the times | Thursday November 11 2021 47
Business
Google has fought off plans for a
landmark £3 billion class-action law-
suit over allegations that it unlawfully
tracked the personal information of
millions of iPhone users.
The UK Supreme Court dismissed a
claim by Richard Lloyd, a consumer
rights activist, that the giant search en-
gine group had secretly used the data of
more than five million Apple iPhone
Supreme Court throws out iPhone data lawsuit against Google
Jonathan Ames Legal Editor users by bypassing default privacy set-
tings. Yesterday’s ruling overturns a
Court of Appeal judgment in 2019 that
would have allowed Lloyd, a former di-
rector of the consumer group Which?
to bring the claim on behalf of iPhone
users in Britain without them having to
opt-in formally to the court case.
Giving the lead ruling, Lord Leggatt
said that the crux of Lloyd’s argument
— that affected iPhone users could be
awarded a uniform sum without having
to prove financial loss or mental dis-
tress — was “unsustainable”.
Lord Leggatt, who was joined on the
five-strong panel by Lord Reed, the
court’s president, added that “what
gives the appearance of substance to
the claim is the allegation that Google
secretly tracked the internet activity of
millions of Apple iPhone users for
several months and used the data
obtained for commercial purposes.
“But on analysis the claimant isseeking to recover damages without
attempting to prove that this allegation
is true in the case of any individual for
whom damages are claimed.
“Without proof of some unlawful
processing of an individual’s personal
data beyond the bare minimum
required to bring them within the defi-
nition of the represented class, a claim
on behalf of that individual has no
prospect of meeting the threshold for
an award of damages.” Google’s lawyershad argued at a hearing in April that the
Court of Appeal ruling — which over-
turned a 2018 High Court judgment in
favour of the company — would “open
the floodgates” to vast claims brought
on behalf of millions of people against
companies responsible for handling
people’s data.
Business leaders welcomed the Su-
preme Court ruling, with Matthew Fell,
the chief policy director at the CBI,
Continued on page 48, col 5Ashley Armstrong Retail Editor
The boss of Marks & Spencer said that
the “hard yards” of its turnaround were
finally paying off as the retailer un-
expectedly boosted profit expectations
by more than 40 per cent.
On the back of a surge in food sales
and improvements in its clothing busi-
ness, the 137-year-old company broke
with a long tradition of disappointing
the City by saying that headline profits
would be in the region of £500 million,
substantially more than anticipated.
Shares in M&S briefly climbed by
20 per cent before closing up 32p, or
16.5 per cent, at 226½p, capping a 60 per
cent improvement in its share price this
year and valuing the business at
£4.4 billion. The recovering share price
raises the chances of an imminent
return to the FTSE 100, after it was rele-
gated two years ago in a symbolic sign
that the City had lost faith.
Only three months ago, M&S issued
its first upgrade in a century when it
said in August that profits would be at
the top end of a £350 million range.
Eoin Tonge, chief financial officer, ad-
mitted to being “surprised ourselves” by
the momentum as the retailer benefit-
ed from strong school uniform sales
and customers refreshing their war-
drobes as many return to the office.
Clive Black, house broker at Shore
Capital, likened the second upgrade to
“good old London buses: one waits ages
for one and another comes along right
behind, and a double-decker at that.”
The retailer, which was founded in
commoditiescommodities currenciescurrencies
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75Dow Jones
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7,340.15 (+66.11)Oct 12 20 28 Nov 57,500
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Gold
$1,852.53 (+23.50) $
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$82.87 (-1.56)Oct 12 20 28 Nov 5 Oct 12 20 28 Nov 5 Oct 12 20 28 Nov 5 Oct 12 20 28 Nov 5 Oct 12 20 28 Nov 5Turnaround is finally paying off, says chief
M&S sparks
share surge
over forecast
1883, has more than 1,000 UK shops
and nearly 700 Simply Food outlets. It
has been led by Steve Rowe, 54, since
2016.
Rowe said: “We don’t want to call
victory, but we are pleased these results
show that our hard yards are paying off.
We have delivered on the plan we set
out four years ago.”
M&S cautioned that the outlook was
still uncertain because it was unclear
how much it had benefited from pent-
up demand from older customers who
returned to stores after receiving their
second Covid jabs.
Like other retailers, M&S warned of
supply chain issues. Rowe said that the
business was “well set up, but it has not
been easy. We have been working hard
to ensure customers have the special
Christmas they deserve this year.”
M&S recorded a 52.8 per cent
increase in half-year headline profits to
£269.4 million for the six months to
October 2, compared with £176.3 mil-
lion in 2019 and a £17.4 million loss last
year. M&S said that it still did not
expect to pay a dividend this year.
Total sales rose by 5.2 per cent to
£5.11 billion compared with £4.86 bil-
lion in 2019. The growth was largely
driven by its food business recording a
10.4 per cent rise in half-year sales to
£2.84 billion. Clothing and home sales
suffered a 1 per cent fall to £1.53 billion
as a 60 per cent jump in online sales
helped to offset lower store sales.
M&S turns corner on long road to
redemption, pages 48-49
Alistair Osborne, page 49Inflation rate races ahead in America
Callum Jones
US Business CorrespondentConsumer prices increased at their
fastest pace in more than three decades
in the United States last month as infla-
tion accelerated amid sustained supply
shortages and robust demand.
America’s benchmark measure of
inflation rose to 6.2 per cent in the year
to October, considerably ahead of
expectations and a jump from 5.4 per
cent in September.
It was the fastest rate of growth since
November 1990 as the world’s largest
economy continued to grapple with
supply chain bottlenecks.
The official consumer prices index
increased by 0.9 per cent on a monthly
basis. Stripping out volatile food andenergy costs, core inflation rose 0.6 per
cent on the month, significantly above
its 0.2 per cent reading in September.
Inflation was said to be “broad-
based” throughout the economy.
Higher energy, food and housing costs
contributed to the latest increase, the
US Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
Used-car prices were also a factor.
Americans are feeling the impact.
Food costs continued to rise and gro-
cery prices increased at their fastest
pace since April last year.
The reading comes amid heightened
concern around inflation, which has
risen across much of the world as
countries have loosened Covid-19
restrictions and have sought to patch
up the damage their economies
suffered at the height of the pandemic.October was the fifth consecutive
month that CPI exceeded 5 per cent on
an annual basis.
The US Federal Reserve, which is to
begin paring back its vast economic
support, has a long-term target of 2 per
cent. Its top officials maintain price
growth is largely due to “transitory”
factors that will fade over time.
For now, the central bank insists that
there remains “ground to cover” before
lifting interest rates from close to zero,
although markets are pricing in a rise
next year.
The Bank of England surprised
traders last week by opting to keep rates
on hold, but Andrew Bailey, its gover-
nor, said that it would intervene before
price growth became “generalised”
across the UK economy.Meet the car company worth more
than Ford and General Motors
Rivian, an American electric vehicle start-up, lit up
the markets when it made its debut on the Nasdaq
stock exchange in New York yesterday. Report, page 49ANN-SOPHIE FJELLO-JENSEN/AP