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U.S. consumer confidence declined in July to the lowest level since February 2021 on dimmer views of the economy amid persistent inflation, Bloomberg News reported. The Conference Board’s index decreased for a third month to 95.7 from a downwardly revised 98.4 reading in June, data Tuesday showed. The steady weakening in sentiment risks causing consumers to cut back on discretionary purchases at a time when the economy is struggling for momentum. Inflation has dented confidence and forced the Federal Reserve to pursue aggressive interest-rate hikes geared at curbing demand. The group’s gauge of current conditions dropped to the lowest level since April 2021. A measure of expectations -- which reflects consumers’ six-month outlook -- ticked down to 65.3, the lowest since 2013, and reflected more pessimistic views of their financial prospects.

A day after Walmart warned investors that its profits would shrink as rising prices forced shoppers to make fewer purchases at its stores, Unilever, the consumer goods giant whose products line retailers’ shelves, reinforced the message, the New York Times reported. On Tuesday the maker of Dove soap, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Hellmann’s mayonnaise said it raised prices until they were 11 percent higher than in the same quarter last year, offsetting a 2 percent decline in the volume of things that consumers bought. It was the fourth consecutive quarter in which prices outpaced volume growth at the company. Unilever raised its forecast for revenue this year but said that its profits would likely be at the bottom of its expected range. The company said its costs, driven by an increase in the prices of plastics, palm oil, aluminum and other commodities, would rise by 4.6 billion euros ($4.7 billion) this year, more than three times its costs last year. Passing higher prices on to shoppers has led some to buy less or trade down to cheaper store brands, Unilever’s results suggested, a trend also seen in Walmart’s recent financial reports. To keep its higher-priced brands in consumers’ minds, Unilever said that it added €200 million to its marketing budget in the first half of the year, another factor that put a dent in its profits. Walmart’s stock was down about 9 percent in premarket trading. The retail giant’s warning that it would need to continue marking down inventory that wasn’t selling because many shoppers were shifting to cheaper, lower-margin products showed how quickly inflation has gripped the economy. Last month, Target also warned that its profits would be lower because of inventory markdowns.

Revlon Inc. is facing pushback to its proposed $1.4 billion bankruptcy loan, with its official creditors’ committee opposing the loan and calling the cosmetic company’s case a “mess” in a Wednesday court filing, Reuters reported. The bankruptcy financing would hand too much power to a coalition of lenders, which hold about half of the company’s $3.5 billion debt, at a time of great uncertainty about the company’s future and who should control it, the creditors’ committee said in a filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. "No one today knows what Revlon is worth," and the lender coalition's proposed financing is an effort to "seize the company before its value has been determined," the committee wrote. Revlon filed for chapter 11 in June, saying its high debt load left it too cash-poor to make timely payments to critical vendors in its cosmetics supply chain. It began its bankruptcy case by borrowing $375 million from the lender coalition, and it will seek approval of the rest of the loan at a bankruptcy hearing next week before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones. The lender coalition, known as the BrandCo Lenders, includes private-equity and hedge funds such as Ares Management and Oak Hill Advisors. The creditors’ committee argued in Wednesday's filing that the same lender coalition had already “fleeced” other Revlon creditors in a 2020 transaction that allowed Revlon to take on more debt while transferring its brands and intellectual property assets to a different Revlon subsidiary.

U.S. producer prices increased more than expected in June amid rising costs for energy products, but underlying producer inflation appeared to have peaked, Reuters reported. The producer price index for final demand climbed 1.1% last month after rising 0.9% in May, the Labor Department said on Thursday. In the 12 months through June, the PPI increased 11.3%after advancing 10.9% in May. A 2.4% rise in goods prices accounted for three quarters of the increase in the PPI. Goods prices gained 0.4% in May. Nearly 90% of last month rise in goods prices was attributed a 10.0% jump in energy prices. There were strong increases in the prices of gasoline, diesel fuel, electric power and residential natural gas. Wholesale food prices edged up 0.1%. The cost of services rose 0.4% after climbing 0.6% in May. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI rising 0.8% and increasing 10.7% year-on-year. The government on Wednesday reported an acceleration in consumer prices in June, with the annual rate posting its largest increase since late 1981. Inflation is soaring, fueled by snarled global supply chains and massive fiscal stimulus from governments early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pittsburgh-area retailer Altmeyer’s has filed for bankruptcy after eight decades of supplying home goods in the region, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Robert Altmeyer, the fourth in a line of Altmeyers to run the family business, filed chapter 7 bankruptcy paperwork yesterday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The company has been selling bedding, bath and kitchen items, holiday merchandise and other household products in the Pittsburgh area since the 1940s. “It is with extreme sadness and disappointment that Altmeyer’s has been forced to liquidate its operations after serving as a reliable source of linens and home goods to several western Pennsylvania communities over the past eight decades,” Altmeyer said in a statement. Altmeyer said that several factors led to the decision, including tough competition from e-commerce, sourcing issues and inflation. He said that expecting these trends to reverse enough to restore profitability to the business “wasn’t realistic.” Filings show 125 creditors and estimated liabilities between $100,001 and $500,000. Mr. Altmeyer said he plans to distribute revenues from store liquidation to creditors.

A group of Revlon Inc. stockholders says shares of Ron Perelman’s bankrupt beauty supply company are in the money and that minority owners deserve a greater voice in its chapter 11 case, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Shareholders asked government lawyers on Tuesday to appoint an official committee to represent equity holders’ interests in Revlon’s chapter 11 case, pointing to the unexpected rally in its stock price after it filed for bankruptcy last month. The elevated stock price suggests that shareholders “are poised to retain material value at the conclusion of Revlon’s bankruptcy,” according to the group’s letter, sent on Tuesday to the Office of the U.S. Trustee, the Justice Department’s bankruptcy division. Mr. Perelman, who bought Revlon in 1985, owns roughly 85% of the company. Individual investors have been piling into the remaining shares, betting they won’t be wiped out, as usually happens in corporate bankruptcies. The minority shareholder group, represented by law firm White & Case LLP, filed its request for official-committee status ahead of a court hearing next week at which it hopes to participate, the letter said.