Rightmove shares slump despite strong results March 1, 2019 Shares in property website Rightmove fell this morning despite the company reporting an increase in revenue and profits. Rightmove’s share price dipped 5.6 per cent to 455p today as the firm announced its full-year results for 2018. Read more: London house sales drop over political uncertainty The figures Underlying operating profit was up 10 per [...]
UK retail sales see biggest contraction in 17 months, says CBI March 27, 2019 UK retail sales volumes fell sharply in March, seeing the fastest contraction in 17 months and marking a four-month run in which sales have not grown, a leading business group said today. Of the businesses surveyed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), 46 per cent said sales volumes were lower in March than a [...]
High street remains in hedge funds’ sights as bets against the consumer sector rise in final quarter January 6, 2019 Hedge funds continued to turn the screws on high street retailers, restaurants and makers of consumer goods at the end of last year, with short positions in the sector increasing 20 per cent. The rise in bets against the industry came in the final three months of the year, and means nearly one-third of total [...]
Chancellor Philip Hammond says ending austerity will not mean spending splurge April 5, 2019 Chancellor Philip Hammond has fired back over criticisms of the autumn Budget, saying that ending austerity should not mean increased spending in every government department. Read more: Hammond has the cash to end austerity, IFS says Hammond today said bringing an end to austerity was “also about delivering wage growth and leaving more in people’s [...]
Galliford Try profits rise despite loss-making Aberdeen bypass project February 13, 2019 Construction firm Galliford Try’s shares grew 4.8 per cent in early morning trading today as it announced rising pre-tax profit, but warned a no-deal Brexit could hurt its supply chain. The FTSE 250 firm, known for carrying out the redevelopment of Wimbledon Tennis Club, also said in its interim results it was still trying to break free from [...]
Investment to hit lowest rate since financial crisis, UK business body warns March 18, 2019 Business investment in the UK will decline by one per cent in 2019 amid further Brexit uncertainty, making it the worst year since the financial crisis, the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has today predicted. Economic growth in 2019 will be just 1.2 per cent, the BCC, the national body of 53 chambers of commerce, also [...]
UK economy set for slowest growth since 2009 and business investment to decline, BCC warns December 18, 2018 UK economic growth could slow to its lowest level since 2009 over the next two years as business investment and the pound are hit by Brexit uncertainty, according to the British Chambers of Commerce. The group expected business investment to contract by 0.6 per cent in 2018 before growing 0.1 per cent next year. The outlook [...]
Consumer spending growth falls as festive shopping fails to boost high street December 4, 2018 Consumer spending growth fell year-on-year in November to its lowest level since March as falling confidence continues to impact struggling retailers. Growth in consumer spending was just 3.3 per cent, dragged down by poor sales in the retail sector, according to new figures from Barclaycard. The figure is the lowest since March this year, when [...]
Audiobook popularity soars as sales increase 13 per cent March 11, 2019 The popularity of audiobooks has continued to soar as sales of the format grew 13 per cent last year. Sales of audiobooks have increased 87 per cent since 2014, according to research by Nielsen Book, and they now account for five per cent of all book purchases after doubling their share of fiction sales. Read [...]
Bank of England takes action over Visa card payment outage March 8, 2019 The Bank of England (BoE) has taken action against Visa following an outage last year that caused more than 2m card transactions to fail. The BoE has announced supervisory action to ensure that Visa Europe enforces the recommendations made following an independent review by EY in the wake of the incident. Read more: TSB online [...]