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. [...]
Theresa May urges MPs to back her Brexit deal as crunch vote approaches January 6, 2019 Theresa May has issued another plea to MPs to back her Brexit deal, saying it is the only way to honour the result of the referendum and protect jobs. MPs will return to parliament tomorrow where they will be preparing for the second vote on Brexit, after the first was ceremoniously pulled by May in the [...]
Retail administrations rise for the second consecutive year January 5, 2019 The number of retail administrations has risen for the second year in a row after 125 retailers collapsed in 2018. Administrations rose six per cent last year from 118 in 2017, and 26 of the retailers that collapsed were large brands, compared to 17 the year before. There was a 53 per cent increase in [...]
Rothesay plans £3.5bn takeover of Swiss Re division January 5, 2019 Insurance company Rothesay Life is planning a £3.5bn takeover bid for a unit of Swiss Re, derailing plans to list it on the stock market. Rothesay approached reinsurance firm Swiss Re a few weeks ago about the possibility of buying ReAssure, the company's British closed books division, according to Sky News. The company plans to a make a [...]