‘Bond market tantrum risks’: Gilt traders brace for Labour leftward pivot as Starmer future uncertain
Loungers revenue soars following restaurant expansion October 16, 2019 Loungers, the owner of the Lounge and Cosy Club restaurant brands, said revenue soared over the summer as the company opened 10 new venues. Revenue in the 24 weeks to 6 October was £79.8m, an increase of 22 per cent on the previous year, as the group opened eight Lounges and two new Cosy Clubs. [...]
National Express wins €1bn Casablanca bus contract October 16, 2019 National Express has secured a €1bn (£869m) contract to run a bus service in Casablanca, nearly doubling its business in Morocco. The bus operator’s Spanish and Moroccan division Alsa has been awarded the 15-year contract, which will start next month with the deployment of 400 buses, increasing to 700 in 2020. Read more: National Express [...]
Shares in Neil Woodford’s listed fund continue to fall after bruising day October 16, 2019 Shares in Neil Woodford’s investment trust have fallen again in early trading following a bruising day which saw the once-lauded fund manager’s empire collapse. Woodford was yesterday dismissed as the manager of his flagship Equity Income Fund (WEIF) and resigned from the Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) and Income Focus Fund. Read more: Woodford winds [...]
No-deal Brexit ‘threatens trade blockages and organised crime’ at Britain’s borders October 16, 2019 Britain’s border risks becoming snarled up in a no-deal Brexit because of low preparation amongst traders, new EU controls and a growing threat from organised crime, according to the National Audit Office. As few as 30 per cent of traders are adequately prepared for a no-deal Brexit, which would see £438bn worth of trade revert [...]
Strong London performance pushes up Segro’s headline rent contract value October 16, 2019 Property giant Segro has increased the value of new headline rent contracts signed for the third quarter. The investor and developer said it signed contracts worth £15.3m over the period, up from £12.6m over the same time last year. Read more: Segro to make £450m placing as profits soar The growth brings its total headline [...]
Asos profit falls by two-thirds as expansion costs push up debt October 16, 2019 Profit at Asos fell by 68 per cent in the year to August as the UK fashion giant took a hit from a major overhaul of its business model and costly international expansion. The online retailer blamed the drop on a costly operational expansion into Europe and the US which was fraught with problems including [...]
AI health firm Healx bags $56m funding as it looks to fast track rare disease treatments October 16, 2019 Health tech firm Healx has secured $56m (£44m) in a Series B funding round as it looks to launch a new accelerator programme to find treatments for rare diseases. The Cambridge-based company said it raised the funds from European venture capital giant Atomico, Global Brain and Btov Partners, as well as its existing investors. Read [...]
Boris Johnson races against the clock to secure Brexit deal October 16, 2019 EU and UK negotiators have entered the last day of Brexit negotiations hoping to secure a deal before a key summit tomorrow. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to update the cabinet of the state of talks after they continued overnight. Read more: Negotiators burn the midnight oil as crunch EU summit looms Sterling surged [...]
City Moves for 16 October – Who’s switching jobs at BNP Paribas, Rentify and Civitas? October 16, 2019 Today’s City Moves includes BNP Paribas, Rentify and Civitas BNP Paribas BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) has appointed Arnaud Schwebel as global head of its new retirement solutions department. Arnaud will assume responsibility for the department, as well as for the operational supervision of BNP’s French savings and retirement channel. Arnaud was previously head [...]
Crowdfunding in the age of the consumer October 16, 2019 It became clear that fintech companies began to prize crowdfunding three years ago. Monzo crashed our servers in 2016 when it raised £1m in 96 seconds. Last December, the now-serial crowdfunding neobank raised £20m from retail investors. The staggering thing about Monzo’s raise — and it speaks volumes about where both crowdfunding and fintech have [...]