Banks write-off £99m in loans to hotels and restaurants September 6, 2021 There has been a 65 per cent uptick in write-offs of loans to restaurants and hotels during the pandemic, Banks have written off £99m in the year to March 2021, up from £60m the previous year, according to research by international audit firm Mazars. Write-offs in lending to the leisure sector have began to rise [...]
Receding tapering fears propel FTSE 100 to three-week high September 6, 2021 Waning fears over central banks in developed economies scaling back monetary stimulus measures helped to propel London’s FTSE 100 to its highest level for three weeks today. The capital’s premier-index gained 0.71 per cent to hit 7,189.00 points heading into the final hour of trading. The blue-chip index was led higher by advertisers and broadcasters [...]
Melrose chief: UK has to remain open to US takeovers September 5, 2021 The government must resist intervening in the growing number of US takeover attempts of UK companies, according to the chief executive of FTSE 100 manufacturing firm Melrose Industries. Simon Peckham said that government pushback to the growing number of private equity takeovers could lead to American retaliation in the future. Peckham told the Sunday Times [...]
How worker shortages are cleared will determine UK economy’s trajectory September 4, 2021 You would be forgiven for forgetting we are currently amid one of the best runs of economic growth in living memory with all the negative news about supply chain snarl ups, worker shortages and soaring inflation flying around. A slew of data published this week, alongside a raft of announcements from supermarket, retail and food [...]
Weak US jobs growth tempers Wall Street September 3, 2021 A weaker-than-expected US jobs report for August weighed heavily on Wall Street’s main benchmarks today. The S&P 500 slipped 0.09 per cent to 4,532.82 points, after closing at a record high yesterday. The Dow Jones lost 0.11 per cent to hit 4,531.09 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq provided some relief on Wall Street, rising 0.12 per [...]
Pound rallies against the dollar on weaker than expected US jobs growth September 3, 2021 Hiring in the US economy in August plunged below expectations as the spread of the Delta variant of Covid across America weighed heavily on employer and employee confidence, prompting the pound to rally against the dollar. Figures released by the US Labor Department show nonfarm payrolls jumped by 235,000 last month, over 500,000 below analysts’ [...]
Ashmore managed assets near $95bn as economic recovery ‘picks up’ September 3, 2021 Ashmore has seen its assets under management swell to a near $95bn over the past year, which its boss has put down to the “picking up” of economic recovery. Assets increased by 13 per cent to a total of $94.4bn in the year to 30 June, as it recorded an investment performance of $9.6bn. Shares [...]
Ryanair accused of ‘grabbing wages’ as pilots face ‘huge’ pay cuts September 3, 2021 Pilots’ union BALPA has today accused Ryanair of forcing its members to take “huge” pay cuts over the winter period despite recent claims about the speed of airline’s recovery. According to the union, pilots at East Midlands International airport have been asked to take a 70 per cent pay cut over the coming months. Along [...]
City A.M. TV: A market snapshot September 3, 2021 Following Powell’s dovish speech at Jackson Hole last week, markets have been re-pricing the liquidity environment. In particular, the dollar has been notably weaker, commodity prices have rallied, and equities have pushed out to new highs. In the US that’s been most marked in the S&P500 and the NASDAQ100. The key question therefore, at this [...]
UK services growth slumps to six-month low despite record hiring rates September 3, 2021 UK services firms hired workers at the fastest pace on record in August to cope with soaring demand, but growth in the industry slumped to a six-month low amid severe shortages, according to a closely watched survey released today. The latest IHS Markit / CIPS UK services PMI survey dropped to 55.0 in August, the [...]