UK household sentiment falls to 11-month low on slowing economy and Brexit fears February 18, 2019 UK household sentiment has hit an 11-month low as job fears grow on mounting Brexit uncertainty. IHS Markit’s household finance index (HFI) – based on consumer’s financial wellbeing – has dropped to its lowest level since March 2018. Read more: Bank of England slashes UK growth forecast The survey also revealed that job security perceptions [...]
Self-driving cars could inject £62bn into UK economy by 2030 if Brexit is a success, says trade body April 4, 2019 Self-driving cars could provide Britain's economy with a £62bn boost by 2030, but only if the UK agrees a favourable Brexit deal, a report by a leading trade body has found. The report, produced by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), says the UK is the world's number one location for connected and [...]
British Gas-owner Centrica faces calls for shareholder revolt amid chief exec pay furore May 12, 2019 Centrica shareholders will head into the British Gas-owner’s annual meeting (AGM) tomorrow amid a clamour to reject chief exec Iain Conn’s £740,000 pay rise. Read more: Centrica shares hit 20-year low as it warns of energy price cap hit Despite a torrid 2018 in which Centrica lost around six per cent of its customers, Conn’s [...]
Brits snub EU countries for summer holidays amid prolonged Brexit uncertainty, Thomas Cook reveals April 29, 2019 Fewer Brits are travelling to EU countries for their summer holidays as the UK’s prolonged Brexit process has encouraged holidaymakers to expand their horizons, according to Thomas Cook. Read more: Tory party chairman hints at another Brexit vote Both Turkey and Tunisia have benefited from dwindling interest in the EU, the travel agent said today [...]
DFS share price falls as it warns investors of ‘volatile’ political backdrop July 11, 2019 DFS posted strong sales growth for its latest financial year today but also warned future earnings could suffer from uncertain economic outlook. Read more: DFS doubles profit but warns of ‘challenging’ 2019 The sofa giant revealed that online sales growth hit 17 per cent in the 12 months to the end of June, with underlying [...]
UK house price growth falls to six-year low in weak start to 2019 January 31, 2019 UK house prices almost stopped growing altogether in January as the annual growth rate fell to almost a six-year low, figures reveal today. The 0.1 per cent growth rate was just a fifth of December’s own sluggish 0.5 per cent rate of annual growth, Nationwide’s data showed, and its worst since flat growth in February [...]
BT keeps dividend alive despite heavy network spending October 31, 2019 BT kept its dividend alive despite a hit to earnings and revenue in the first half of new boss Philip Jansen’s first financial year due to hits from regulation and legacy product declines. The telco posted a flat profit and interim dividend as it pushes to try and roll out fibre broadband to 4m premises [...]
City A.M.’s shadow monetary policy committee votes to hold interest rates amid peak Brexit uncertainty and global slowdown February 6, 2019 The Bank of England must hold interest rates when its monetary policy committee meets tomorrow amid peak Brexit uncertainty and a global economic slowdown, City economists have warned. The Bank’s rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC) will announce its decision at midday but is expected to leave rates unchanged at 0.75 per cent. Read more: Household [...]
Contactless card payments rise by a third with transaction limit set to increase March 15, 2019 Every two in five card payments are made with contactless technology according to new data. Contactless transactions rose 31 per cent year-on-year in 2018, data from banking trade body UK Finance revealed, demonstrating a growing confidence in paying without use of a Pin. A wider adoption of the technology on public transport and in more [...]
Death of the High Street? Why we’re still backing UK retail April 9, 2019 Following some dire headlines you might rightly wonder why the share prices of UK retailers have recorded double-digit gains this year (see graphic, below). Surely the relentlessly downbeat mood music from the mainstream media (and pessimism among analysts) is confirmation that the UK consumer is in full retreat, and consumer-exposed sectors are in deep trouble? [...]