UK PMI: Manufacturing malaise sinks economy to 41-month low December 16, 2019 Private sector activity in the UK slumped again in December, dragged down by the fastest drop in manufacturing output since July 2012. Overall UK output dropped to 48.5 in December from 49.3 the previous month, hitting a 41-month low, according to the UK’s flash composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI), compiled by IHS Markit. Read more: [...]
Virgin Money share price falls after Barclays downgrade December 16, 2019 Shares in Virgin Money are down by more than five per cent today after Barclays downgraded its rating. Barclays analysts shifted Virgin Money’s stock from equal weight to underweight, signifying a pessimistic outlook, today. Read more: Virgin Money cancels dividend after £385m PPI hit The downgrade was made due to weak earnings, high growth in [...]
Studio Retail Group shares jump after £50m Findel sale December 16, 2019 Studio Retail Group announced it has sold its education business Findel for £50m, as it reported a slump in profits in its interim results following a spike in additional PPI claims. Shares in the company surged more than seven per cent after it announced Findel has been sold to the City of Wakefield Council as [...]
Rightmove: Tory election win will boost UK house prices by two per cent in 2020 December 16, 2019 UK house prices are expected to see a two per cent jump next year following the Conservative Party’s election victory. Prices will benefit from greater home-mover confidence, which has been weakened by political uncertainty since the 2016 EU referendum. However the latest research suggests the housing market will only return to full health when “Brexit [...]
CMA clears $4.3bn Roche-Spark deal as US drags feet December 16, 2019 Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche today won UK regulatory approval for its $4.3bn merger with gene therapy firm Spark Therapeutics. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) unconditionally cleared the tie-up in the latest milestone in Roche’s $114.5 per share offer. Read more: Roche faces fresh delay in $4.3bn Spark merger The deal had faced intense scrutiny [...]
Boris Johnson prepares mini-cabinet reshuffle as new Tory MPs arrive December 16, 2019 Prime Minister Boris Johnson will welcome his new tranche of Conservative MPs when they arrive in Westminster later today before the first day of the new parliament. Johnson, whose decision to call a snap election paid off in resounding fashion last week when voters returned him to Downing Street with what he called a “stonking” [...]
Cineworld to buy Canadian operator for $2.1bn December 16, 2019 Cineworld has agreed to buy Canadian operator Cineplex for $2.1bn, the company announced this morning. The deal, which will add 165 cinemas and 1,695 screens to Cineworld’s portfolio, is subject to shareholder approval and is expected to complete in the first half of next year. Read more: Cineworld suffers from weak box officce as it [...]
This iteration of Labour has no chance of ever winning an election again December 16, 2019 “‘Winning’ is the small bit that matters to political elites who want to keep power themselves.” These words, tweeted in July 2016 by Corbynista activist Jon Lansman, summarise with chilling clarity the state in which Labour now finds itself. Still reeling from its worst election result since 1935, the buoyancy of the Labour campaign has [...]
DEBATE: Will the next election be about something other than Brexit? December 16, 2019 Will the next election be about something other than Brexit? John Oxley, a Conservative commentator, says YES. The Conservatives fought this election to effect Brexit. With a majority as strong as this, they will achieve that next month and not fight an election for five years — unless they sense victory in an earlier poll. [...]
Supermarkets should embrace the calls for higher plastic charges December 16, 2019 The battle against plastic rages on. Back in 2015 when the 5p charge was introduced, it seemed like a relatively big deal, but as the Greenpeace report made abundantly clear, it was just the start of a long fight. The report’s findings are stark — customers in Britain’s main supermarkets bought 1.5 billion bags for [...]