What to Watch: Waitrose, Unilever, Samsung

Here’s a daily overview of some key companies and business developments that the Yahoo Finance UK team is monitoring in Europe and abroad:

Waitrose delivers

British grocery chain Waitrose has announced plans for a new service that will let delivery drivers go into people’s homes to put groceries away while they are out.

The service hinges on a special high-tech lock system.

“The driver will put refrigerated and frozen goods away and leave other groceries on the kitchen counter, or as instructed by the customer,” the company said in a written statement. “The whole delivery is captured on a chest-cam worn by the driver, with the video available for request for the customer the next working day.”

The retailer will test the new ‘While You’re Away’ service with 100 customers that live near its fulfilment centre in south London. It then plans to make the service available to more than 1,000 customers in early 2019.

“The concept of ‘in-home delivery’ has started to prove popular in other countries so we are keen to establish if there is an appetite for it in the UK,” said Archie Mason, head of business development at Waitrose.

Amazon (AMZN) has also begun offering in-home and in-car deliveries to some customers in the US.

Unilever sticks with UK headquarters

Unilever (ULVR.L) scrapped plans to move its headquarters to the Netherlands on Friday in the face of a British shareholder revolt, keeping one of the country’s most valuable companies in London ahead of Brexit.

The climbdown is a significant victory for UK shareholders who opposed the move, which would have kicked the maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream out of the benchmark FTSE 100 index.

Samsung forecasts record profits

Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) forecast on Friday that its third-quarter operating profit would jump to a record high due, in part, to strong semiconductor demand.

Chips account for nearly 80% of Samsung’s operating profit. The South Korean giant has benefited from a surge in data centres for cloud computing that has spurred spikes in prices for DRAM chips. DRAM chips, which help devices perform multiple tasks, are its main memory product.

However, competition from cheaper Chinese-made phones as well as higher marketing costs have meant that an imminent rebound for Samsung’s mobile unit is unlikely.

“Smartphone shipments are not satisfactory,” said Song Myung-sup, a senior analyst at HI Investment & Securities.

With files from Reuters