Thursday newspaper round-up: Asda, Post Office, M&S, Frasers Group

The owners of Asda are facing mounting pressure after figures showed the struggling supermarket chain’s share of the grocery market reached a “new nadir” as sales fell sharply this summer. The grocer’s sales fell 6.4% in the three months to 10 August, equivalent to more than £2bn in annual lost revenues, as it became the only member of the traditional “big four” supermarkets to see sales shrink, according to analysts at NIQ. – Guardian

Rachel Reeves is coming under renewed pressure to end the two-child benefit limit in October’s budget, after the Guardian revealed the chancellor is preparing to keep it in place. MPs and anti-poverty campaigners are warning that any delay in scrapping the policy will keep hundreds of thousands of children in poverty, with just weeks until Reeves unveils her first major fiscal package. -Guardian

The Post Office has spent more than £250m on legal fees linked to the Horizon IT scandal, a sum almost equivalent to the compensation paid out to the victims. Data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that the company had paid £256.9m to law firms and barristers’ chambers in the last decade, specifically in relation to the Horizon scandal. – Telegraph

Marks & Spencer is pushing to remove additives from its ready meals and sandwiches amid an outcry over so-called ultra-processed foods (UPFs). The supermarket is in heated discussions with food manufacturers in an effort to get rid of ingredients such as stabilisers, acidity regulators, antioxidants and emulsifiers from products sold under M&S’s Eat Well label, according to The Grocer. Such additives have long been common in supermarket products but have attracted fierce criticism recently over concerns they could be negatively impacting people’s health. – Telegraph

Frasers Group is stepping up its property-buying spree by adding another shopping centre to its portfolio. The FTSE 100 retailer majority-owned by Mike Ashley, is under offer to buy Fremlin Walk, an outdoor shopping centre, in Maidstone, from M&G Real Estate. The 350,000 sq ft scheme, which opened in 2005, is home to tenants including H&M, Boots, JD Sports and Pandora and generates an annual gross income of £4.3 million. In the autumn, a multi-brand anchor shop, which will be occupied by Frasers, Flannels and Sports Direct, store is to open. – The Times