Now Mark Carney sees a silver lining to Brexit February 14, 2020 Mark Carney has said there may be a silver lining to Brexit for the UK economy. Speaking to Reuters, the outgoing Bank of England governor said there are some potential upsides for the economy from Brexit, in marked contrast to some of his previous comments on the decision to leave the EU. “In an environment [...]
Mike Ashley calls for business rate relief to help high street on ‘life support’ February 14, 2020 Sports Direct billionaire Mike Ashley urged the Treasury to take action on business rates today, saying steep payments have helped put the British high street on “life support”. The retail tycoon has said that the current system is a “significant contributor to the dire straits the high street currently finds itself in.” Formerly called Sports [...]
Coronavirus: WHO says there is an ‘urgent’ need for vaccine February 13, 2020 The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that big decisions need to be made on the development of vaccines for the coronavirus. In a briefing this afternoon Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO, said vaccines will require “huge investment” and “the state sector will have to take some of the risk with the [...]
Alibaba beats estimates but coronavirus uncertainty lingers February 13, 2020 Alibaba beat analyst estimates in its fourth quarter results, driven by record sales during Singles’ Day in November. Despite this the company sounded a warning about the start of 2020 because of the coronavirus and said that it was doing all it can to help Chinese consumers. “In response to the coronavirus, we mobilised Alibaba [...]
Conservative MPs call for a cut in beer duty February 13, 2020 Conservative MPs have signed a letter imploring the Chancellor Sajid Javid to cut beer duty. Chairman of the All-Parliamentary Beer Group, Mike Wood and Sheryll Murray, MP for South East Cornwall delivered a letter to the Treasury yesterday. The letter, signed by 85 Conservative MPs calls for a cut in the duty in the Chancellor’s [...]
Zurich Insurance’s strong performance aided by its UK business February 13, 2020 Zurich Insurance Group’s stellar performance was boosted by a strong showing by its UK business, Zurich UK. UK earnings were up 59 per cent to £413m from £260m in 2018. General insurance gross written premium increased 4 per cent to £2.5bn from £2.4bn in 2018. In its general insurance business, business operating profit grew 97 per [...]
Glenlivet maker Pernod Ricard cuts guidance amid the coronavirus outbreak February 13, 2020 Pernod Ricard cut its annual operating profit goal blaming the coronavirus outbreak in China. The figures Profit from recurring operations was €1.8bn, up 4.3 per cent on an organic basis, slightly ahead of the 1.7bn expected by Citi analysts. Pernod Ricard’s revenue in the second quarter rose to 2.9bn, an organic sales growth of 3.8 [...]
Takeaway.com looks ahead to Just Eat after rise in revenue February 13, 2020 Takeaway.com saw a sharp rise in revenue prior to its merger with UK peer Just Eat. The figures Takeaway processed 159.2m orders in 2019, representing a 70 per cent compared with the year before. The average commission rate increased to 12.6 per cent in 2019 from 12.1 per cent in 2018, mainly driven by an [...]
Sweet results for Coca-Cola bottler as it reports increased profit February 13, 2020 Bottler Coca-Cola HBC delivered full year revenue growth in every segment last year as operating profit grew more than 10 per cent to €715.3m. The figures Operating profit grew 11.9 per cent last year from €639.4m to €715.3m. Revenue for the full year grew by 4.4 per cent and revenue in the fourth quarter grew [...]
Coronavirus: Hubei province leader sacked after spike in deaths February 13, 2020 The top leader of Hubei province, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, has been sacked after a dramatic spike in deaths and new cases. The death toll increased by 242 in the province on Wednesday, with 14,840 people diagnosed with the coronavirus. The Communist Party secretary in Hubei, Jiang Chaoliang, has been replaced by the [...]
