Biotech firm Oxford Nanopore plots London listing March 30, 2021 The Oxfordshire-based scale-up helping to track coronavirus mutations has announced plans to list in London later this year. Oxford Nanopore, which specialises in DNA sequencing technology, today said it had started preparing for a London float but disclosed no further details. “Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited has today informed its shareholders that it has started the [...]
Vaccine rollout pushes business confidence to 12 month high March 30, 2021 Business confidence has soared to its highest point in a year as the UK pushes forward with its vaccine rollout. Overall business confidence has increased 13 percentage points to 15 per cent in the last month, according to the Lloyds Business Barometer. It is the highest level recorded since March 2020. The survey revealed firms’ [...]
Wall Street flat and FTSE 100 slips into the red as Archego default hits banks March 29, 2021 Wall Street closed flat and the FTSE 100 slipped into the red today as fears of potential losses from a major US hedge fund defaulting on margin calls held back stocks. While the Dow Jones gained 0.3 per cent, the S&P 500 was 0.09 per cent lower and the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed down 0.6 per [...]
BoE calls on lenders to seek regulatory approval before relocating to EU March 29, 2021 The Bank of England is calling on lenders to seek its approval before relocating to the EU after concerns European regulators are demanding more to move than necessary. The central bank is concerned the European Central Bank’s requests are excessive, the Financial Times reported, and Governor Andrew Bailey has reportedly taken a personal interest in [...]
High Court rules LCF bondholders not eligible for compensation March 29, 2021 Bondholders who lost millions when London Capital & Finance collapsed two years ago will not be eligible for compensation, the High Court ruled today. The investment firm collapsed in 2019 leaving 11,6000 bondholders facing losses of up to £267m. The firm was regulated by the City regulator but the bonds were unregulated. The bondholders had [...]
Container ship ‘successfully refloated’ after blocking Suez Canal for nearly a week March 29, 2021 The large container ship stuck in the Suez Canal has reportedly been refloated raising hopes the waterway will soon open. The 400 metre Ever Given became wedged in the canal last Tuesday causing chaos for global shipping. Nearly 400 ships are still stuck on either side of the vessel with some companies having to reroute [...]
Banks warn of ‘significant’ losses after huge fire sale linked to Archegos March 29, 2021 A huge fire sale of individual stocks last week has seen Credit Suisse and Nomura shares plummet after warning of “significant” losses. On Friday shares in ViacomCBS and Discovery plunged 27 per cent alongside leading Chinese stocks, including Tencent and Alibaba. Over the weekend it was revealed there was a massive margin call on family [...]
Cazoo confirms it will go public in merger with US SPAC March 29, 2021 Cazoo has agreed to a deal with a New York-listed SPAC in a deal which values the online used car platform at $7bn. The company, which was founded by serial entrepreneur Alex Chesterman in 2018, will merge with Ajax I, a blank-cheque vehicle led by billionaire investor Dan Och. The deal, which will see Cazoo [...]
Top City investor James Anderson gives Deliveroo the cold shoulder March 29, 2021 Deliveroo’s flotation has been snubbed again, this time by a leading tech investor who remains unconvinced by the platform’s model outside of London. The tech platform is targeting a market cap of almost £9bn in its upcoming London listing as demand soared during lockdown. The City has largely welcomed the blockbuster float as it tries [...]
Investment trusts beat dividend drought with record payouts March 29, 2021 As companies across the globe slashed payouts during the pandemic investment trusts beat the drought by raising dividend payments to record levels. Investment trusts dished out an extra £87bn in dividends last year, equivalent to a 4.2 per cent annual increase. Between April and December 2020 more than three quarters of trusts investing in equities [...]
