General Election 2019: Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry’s Islington seat ‘at risk’ November 12, 2019 Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry is at risk of losing her seat, according to internal party polling. The Islington South and Finsbury seat has been held by Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, since 2005, and has been viewed as a Labour safe seat. In 2017 she strengthened her majority to 22,547 – more than 50 per [...]
New Look losses shrink despite dip in sales November 12, 2019 New Look narrowed its losses in the first half of the year, despite a decline in sales caused by the ongoing challenges facing the UK high street. The figures The retailer reported that its statutory loss before tax was £11.2m, compared to a loss of £41.9m in the first half of last year. Revenue fell [...]
Vodafone improves guidance but lowers dividend after €1.9bn loss November 12, 2019 Vodafone hiked its full-year earnings guidance today as organic earnings rose 1.4 per cent in its second quarter, but the telco fell to a loss of almost €1.9bn in its latest half-year results. Read more: BT shares fall as Virgin Media decides to ditch BT mobile for Vodafone network The figures Vodafone fell to a [...]
Mr Kipling owner Premier Foods increases profit November 12, 2019 Shares in Mr Kipling owner Premier Foods soared this morning after the company reported an increase in profit and revenue in the first half of the year. Premier Foods’ stock was up 8.28 per cent to 36.11p as it announced the relaunch of Mr Kipling cakes and sales of Nissin noodles had helped it post [...]
Women’s Equality Party stands aside for Chuka Umunna in Cities of London and Westminster seat November 12, 2019 The Women’s Equality Party candidate in the Cities of London and Westminster has stood aside for Liberal Democrat – and male – rival Chuka Umunna. Jenn Selby announced this morning that she was standing down to endorse his campaign, saying it was critical “to stop Brexit, which will disproportionately impact on women”. Umunna, the former [...]
Lidl sales soar as big four supermarkets struggle November 12, 2019 Budget supermarket Lidl enjoyed soaring sales this autumn, as the big four grocers struggled to keep up with the German discount stores in the lead up to the crucial Christmas trading period. Lidl was the fastest growing bricks and mortar supermarket in the 12 weeks to 3 November with a sales increase of 8.8 per [...]
Experian shares surge as revenue rises to $2.5bn November 12, 2019 Consumer credit giant Experian today posted revenue growth of seven per cent for the first half of 2019, with profit growing to $480m from $470m in 2018. Revenue grew to $2.5bn in the period, up from $2.36bn in 2018. Read more: Experian posts 2019 profit rise helped by global growth The information services group narrowed [...]
Landsec swings to first-half loss after retail property values plunge November 12, 2019 Landsec swung to a pre-tax loss in the first half of the year after the value of its retail and leisure assets suffered in an increasingly challenging market for tenants. The figures The company reported a pre-tax loss of £147m, compared to a profit of £42m the previous year, resulting in a loss per share [...]
Killer robots? It’s only a matter of time November 12, 2019 Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere in the news at the moment, but there is little discussion of an area where huge sums are being spent by all the major powers: automated intelligent weapons — or killer robots, as they are usually called. Some strategists now envision military operations conducted entirely by automata. Such fully automated [...]
The vote-winning power of tax cuts November 12, 2019 As theGeneral Election clunks into gear, it’s already clear what Labour’s approach will be: promise to spend literally all the money. The Tories put out a dossier at the weekend costing the opposition’s pledges at a jaw-dropping £1.2 trillion. You can quibble with the detail, but it’s pretty clear that under John McDonnell’s guidance, the [...]