Taylor Wimpey results in the City spotlight as market jitters linger January 6, 2019 Housebuilding giant Taylor Wimpey is set to reveal its future outlook later this week against a backdrop of lower activity and growing uncertainty across many parts of the UK’s property market. Traders will be turning their attention towards the blue-chip constituent, which is releasing its full-year trading statement on Wednesday, as City caution looms large [...]
Gousto cooks up £18m funding and signs up ‘The Body Coach’ Joe Wicks January 6, 2019 Meal kit company Gousto has cooked up a further £18m worth of funding and welcomed fitness writer Joe Wicks on board. New investors, including Wicks, Unilever Ventures, Hargreave Hale, MMC Ventures and Angel CoFund have backed the recipe box company, it said yesterday. Gousto, which deliver 1.5m meals a month to customers, has now raised [...]
Brands ‘waste’ millions as extent of Instagram influencer fraud revealed January 6, 2019 Brands are wasting millions of pounds on marketing as Instagram influencers buy fake followers to boost their reach. A report by US marketing specialist Captiv8 has revealed that $2.1bn was spent on influencer-sponsored Instagram posts in 2017 but more than 11 per cent of engagement on those posts was generated from fraudulent accounts. It said [...]
High street faces chilly week ahead as disappointing festive trading updates expected January 6, 2019 High street retailers are expected to be further under the cosh by the end of the week, with a flurry of quarterly trading updates due in the coming days. Troubled department store Marks and Spencer is one of several set to reveal yet another fall in sales over the festive period, according to analysts at [...]
Amazon bolsters its fleet of cargo aircraft to further expand delivery business January 6, 2019 Amazon has bolstered its fleet of planes to further expand its delivery business as it goes up against cargo airline giants FedEx and UPS. The tech giant has agreed to lease a further 10 Boeing 767 aircraft to expand its Amazon Air network. The move takes the company’s fleet to 50 and grows its partnership [...]
Former Barclays bosses face trial over financial crisis-era deals with Qatar January 6, 2019 Four of Barclays' most senior bankers will appear in court tomorrow on charges relating to a rescue package the bank secured from Qatar at the height of the financial crisis. Former Barclays chief executive John Varley will stand trial alongside former senior executives Roger Jenkins, Tom Kalaris and Richard Boath over funding from Qatari investors that allowed the [...]
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 [...]
Domino’s Pizza denies shareholder complaints over board shake up plans January 6, 2019 Domino’s Pizza has denied rumours of shareholder unrest over changes to the company's board positions. The pizza giant has not been contacted by shareholders demanding changes to its board, City A.M. understands, despite reports a group had told chairman Stephen Hemsley to hire a new heavyweight senior independent director. A group of top 20 shareholders were [...]
Adventure firm Zip World secures Lloyds investment to expand across UK January 6, 2019 Adventure company Zip World has secured investment from the private equity arm of Lloyds valuing the zip wire pioneer at £45m. The funding from LDC will help the company, which runs adventure experiences in Wales including the world’s fastest zip wire, expand across the UK and beyond, it said. Founded five year ago, Zip World [...]
Disappointing end to 2018 for UK economy could be confirmed this week January 6, 2019 A disappointing end to 2018 for the UK economy could be confirmed by official GDP figures later this week, analysts have warned. Last week the closely-followed IHS Markit/ CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) revealed a three-month low in UK construction sector activity in December and a 29-month low in job creation in the services sector. [...]