{"text":[[{"start":9.7,"text":"Consumers face the threat of higher prices spreading beyond the petrol pump without a swift end to the Middle East war, executives and analysts have warned, as companies lay bare the hit from spiralling energy costs."}],[{"start":23.1,"text":"The repercussions from a conflict now in its third month have dominated quarterly earnings in the US and Europe, with investors pushing executives on how they are responding to soaring oil and gas prices. Companies across Asia have also been buffeted by the energy crisis."}],[{"start":40.7,"text":"References to “pricing action” and “passing on costs” during first-quarter US earnings calls have climbed to the highest level since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine sparked the last global inflation shock in 2022, according to an FT analysis."}],[{"start":56.25,"text":"United Airlines, toothpaste maker Colgate-Palmolive and 3M, the manufacturer of Post-it notes and Scotch tape, are among the US multinationals to have announced price increases as they attempt to shield their profit margins. "}],[{"start":69.65,"text":"In Europe, London-listed Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of Dettol, said it expected higher prices would be one means to offset rising costs, while Unilever warned of price increases in its home care division. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":82.65,"text":"About 10 per cent of the almost 300 earnings calls for S&P 500 companies analysed by the FT cited the war as a reason for having raised prices or signalled that increases would be likely if their energy costs remained elevated. "}],[{"start":96.80000000000001,"text":"Bob Jordan, chief executive of Southwest Airlines, the largest US low-cost carrier, warned that it would have to raise fares if fuel prices stayed at current levels, adding that the group’s business model was being “stress tested” by “this unique environment of geopolitical upheaval”. "}],[{"start":113.05000000000001,"text":"The disclosures from companies underline the far-reaching consequences of halting shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a fifth of global oil supplies normally pass. "}],[{"start":125.25000000000001,"text":"The strait, which the US and Iran have continued to vie for control of during a ceasefire that took effect last month, is also an important conduit for liquefied natural gas, plastic resin and aluminium."}],[{"start":139.25,"text":"Tensions over the strait erupted on Monday after Iran warned it would attack US Navy ships if they entered the waterway. Tehran was responding to US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a plan to “guide” stranded vessels through the strait. "}],[{"start":152.75,"text":"The FT analysis of first-quarter earnings calls for S&P 500 companies showed that the mention of “surcharges” had jumped to the highest level since at least 2018."}],[{"start":163.05,"text":"Fuel surcharges are added to contracted rates that shippers pay to move freight and they fluctuate with prices for fuels such as diesel."}],[{"start":171.05,"text":"Businesses are revealing the cost of the conflict as fears mount that a failure to reopen the strait in the coming weeks could push oil and gas stockpiles below critical levels and send energy prices even higher."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":183.3,"text":"The war has sent oil prices surging, with Brent crude, the international benchmark, hitting a conflict-high of $126.41 a barrel late last month. It was trading at $111.76, up 3 per cent, on Monday. "}],[{"start":199.95000000000002,"text":"In a sign of the challenge facing companies as they weigh whether customers can stomach higher prices, Andre Schulten, finance director at Procter & Gamble, said that “the consumer has been hit with cumulative inflation beyond anything that they’ve seen in recent history”."}],[{"start":215.45000000000002,"text":"P&G, home to brands including Pampers nappies and Gillette razors, warned that soaring oil prices could cost the group $1bn. "}],[{"start":224.50000000000003,"text":"Rival Colgate-Palmolive revealed it would face another $300mn in transport and raw material costs if oil prices remained high, while Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Kleenex tissues, estimated a hit of more than $150mn. "}],[{"start":241.40000000000003,"text":"Oil has a direct impact on the cost to companies of moving freight, but oil derivatives are also used in plastic products and packaging. "}],[{"start":249.05000000000004,"text":"Newell Brands, the company that sells Sharpie pens and Graco prams, projected that its cost per pound of polyethylene, a hydrocarbon-based plastic resin, will be up about 40 per cent for the remainder of the year. "}],[{"start":261.20000000000005,"text":"Jonathan Feeney, of Optimal Advisory, a consultancy, said that the costs of the Iran war had on average cut about 2 percentage points of gross profit margin from consumer groups, which they would eventually need to recoup by imposing higher prices on consumers if conditions persisted. "}],[{"start":280.55000000000007,"text":"“They can’t sit and quietly rub their lucky rabbit’s foot and hope things change in the second half of the year,” he said."}],[{"start":293.3500000000001,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1777955933_9789.mp3"}