BP slashes management team in half amid green energy push May 22, 2020 BP is cutting the size of its top management team by more than half as part of new boss Bernard Looney’s plan to make the oil giant a net zero emissions company. The FTSE 100 giant will cut its leadership positions to roughly 120 from 250 with many veteran executives set to leave in the [...]
Facebook shops for customers as e-commerce explodes May 22, 2020 | City Talk Do you remember when you needed a new item of clothing and headed to the high-street to browse the shops? Perhaps a few try-ons in different places before making your selection? Coronavirus means that’s obviously not possible at the moment, meaning a choice of either waiting until lockdown passes or going online. More and more [...]
Covid-19: the inescapable truths faced by investors May 22, 2020 | City Talk Investors will need to be more agile than ever as Covid-19 reinforces many of the trends driving the world economy prior to the outbreak. “At the beginning of the plague, when there was now no more hope but that the whole city would be visited; when all that had friends or estates in the country [...]
Why’s everyone talking about Italy (again)? May 22, 2020 | City Talk Italy went into this crisis in a more precarious situation than most. Here Senior European Economist and Strategist Azad Zangana explains why. This is going to be the deepest recession for the eurozone economy in modern times. Just as Italy has been one of the hardest hit nations in the Covid-19 crisis, there are fears [...]
Coronavirus: Is this the end for the North Sea oil industry? May 22, 2020 For the last couple of months, the headlines coming out of the North Sea oil fields have made for pretty grim reading. In the past decade or so, the industry, which employs around 150,000 people in the UK, has already been battered by two price implosions, in 2008 and 2013. However, the hit it has [...]
Time Out kicks off £49m placing and open offer to raise emergency cash for coronavirus shutdown May 22, 2020 Media and events company Time Out today said it was seeking to raise £49m via a share placing and open offer to bolster its balance sheet in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. The company has been hit by a closure of its food hall markets and the suspension of its print editions alongside a [...]
Markets live: FTSE 100 goes green as US stocks shrug off China tensions May 21, 2020 The FTSE 100 turned from red to green as US markets opened higher today, despite the looming threat of escalating US-China tensions. Britain’s main stock index had fallen 0.78 per cent by 10.30am to 6,017 points. By 2.50pm it had risen 0.2 per cent to 6,078 points, however, as US markets shrugged off more jobless [...]
UK companies tapped capital markets for £30bn at height of coronavirus crisis May 21, 2020 UK companies raised around £30bn in the corporate bond and equity markets at the height of the coronavirus crisis, a report released today showed. From the middle of March to early April, 150 UK companies raised around £30bn on the capital markets in response to the coronavirus crisis, the report said. More than 90 per [...]
AJ Bell’s revenue jumps 22 per cent as investors take advantage of market volatility May 21, 2020 AJ Bell has reported a 22 per cent increase in revenue after it saw record numbers of new customers flock to the investment platform amid the market volatility. The figures Revenue increased 22 per cent to £60.9m, with profit before tax up 28 per cent to £22.7m in the six months to 31 March. Total [...]
Markets live: FTSE 100 rises as recovery hopes boost global stocks May 20, 2020 The UK’s FTSE 100 has closed higher after a choppy day of trading as hopes of a recovery from the coronavirus downturn offset dire economic data and doubts about a new vaccine. The blue-chip index rose 1.08 per cent to 6,067 points, aided by a surge in data firm Experian, which posted strong results. European [...]