Toyota, Starbucks and LVMH shut down some China operations over coronavirus fears January 29, 2020 Japanese carmaker Toyota, US coffee chain Starbucks and French luxury goods company LVMH have all shut down some of their China operations in reaction to the spread of the coronavirus. Toyota said today that it would keep its plants in China closed until at least 9 February in reaction to the spread of the virus. [...]
Coronavirus: British Airways halts flights to mainland China January 29, 2020 British Airways has stopped flights to Beijing and Shanghai for the next two days in an attempt to stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. The airline’s decision follows the Foreign Office yesterday urging British citizens not to travel to mainland China unless it was essential to. Read more: UK citizens back from Wuhan face [...]
Pendragon shares fall on gloomy profit projection January 29, 2020 Car dealership Pendragon today said that it expects its profit to be at the lower end of expectations for its full financial year. The company, which has had two chief executives depart in the last year, has been hit by sluggish UK car demand. Shares fell 4.5 per cent this morning to 11p. Pendragon is [...]
Mike Pompeo jets in to UK as US raises Huawei concerns January 29, 2020 US secretary of state Mike Pempeo will arrive in the UK for talks with the government today over its decision to let Chinese telecoms giant Huawei build parts of its 5G network against American advice. The talks are also expected to cover the death of Harry Dunn, another source of tension in the “special relationship” [...]
Budget airline Wizz Air boosts profit guidance on strong passenger growth January 29, 2020 European budget airline Wizz Air today increased its profit guidance for its financial year to between €350m (£296m) and €355m on strong third quarter results. The carrier said today passenger numbers grew 23.2 per cent in the the three months to 31 December compared to the same quarter the previous year. Net profit for the [...]
UK house prices rise 1.9 per cent as buyers hail 2020 ‘Boris bounce’ January 29, 2020 UK house prices grew at their fastest rate in over a year at the start of 2020, according to Nationwide, as experts hailed Boris Johnson’s election victory. The housing market posted a 1.9 per cent annual rise in January, beating December’s 1.4 per cent climb. That followed 12 months of consecutive growth below the one [...]
Santander annual profit falls 12 per cent on one-time charges January 29, 2020 Spain’s biggest bank Santander suffered a 12 per cent fall in profit in 2019 as the lender was hit by goodwill and restructuring costs and low interest rates. It pulled in record annual revenues, however, supported by solid expansion in the Americas, its yearly results showed today. The figures Profit before tax at the lender [...]
Saudi Telecom Company to pay $2.4bn for Vodafone’s Egypt stake January 29, 2020 Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is set to buy a majority stake in Vodafone’s Egyptian arm for $2.39bn (£1.84bn) after the two firms signed an initial agreement. STC, which is mainly owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, and Vodafone said they expect to complete the deal by the end of June 2020, should regulators approve. [...]
DEBATE: Should the Bank of England cut interest rates this week? January 29, 2020 Should the Bank of England cut interest rates this week? Simon Ward, economic adviser at Janus Henderson Investors, says YES. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) keeps making mistakes because it ignores monetary trends. It hiked rates in August 2018 even though 12-month broad money growth (as measured by non-financial M4) had slumped from 6.5 per [...]
Has the business world found its purpose? Trust, but verify January 29, 2020 Last week’s Davos carnival was an orgy of virtue signalling. A group of senior executives flew in on private jets to talk about how to tackle climate change. Leaders of companies that have been highly active in lobbying for corporate tax breaks signed a letter calling for higher taxes on the rich if we are [...]