Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons doubled gas revenue margins since begin of Ukraine conflict

The 4 largest UK supermarkets have doubled their revenue margins on gas since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, evaluation has revealed.

Research from the RAC of wholesale and retail costs confirmed Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – supermarkets that dominate the UK gas market – had elevated their margins from 4.7p per litre previous to the conflict to round 10p per litre since.

The motor providers firm revealed an awesome revenue margin on diesel presently at 15p per litre because of wholesale costs falling for the shops.

Meanwhile, margins on petrol reached nearly 11p a litre in 2022 and has now dropped to 6p per litre.

Lower gas prices helped inflation to drop from 8.7% in May to 7.9% in June, nevertheless RAC mentioned the determine might have been even decrease if pump worth reductions had been “in line with cheaper wholesale costs”.

In 2016, mixed margins for petrol and diesel had been simply 2p, regularly rising to 6p in 2021, till the sharp spike in 2022 to 9p.

RAC gas spokesman Simon Williams mentioned the supermarkets had “benefited considerably” following gas worth fluctuations sparked by the Ukraine conflict.

Mr Williams added: “They appear to have capitalised on petrol in the early months of the war by upping their margin by 5p a litre in 2022, while they have increased their margin on diesel by nearly 8p this year to 15p by putting off reducing their prices when the wholesale price tumbled.

“Frighteningly, that is twice the common grocery store margin on diesel from 2019 to 2022.”

He accepted that working forecourt prices might have elevated however criticised the margins as “bloated”, saying these affected had been the “millions of drivers already battling the rising cost of living”.

The elevated revenue margins led to drivers paying an additional 6p per litre for gas final yr, an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) discovered.

Asda’s pence per litre gas margin targets had been thrice increased this yr than in 2019, the division added.

The retailer was additionally fined £60,000 for failing to supply data when required.

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CMA director of markets Dan Turnbull informed the Commons’ Business and Trade Committee on Wednesday that the retailer intentionally handed on reductions in wholesale prices extra slowly in areas the place it had no competitors.

Asda mentioned specializing in gas costs did not full the “full picture” of its earnings, which final yr had been “down by more than 20% year-on-year”.

An Asda spokesperson mentioned: “In support of calls for greater transparency in fuel pricing, we will be making our prices visible for all of our fuel stations in the coming weeks, so motorists can be confident they are getting the best prices when filling up.

“Asda’s profits last year were down by more than 20% year-on-year, resulting in a profit of 1.7p for every pound earned.

“This lower is a direct results of absorbing inflation to maintain grocery costs as little as potential whereas investing in new initiatives to assist households throughout the price of dwelling disaster.”

Morrisons declined to remark, whereas Tesco and Sainbury’s have been contacted.