Wave of dealmaking sees 123 UK firms taken over by private equity during pandemic May 25, 2021 The pandemic has acted as a catalyst for a wave of private equity takeovers of UK firms, with their value reaching their highest level since the financial crisis. While coronavirus initially triggered a slowdown in dealmaking, private equity houses gained momentum by the autumn with a string of high-profile and high-value deals. Some 123 UK [...]
Investment professionals must beware of the cyber risks in portfolios May 25, 2021 | City Talk Internet security blog posts are usually more at home on the inside pages of IT trade publications than on the front pages of international newspapers. The one published by Microsoft Corporate Vice President Tom Burt on 2 March, about the emergence of “state-sponsored threat actor” Hafnium, was a notable exception. A new threat had emerged, [...]
Public sector borrowing shows first year-on-year fall since start of pandemic May 25, 2021 Public sector borrowing is estimated to have been £31.7bn in April, £15.6bn less than in the same month last year when public finances first fell the full impact of the pandemic. The fall in borrowing in April compared with a year earlier is the first annual decline since the start of the pandemic, but last month’s borrowing remains huge [...]
Hurricane Energy posts $625m loss as it seeks financial restructuring May 25, 2021 Hurricane Energy has sunk to losses of $625.3m as it undergoes a financial restructuring following a challenging year for the West Shetland operator. The company said the events of the last 12 months, including a writedown in reserves, had caused “upheaval and frustration” and had been “profoundly challenging”. The losses for the year ended 31 [...]
Oil prices bounce back despite ongoing Iran talks May 24, 2021 Oil prices rose sharply today as economists predicted that the surge in demand due to the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions would offset any supply bump should sanctions against Iran’s oil be waived. In recent days prices have been trending downwards on the news that talks between Iran and the US on reinstating the former nuclear [...]
Andrew Bailey says there are some ‘hot spots for prices’ but plays down inflation fears May 24, 2021 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has warned there are some “very hot spots in terms of prices”, but that he is confident inflation won’t run well above the UK’s two per cent target in the long-term. Annual CPI increased from 0.7 per cent to 1.5 per cent in April, creating fears among some that [...]
FTSE 100 closes higher as tech stocks boost Wall Street May 24, 2021 London’s FTSE 100 closed higher this afternoon after posting its second straight weekly drop, as oil majors provided the biggest boosts to the index. Wall Street also opened higher as tech stocks showed signs of bouncing back from a poor month. The blue-chip index advanced 0.5 per cent over the dat’s trading, buoyed by gains [...]
Hochschild Mining braces for investor revolt as proxy advisers continue to flex their muscles May 24, 2021 Aston Martin Lagonda and Hochschild Mining are the latest companies to face shareholder rebellions over pay and diversity as activist investors continue to flex their muscles. Hochschild is bracing for a rebellion after shareholder advisory service Glass Lewis told clients to reject its pay report later this week, the Times reported. It’s said to be [...]
City A.M. TV: A Market Snapshot May 24, 2021 Are markets resilient or rolling? That’s a key question currently on investors’ minds. That’s especially so given the concerns about the recent high US core CPI inflation print as well as the troubling price action in Bitcoin. In this clip, we stand back from the market noise and look at what the price action is [...]
Wholesaler Kitwave raises £64m on London debut May 24, 2021 Food wholesaler Kitwave has today raised £64m after listing on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Each of the firm’s selling shareholders earned £17.6m from the IPO, the firm said in a statement. Based on a placing price of 150p per share, the firm has a valuation of £105m, it added. Chief executive [...]