Airbus profit halves amid ‘gravest crisis’ in aviation history April 29, 2020 Aerospace giant Airbus saw its profit halve in the first quarter as it faced up to what its chief executive labelled the “gravest crisis” in aviation history. The spread of coronavirus has led to widespread grounding of flights around the world, prompting the French-German firm’s orders to plummet. In the first quarter, the company’s profit [...]
Elon Musk calls for end of lockdown ahead of Tesla first quarter earnings April 29, 2020 Billionaire Tesla boss Elon Musk today called for the end of the US coronavirus lockdown ahead of the electric car company’s first quarter results tonight. Musk tweeted: “FREE AMERICA NOW” and separately tweeted “give people their freedom back!” He also tweeted a story about the relaxation of lockdown in Texas with the comment: “Bravo Texas!” [...]
Waitrose hires ex-Sainsbury’s director as new boss April 29, 2020 Waitrose has appointed former Sainsbury’s buying director James Bailey as its new boss to steer the supermarket through the coronavirus crisis. Bailey, who worked for Sainsbury’s for 18 years, will join the John Lewis Partnership as an executive director today and will be responsible for managing the supermarket’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. He will [...]
Alphabet earnings: Five key takeaways as Covid-19 hits Google April 29, 2020 Shares in Google parent company Alphabet were up almost eight per cent in after-hours trading last night after the tech giant reported its first-quarter earnings. The closely-watched report was the first in a string of major US tech results set to be published this week, and give a key indication of how the coronavirus crisis [...]
Boris Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds gives birth to baby boy April 29, 2020 Boris Johnson’s fiance Carrie Symonds has given birth to a “healthy baby boy” at a London hospital this morning, according to a Downing Street spokesperson. The baby and mother are both said to be doing well. There has been no announcement on what they have named their newborn son, but Coral bookmakers has Alexander as [...]
TCI calls on Wirecard to remove chief executive Markus Braun April 29, 2020 The Children’s Investment fund has called on Wirecard’s supervisory board to remove chief executive Markus Braun after a KPMG audit was unable to verify its revenue. It piles further pressure on Wirecard chairman Thomas Eichelmann after KPMG said was unable to obtain all the information it requested from the firm, such as bank statements. In [...]
Barclays’ first quarter profit falls by £600m amid coronavirus disruption April 29, 2020 Barclays’ profit has tumbled to £923m in the first quarter, down from £1.54bn in the same period last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. it revealed today. The bank also booked an impairment charge of £2.1bn, which it said reflected its “initial estimates of the impact of the pandemic”. However, Barclays’ shares jumped five per [...]
Housebuilder Persimmon confident in outlook as construction sites reopen April 29, 2020 Housebuilder Persimmon said customer enquiries have remained at good levels throughout the UK coronavirus lockdown so far as the developer pushes ahead with the phased reopening of its construction sites. The company said steady customer enquiries provided “some encouragement on the resilience of demand” during the coronavirus crisis. Persimmon’s current forward sales position is “robust” [...]
Standard Chartered eyes recovery in China as profits tumble 12 per cent April 29, 2020 The coronavirus crisis has pushed Standard Chartered’s pre-tax profits down 12 per cent, but the lender is eyeing signs of recovery in China. However, the lender pointed to “encouraging early signs” of recovery in China. Investors welcomed the optimism with Standard Chartered’s London-listed shares up 3.6 per cent. “We expect a gradual recovery from the [...]
Oil prices stage comeback to push up stock markets April 29, 2020 Oil prices staged a small comeback this morning, boosting stock markets, as data from the US suggested crude inventories were not filling as fast as had been previously feared. After several weeks of rapid price swings, Brent crude gained three per cent this morning, recovering to $21. The gains boosted global stock markets, with the [...]