FTSE 100 ends the day on a high while Dow hits new record May 5, 2021 Heavyweight mining stocks pushed the FTSE 100 higher today while Wall Street opened higher on strong jobs data as the Dow Jones hit a record high. The blue-chip index closed 1.68 per cent higher, buoyed by chemicals group Croda’s shares soaring towards the top of the index after it announced a business review assessment. The [...]
UK recession alarm bells ring as services sector contracts October 3, 2019 The risk of a UK recession has shot up after the huge services sector contracted in September, causing the biggest cut in employment in over nine years, according to closely-watched survey data. Read more: Global stock markets bleed red on US-EU trade war fears The sector – which makes up about 80 per cent of [...]
Some City investors are starting to get nervous about inflation February 16, 2021 The UK will release new inflation data later this week, but if recent investor comments and analyst notes are anything to go by, it is becoming increasingly clear that some within the investment community are starting to get nervous about inflation. According to last month’s figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s annual [...]
Dettol-maker reaps benefits of hygiene kick as revenue soars February 24, 2021 Reckitt Benckiser has emerged strongly from the pandemic with like-for-like revenue leaping 11.8 per cent to £14bn in 2020 compared to the previous year. Full year operating profit hit more than £2.1bn compared to a loss of almost £2bn in 2019. The consumer-goods company, which owns Dettol, Harpic and Calgon, reported a 19.5 per cent [...]
Lloyds Bank share price rises after striking £4bn deal with Barclays to offload its loss-making Irish mortgage book May 18, 2018 Lloyds Bank today struck a deal to sell its multi-billion euro Irish property book to rival Barclays – a move that crystallises a £110m loss for the lender. Barclays, which is fronting the deal on behalf of a number of parties such as M&G Prudential, will pay £4bn for a mountain Lloyds’ residential mortgages from [...]
Wall Street closes lower on inflation jitters May 10, 2021 Wall Street closed lower on today as inflation fears drove investors away from market-leading growth stocks in favour of cyclicals, which stand to benefit most as the economy reopens. Industrial and healthcare shares limited the Dow’s decline but the blue-chip average reversed course late in the session to snap a three-day streak of record closing [...]
Does your diversity strategy deliver? September 12, 2019 The need for greater diversity in leadership is well-established. Companies have teams promoting inclusion; training programmes try to ‘fix’ the minorities; and a myriad of inspiring speeches have been made. But has there been any meaningful impact? Sadly, as the Hampton-Alexander Review shows, progress has been patchy. Whilst there has been a steady increase in [...]
Noel Edmonds complains to advertising watchdog about Lloyds Bank adverts February 15, 2018 Television presenter Noel Edmonds has complained to the advertising watchdog about Lloyds Bank’s adverts, opening a new front in his battle with the lender. Edmonds this month launched a £60m legal action against Lloyds, which bought the HBOS bank he alleges was involved in the collapse of his business, Unique Group, before the financial crisis. [...]
Coronavirus: TSB to axe a third of branches and over 900 jobs September 30, 2020 TSB has announced plans to close 164 branches and cut over 900 jobs as the British lender grapples with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The lender said the cuts – which represent a 10 per cent reduction in the bank’s workforce and the loss of a third of its branches – were part of [...]
Retail footfall drops again in August as economy slows September 9, 2019 The number of Britons venturing out to visit shops fell again in August, bringing yet more problems for a retail sector that has suffered a number of casualties this year. Read more: Hot weather fails to heat up retail sales in August Footfall fell by 1.3 per cent in August year on year, compared to [...]