The burden of business rates falls unfairly on the West End April 4, 2019 This week, UK retailers received one of their biggest tax bills of the year. The consequences of the 2017 revaluation of business rates will again be felt, with a further hike of nearly 50 per cent for some companies. Retailers in London’s West End and Mayfair will once again be hardest hit, paying the lion’s [...]
Saga shares plunge 36 per cent after it announces £310m writedown and slashes dividend April 4, 2019 Over-50s travel and insurance company Saga lost a third of its value this morning after it said it was more than halving its dividend as it crashed to a £134.6m loss. Its share price plunged 35 per cent to 68p after its shock announcement. Read more: Saga set to hit profit guidance after sales cruise [...]
The AA’s opting for the long road to stability April 4, 2019 Shares in the AA have been swerving all over the place since it returned to the stock market in 2014. After jumping from a float price of 250p to 430p the following year, the ambitions of the team that steered the roadside rescue outfit through an unusual management-buyout-cum-IPO began to stutter. The stock slid and [...]
Generation Rent needs more help to buy property, not Help to Buy April 2, 2019 Britain is not yet a nation of renters – but it’s getting there. Half of children are now born in rented accommodation, versus a third back in 2003-4. The number of families renting with children has doubled in a decade, according to the insurance provider Royal London. Meanwhile, new analysis shows that the government’s Help [...]
Motor insurer Sabre unveils special dividend in first annual results since listing March 28, 2019 Specialist motor insurer Sabre declared a special dividend today in its first full-year results since listing on the London Stock Exchange. The insurer wrote £210m of premiums last year, a slight drop on the previous year which it said was a result of focusing on underwriting profitability over growth. Read more: Private equity firm BC [...]
Best 5 US stocks for an ISA March 28, 2019 | City Talk By Rodney Hobson from interactive investor. Brexit makes investing overseas especially attractive now, argues our commentator, author and columnist. Rodney Hobson is an experienced financial writer and commentator who has held senior editorial positions on publications and websites in the UK and Asia, including Business News Editor on The Times and Editor of Shares magazine. [...]
Lloyd’s of London loses £1bn in year of natural catastrophes as it grapples with harassment scandal March 27, 2019 Insurance market Lloyd’s of London, currently embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal, said today it had made a loss of £1bn for 2018. Lloyd’s said it paid £19.7bn in claims last year, leading to an aggregate loss of £1bn, down from £2bn the year previously. The exchange had gross written premiums of £35.5bn last year, [...]
Just Group completes £375m fundraising to meet new regulations March 25, 2019 Retirement services firm Just Group shares fell again this morning as it announced it had completed a £375m fundraise to comply with new capital requirement rules. The firm, which unveiled heavy 2018 pre-tax losses earlier this month, said it had issued £300m worth of bonds and raised an extra £75m via an equity placing. Read [...]
iSmash on rivalling Apple for tech repairs and launching more stores in a dying high street March 25, 2019 Many will be familiar with the trauma: you drop your smartphone and the screen shatters into a modern-day mosaic. You either learn to live with shards of glass jabbing your fingers, wait a week for a phone company to fix it, or pay for a bodge job at a corner shop. Except those are no longer [...]
Lloyd’s of London plans clamp down on harassment and bullying March 24, 2019 Lloyd’s of London plans to overhaul workplace culture following reports of sexual harassment and bullying at the 330-year-old insurance market. The company intends to call an emergency meeting with senior staff members to set out ways to make it easier for employees to make formal complaints, the Sunday Times reported. Read more: Lloyd's of London [...]