Margin pressure and bad weather take a slice out of Pizza Express profits but overall sales grow August 29, 2018 Pizza Express unveiled what it called a "resilient" performance today, despite pressure on margins driving down profits. The restaurant chain, which is owned by Chinese private equity group Hony Capital, has faced cost pressures as well as a significant impact from this year's changeable weather. The figures Group turnover in the 26 weeks to the beginning [...]
Do markets have much to celebrate going into 2019? Analysts say anything is possible January 2, 2019 Is a rebound across global indices on the cards in 2019? Callum Keown asks top analysts for their predictions. AS 2019 begins, the year inherits a smorgasbord of risks and uncertainty from a tumultuous 2018, which was characterised by market volatility, global growth concerns and emerging market crises. US stock markets had their worst year in [...]
Investing in Aim and EIS shares can add some excitement to your financial portfolio February 28, 2019 You have some cash saved in a rainy-day fund. You’ve invested sensibly in a diverse portfolio that contains a mix of low-cost trackers and well-managed investment funds. But now you want to add a bit of excitement to this financial cocktail. If this describes you, then there are a few ways to go about it, [...]
What3words wants to replace your address with three simple words, but how do you market such a revolutionary idea? January 14, 2019 Erase. Damp. Name. No, I’ve not gone mad due to the latest Brexit drama – these three words make up my exact location as I write this article. This information comes from What3words, a technology startup that’s trying to revolutionise – wait for it – addresses. It has divided up the entire world into a [...]
Just Eat shares plunge as Deliveroo’s new feature bites June 13, 2018 Shares in Just Eat dropped more than seven per cent this morning after Deliveroo announced dramatic expansion plans and a new feature. Deliveroo anticipates that it will add 5,000 new restaurants to its platform with the 'Marketplace+' feature, which puts it in direct competition with Just Eat. Restaurants which handle their own delivery will now [...]
GDPR is now six months old. So where are all the blockbuster fines for data breaches? December 3, 2018 It has been six months since the European Union’s sparkly new privacy rules, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), finally came into effect. There was a flurry of activity in the run-up on 25 May as people received dozens (if not hundreds) of emails from businesses asking for consent to retain their data. But since [...]
From Italy to Poland, the EU’s federalist project is starting to rip apart at the seams June 26, 2018 There are many people who believed that once the UK voted to leave the EU, other nations would follow. Those hopes were dashed in early 2017, however, when in both France and the Netherlands electorates rejected eurosceptic candidates in favour of pro-EU governments. It seemed as though the UK was left out on a limb. [...]
Domino’s Pizza Group shares drop after UK like-for-like sales for 2017 miss analyst expectations March 9, 2017 Domino's Pizza Group saw its share slide over 15 per cent this morning after reporting lower-than-expected like-for-like sales in the UK for the first nine weeks of 2017. The figures Sales at Britain's biggest pizza delivery firm's stores open for about two years rose 1.5 per cent during the period, much lower than the 10.5 per cent [...]
M&S joins the battle against rising high street rents May 24, 2018 Marks & Spencer’s top team yesterday joined calls for landlords to give retailers fairer rents, as it revealed a massive drop in profits. The company reported that pre-tax profits were down 62 per cent in 2017, mostly as a result of its store closure programme. Chief executive Steve Rowe said in a presentation he had [...]
The EU’s Italy calamity is the UK’s big Brexit opportunity March 8, 2018 One problem with Britain’s domestic focus on Brexit is that we tend not to consider, never mind discuss in any depth, what issues and conflicts currently beset the EU that could encourage its leadership to settle for a new relationship of the type the UK is proposing. The EU faces serious problems in managing its [...]