London business confidence improves for second consecutive month August 28, 2020 Business confidence in London continued for the second consecutive month as the Eat Out to Help Out scheme provided a boost to the capital’s hospitality industry. The Lloyds Business Barometer, which measures monthly economic trends, found confidence in the capital rose eight points but remains in negative territory, at minus 13 per cent, slightly higher [...]
UK dividends won’t recover until 2025 at the earliest after bruising year January 20, 2021 UK dividends are unlikely to recover until 2025 at the earliest after a catastrophic year for payouts amid the pandemic. Eight years of growth wiped off UK dividends last year as companies started to make cuts at the beginning of the second quarter following the outbreak of coronavirus. Payouts fell 44 per cent to £61.9bn [...]
Slow retail recovery expected as consumers reluctant to spend August 7, 2020 Hopes of a rapid high street recovery have been thrown into doubt as consumers remain hesitant to splash out on new clothes and electronics. According to research by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), 24 per cent of consumers said they will spend less than usual over the next month, compared to 11 per cent who [...]
Ahold Delhaize reports fruitful end of year sales with online boost February 17, 2021 Supermarket giant Ahold Delhaize has reported better than expected fourth quarter sales, driven by a surge of online orders due to Covid-19. Ahold said its sales rose 18 per cent to €19.6bn, topping the €18.5bn seen in a company-compiled consensus. Underlying operating income in the period was €811m, also beating a consensus forecast of €771m. [...]
Exclusive: City fund managers on the impact of the third lockdown January 13, 2021 In this 2-part series, City A.M. asked UK-focused fund managers what they make of post-Brexit trade arrangements, the impact of three lockdowns and the long-term outlook for the UK’s investment community. Yesterday, in part 1, the investment managers focused on the UK-EU deal and which sectors and companies may become the winners and losers from [...]
Powell comments spark Bitcoin resurgence back towards $50k October 4, 2021 A strong weekend in the cryptocurrency markets saw Bitcoin rise in price by almost 10 per cent, and currently trading at just below $48,000.
Marks & Spencer ramps up online capacity ahead of ‘most digital Christmas yet’ October 26, 2020 Marks & Spencer is ramping up its online delivery capacity in the run up to what it said will be “the most digital Christmas yet”. M&S, which said festive-related searches are up 80 per cent on last year, will add more than 500 Christmas temporary employees. The new seasonal workers will be employed in addition [...]
Pubs to shut at 10pm under new restrictions September 21, 2020 Boris Johnson will tomorrow announce that pubs in England will have to shut at 10pm in an attempt to limit the spread of coronavirus, it was reported this afternoon. The new restrictions are set to be introduced amid warnings that there could be as many as 50,000 cases a day in the UK by mid [...]
Consumer confidence hovers near record low during coronavirus crisis June 5, 2020 Consumer confidence continued to teeter on the brink of hitting record lows during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Consumer confidence dipped two points to minus 36, just three points above the record low of minus 39 reported in July 2018, as house prices fell and unemployment rose. However, GfK’s major purchase index rose six points, showing [...]
Worst September on record for new car registrations October 5, 2020 New car registration fell to their lowest level since records began in September in a further blow for the battered auto industry. Just 328,041 cars were registered last month, down 4.4 per cent lower year-on-year, new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed. That’s the weakest performance since the introduction of [...]