Dividend payments outpace profits at FTSE 350 firms for the first time since the recession July 4, 2016 The UK’s top firms paid out more in dividends last year than they made in profits for the first time since the recession, as they ate into reserves, balances sheets and future earnings to protect payouts to shareholders. Despite profits at the 350 biggest UK-listed firms tumbling by more than half to £76.2bn in 2015, [...]
Standard and Poor’s: UK will “barely escape fully-fledged recession” July 4, 2016 The UK will narrowly avoid a recession, but only if it stays in the single market for another two years and the Bank of England exhausts its policy toolbox to prop up the economy, a leading ratings agency has said. Standard and Poor's (S&P), said the UK's vote to leave the EU will knock more [...]
Construction output slumps to seven-year low on Brexit fears July 4, 2016 Construction output plummeted in June as firms held off major projects due to uncertainty ahead of the EU referendum, fresh data has shown. The closely-watched purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the sector came in at its worst level for seven years this morning, plunging from 51.2 in May to 46 on an index where scores below [...]
Brexit shines a light on pensions timebomb July 4, 2016 As the economic landscape shifts in the wake of the referendum, one of the most dramatic impacts has been on defined benefit, or final salary, pensions. In the days following the vote, liabilities in defined benefit schemes ballooned, causing deficits to widen. According to early estimates, the rise in liabilities could have increased the deficits [...]
Week ahead: Brexit fears set to hang over FTSE earning reports July 4, 2016 The market is bracing itself for a slew of Brexit induced profit warnings this week as we enter the early stages of reporting season. After the UK’s shock vote to leave the European Union triggered a sharp sell off, the FTSE 100 has rebounded strongly – pushed on by international earners. The blue-chip index ended [...]
Brexit wrecks it: Brits shun big ticket buys July 4, 2016 The future of retail was uncertain even before the country voted to leave the European Union. Now, grocers and high street department stores have more than just discounters and the internet to deal with: they have to navigate changing trade relationships, weather a possible downturn in consumer sentiment, and adapt to shifting spending patterns as well. So what’s next for UK [...]
Lord Owen and Lord Lawson: Stop dithering. We must leave the EU ASAP July 4, 2016 It is unsurprising that the people who prophesied doom and disaster if the UK voted to leave the EU are finding it so hard to instil confidence in the policy they never believed in. Whoever is the new Prime Minister must enter Downing Street ready with clear views to discuss with a new Cabinet and when agreed [...]
Eurosceptic MPs lambast law firm for Article 50 legal action July 4, 2016 Eurosceptic MPs have hit out at a London law firm after it revealed it was prepared to launch legal action over the triggering of Article 50, which would begin the UK’s formal exit from the EU. Mishcon de Reya announced last night that, on behalf of an unnamed group of clients, it had started to pull [...]
Osborne to slash corporation tax to below 15 per cent in bid to create a “super-competitive economy” July 3, 2016 George Osborne is planning to slash corporation tax to below 15 per cent in a bid to create a "super-competitive economy". The cuts are part of the chancellor's plan to attract businesses discouraged from investing in Britain following Brexit. In an interview with the Financial Times, Osborne said he wants Britain to boast the lowest corporation tax rate of [...]
Business confidence steady on eve of EU referendum July 3, 2016 On the eve of the referendum UK businesses were feeling optimistic about the future and were ramping up production, a new survey from the CBI has shown. In a survey of businesses conducted in the weeks before the 23 June vote, manufacturers, retailers and services firms reported little sign that pre-referendum nerves were holding them [...]