA (-22.6k) & NJ (-783) pic.twitter.com/ipK5KMksJR

1.41pm GMT

Just in: the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims has fallen.

The closely-watched initial claims total dipped to 712,000 (seasonally-adjusted) last week, down from 787,000 in the previous seven days.

At 712k, Initial Jobless Claims came in below the 775k estimate, and below last week's 787k level. Claims have leveled off but are still averaging 740k for the past 4 weeks. https://t.co/maIeV4Rfa2 pic.twitter.com/87Ckun7fZN

#JoblessClaims down, but not enough to impress the mkt initially $ES_Z. $SPX $NDX $IWM pic.twitter.com/EcAIdtwdcr

1.05pm GMT

Asda has joined the rush of supermarkets handing back their business rates relief.

Throughout the pandemic we have always sought to do the right thing - fulfilling our role in feeding the nation, protecting our colleagues and supporting our communities.

But, as the hope of a vaccine and a more normal' life returning in 2021 grows, we have confidence that we are in a strong position to again do the right thing for the communities we serve. Almost half our customers are telling us they expect their financial position to worsen in the next 12 months and we recognise that there are other industries and businesses for whom the effects of Covid-19 will be much more long lasting and whose survival is essential to thousands of jobs.

12.56pm GMT

The Evening Standard is reporting that the first supplier casualty from the collapse of Topshop owner Arcadia Group may have emerged.

London firm Lloyd Shoe Company has lined up administrators, reports that Standard's Joanna Bourke:

Hackney-based Lloyd Shoe Co employs 243 people and operates footwear concessions within some Arcadia stores, sourcing shoe ranges.

The firm continues to trade as normal however it has filed a notice to appoint an administrator, FRP Advisory, to seek a buyer for the business

Shoe firm that works with Arcadia lines up administrators https://t.co/B5kjGEqqwU

12.28pm GMT

The UK hospitality industry want the government to create a Hospitality & Tourism Recovery Fund, supported by the cash from Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrison's and Aldi (so far...).

It is an admirable and altruistic gesture from a company that is clearly in a much better financial situation than the vast majority of the those in hospitality. The question now is what happens to this money, which the Government had intended to invest in supporting businesses.

We are calling on the Government to earmark that money, to create a fund for those hospitality and tourism businesses that are at high risk of failure, have been closed since March or that have had no grant support, similar to the Cultural Recovery Fund. A Hospitality and Tourism Recovery Fund, including rent support to preserve the future of our high streets, would deliver a huge boost to businesses that are only just clinging onto life right when they need it most."

12.23pm GMT

Conservative MPs are pushing the government to use the supermarket's money to support companies and individuals who were excluded from previous support measures.

Well done supermarkets

Sainsbury's will hand back 440m saved from the Government's business rates holiday a day after Tesco said it'd hand over 585m & Morrisons 274m

We need to make sure money now goes to those who've had no support during Covid#ForgottenLtd #ExcludedUk

& well done to my colleagues @bluecollartory_ & esp. @EstherMcVey1 who led the way in this issue. Thx @Tesco @Morrisons @sainsburys for doing the right thing ...now for the rest @marksandspencer @waitrose @lincscoop @coopuk @asda @hmtreasury @RishiSunak @SteveBarclay #ExcludedUK https://t.co/wMXeLvK10G

12.09pm GMT

The business rates relief being returned by supermarkets can be used to support struggling firms to recover from the economic shock of Covid-19.

One option is to extend the business rates holiday beyond next March for the hardest-hit companies.

Hopefully the Government will be able to build on this good news story and provide clarity to these hardest hit businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure as they seek to rebuild in 2021.

Many of these businesses have exhausted the other support measures in place and have critically low cash reserves. Knowing that their rates bill will be reduced or extinguished would be a real boost to these small businesses and allow more of them to be viable and continue to trade in 2021.

11.40am GMT

Optimism across UK companies has risen, despite the latest Covid-19 restrictions pushing activity down last month.

The latest PMI survey from data firm Markit shows the UK service sector contracted during November's English lockdown and restrictions in other areas (to no-one's surprise).

November data indicated a reduction in UK private sector output for the first time in five months, with weakness across the service economy more than offsetting robust manufacturing growth.

Both manufacturing and service sector companies recorded an improvement in business optimism towards the year ahead outlook.

Measured overall, the degree of positive sentiment across the UK private sector was the strongest since March 2015. Survey respondents mostly cited hopes that the impact of the pandemic on business operations would ease substantially over the next 12 month.

New lockdown measures and tighter pandemic restrictions unsurprisingly tipped UK private sector output back into decline during November. However, the collateral damage on areas outside of hospitality, leisure and travel has been far more modest than in the first lockdown period. Back in April, nearly 80% of all service providers reported a monthly drop in business activity, while the equivalent figure was only 30% in November.

Hopes that the pandemic will be brought under control from an effective vaccine resulted in a sharp improvement in business optimism during November.

11.24am GMT

Retail analyst Mark Brumby tweets:

Three supermarkets giving the money back. Three stock market listed supermarkets, to be specific. More may follow. But these guys don't want to be on the whipping boys in any Covid enquiry 3-5yrs down the line. Understandable. Blame should vest where it belongs.

11.10am GMT

Ken Murphy also warned that Tesco needs more clarity from the UK government about how products will move across the border after the Brexit withdrawal agreement ends.

The supermarket CEO told Sky News the supermarket has taken preparations to keep operating whether or nor there is a UK-EU trade deal, but would really like more information about the movement of stock:

The biggest challenge we face really is the movement of product between borders, the movement of product between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of course between mainland Europe and the UK.

That is the one area where we really would urge the government to give us some clarity and to allow us to prepare even better for the end of December.

11.03am GMT

Tesco's new chief executive, Ken Murphy, has been explaining yesterday's decision to hand back 585m of business rates relief on Sky News.

Murphy says that the world was in chaos" in March, and the decisive action" by the government helped it invest.

As time when on, and we saw that this crisis was going to linger and keep going, we went into a second lockdown, we were able to trade through it....and many, many businesses, smaller businesses were not able to open, we saw communities suffering and of course the young were really hard hit by this in terms of unemployment.

So we felt that, at this point the right thing to do was to give the money back.

When we made the decision we didn't really think about the competition at all.

We were really focused on what was the right thing for the Tesco brand, what was the right thing for Tesco customers and Tesco communities, and that's why we took the decision.

We are seeing a massive penalisation of the retail sector.

Why did @Tesco decide to return 585m in coronavirus aid to the UK Government? Tesco's chief executive Ken Murphy explains to @SkyNews Ian King Live. pic.twitter.com/YwZXyqYBAR

10.24am GMT

Tesco's announcement yesterday morning may have caught rivals on the hop (although they must have known the issue wasn't going away).

Here's Hugh Radojev of Retail Week:

Source close to Asda says it's "only a matter of time" until it follows suit, but still nothing official on that yet. Imagine the same at Lidl.

10.06am GMT

Aldi's move means around 1.4bn of business rates relief has now been waived by supermarkets, since Tesco announced its u-turn yesterday morning.

Here's how much is being paid:

We are financially strong enough to be able to return this to the public, and we are conscious of our responsibilities to society.

We firmly believe now that this is the right thing to do, and we hope this will enable additional support to those businesses and communities who need it."

9.36am GMT

Newsflash: Aldi, the UK's fifth-largest supermarket, is also returning its business rates relief.

Thanks to our amazing colleagues, we have been able to remain open during lockdowns and despite the increased costs we have incurred during the pandemic, we believe returning the full value of our business rates relief is the right decision to help support the nation.

Our continued investment for our colleagues and our customers will remain unchanged."

9.33am GMT

Over in the eurozone, the latest Covid-19 restrictions have pulled the economy into reverse.

The latest PMI survey from data firm IHS Markit shows a sharp (and predictable) fall in services activity, meaning the eurozone's private sector economy returned to contraction during November for the first time in five months.

The eurozone economy slipped back into a downturn in November as governments stepped up the fight against COVID-19, with business activity hit once again by new restrictions to fight off second waves of virus infections.

However, this is a decline of far smaller magnitude than seen in the spring. Unlike earlier in the year, manufacturing has so far continued to expand, buoyed in part by recovering export demand, and the service sector is also seeing a much shallower downturn than during the first lockdowns.

9.21am GMT

Waiving business rates relief means it will take Sainsbury's longer to hit its debt reduction targets.

It tells the City that shareholders shouldn't bear the full short-term financial impact" of making the right decisions for customers and colleagues"*

Therefore, when considering free cash flow allocation this year the Board will prioritise payment of dividends to shareholders over net debt reduction

As a consequence, while we expect to make good progress towards our target of at least 750 million net debt reduction in the three years to March 2022, we now expect to achieve this target by March 2023

9.07am GMT

Ministers should heed Sainsbury's call for business rates to be reformed, says Michael Hewson of CMC Markets:

While the move is welcome it doesn't change the fact that the government needs to look at a business rates model that is outdated, and penalises bricks and mortar retailers in a way that on-line retailers don't have to contend with.

It's all very well criticising the supermarkets for taking taxpayers money, but let's not forget that the retail sector wouldn't be in anywhere near as much trouble, if it wasn't for government procrastination over reforming business rates policy.

9.00am GMT

Asked on Wednesday if it would match the Tesco pledge, the Co-op said the amount spent on protecting staff and customers outweighed the savings, the Press Association reports:

Given the huge uncertainty we're facing... and the ongoing costs we are incurring, we'll consider our approach in terms of the Government support we've received at year end."

We are incredibly grateful for this vital support because we have lost significant sales while our John Lewis shops have been closed, and have invested heavily to keep our partners and customers safe.

The outlook remains incredibly uncertain and Government support remains crucial to help us navigate the crisis.

8.45am GMT

Overall, the one-year suspension of business rates for retailers, pubs, restaurants, cinemas, gyms and hotels was expected to cost 10bn (before supermarkets bowed to pressure and started handing their share back).

Real estate adviser Altus Group has calculated that 3bn went to essential retailers' - such as superstores, supermarkets, fascia convenience stores and food warehouses.

It is crucial that Government ensures future support is targeted to where it is needed including funding the Valuation Office so it can expedite settlement of the tens of thousands of formal Challenges against business rates assessments that must now be reduced to reflect the impact of COVID ahead of next year's bills."

8.35am GMT

Retail analyst Nick Bubb writes:

Well, the news that Tesco wants to repay the Business Rates relief it received from the Government soon bounced Sainsbury and Morrisons into following suit, but the decision by Sainsbury to retain the Argos relief is a possible route that mixed Food/Non-Food retailers like Marks & Spencer and the John Lewis Partnership could go down...

8.09am GMT

Simon Roberts is also urging the government to review the business rates system, to give physical retailers a better chance of competing against online rivals:

Sainsbury's CEO says:

We remain focused on delivering the plan we set out at our half year results.

We continue to urge government to review the business rates system to create more of a level playing field between physical and online retailers."

Punchy from Sainsbury's CEO: "We continue to urge government to review the business rates system to create more of a level playing field between physical and online retailers." (translation - you wouldn't see Amazon do this)

8.07am GMT

Sainsbury's CEO Simon Roberts says it is fair and right" to return the business rates relief, given that regional restrictions" are likely to remain in place for some time.

Roberts also hopes that businesses that were forced to close in the second Covid-19 lockdown will benefit from this move:

We have been proud to play our part in feeding the nation in this extraordinary year and every one of our colleagues has gone above and beyond to support each other, our customers and our communities. While we have incurred significant costs in keeping colleagues and customers safe, food and other essential retailers have benefited from being able to open throughout.

With regional restrictions likely to remain in place for some time, we believe it is now fair and right to forgo the business rates relief that we have been given on all Sainsbury's stores. We are very mindful that non-essential retailers and many other businesses have been forced to close again in the second lockdown and we hope that this goes some way towards helping them.

7.50am GMT

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

Christmas is a time for giving. And Sainsbury has just become the third UK supermarket chain to give back its business rates relief to the government.

The latest supermarket to fall into line on business rates relief

NEW: Sainsbury's will forgo 410m of rates relief this financial year

Follows Tesco & Morrisons yesterday

So

Sainsburys, including argos, got 450m of business rates relief in 20/21

Sainsburys will pay the Sainsburys part, 410m for 20/21

it will not forgo the 40m Argos section, as those stores closed.

For 21/22 Sainsburys will pay the 30m of rates relief.

TOTAL 440m forgone

However, lockdown restrictions have remained in place for longer than originally expected and throughout the pandemic all Sainsbury's stores have been deemed essential retail.

Almost all have been open and trading strongly, with the exception of a small number of convenience stores. As a result of this, Sainsbury's sales and profits have been stronger than originally expected, particularly since the start of the second national lockdown in England and we have therefore taken the decision to forego the business rates relief on all Sainsbury's stores.

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