Astrazeneca boosts revenue but misses first vaccine delivery target November 5, 2020 Pharma giant Astrazeneca has seen its sales and revenue rise for the year to date despite the ongoing disruption from the coronavirus pandemic. The FTSE blue-chip said that revenue increased eight per cent to £19.2bn in the first nine months of the year, while sales rose nine per cent. The company, which is working with [...]
Talktalk extends deadline for Toscafund offer November 5, 2020 Telecoms provider Talktalk has extended the deadline for major shareholder Toscafund to make a solid offer for the company until 3 December. Last month the asset manager made a 97p per share approach for Talktalk, with the original deadline set for today. The current offer values the telecom at around £1.1bn, and represents a significant [...]
Pilots’ union calls for ministers to commit to ending travel ban on 2 December November 4, 2020 The UK’s pilot union has called for the government to commit to end the ban on international leisure travel on 2 December. Under the rules of the new national lockdown, which begins tomorrow, all but essential overseas travel from England will be banned. When the measure was announced on Saturday it was denounced as a [...]
London Southend owner Stobart bullish on comeback November 4, 2020 The boss of London Southend owner Stobart Group is optimistic that the airport will be among the quickest to see a recovery in passenger numbers after the coronavirus pandemic. This morning the company revealed that numbers have dropped 89.5 per cent so far this year. Most companies in the sector are predicting a return to [...]
Mercato Metropolitano reopens as police reverse closure decision November 4, 2020 Food hall Mercato Metropolitano will open today after police reversed their decision to force it to close early ahead of the new lockdown. Earlier today the venue announced that it had been ordered to close until further notice by police after its last customers left at seven minutes past the 10pm curfew time on Monday. [...]
Oil prices jump as Trump declares victory prematurely November 4, 2020 Oil prices jumped this morning after President Donald Trump falsely claimed to have won the US election with millions of ballots still to be counted. Global standard Brent crude jumped two per cent to trade at $40.50 in the aftermath of Trump’s speech this morning. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate also climbed by the same [...]
Mitie shares bump as firm cuts price of Interserve deal by £80m November 4, 2020 Mitie has reduced the terms of its acquisition of outsourcing rival Interserve’s facilities management arm by over £80m, the firm announced this morning. When the deal was announced back in June, it was set to cost Mitie £271m, but the firm will now issue 110m fewer shares to finance the deal. As a result, it [...]
Marks & Spencer posts first loss in firm’s history November 4, 2020 Marks & Spencer posted its first loss in 94 years as a publicly listed company as clothing sales collapsed due to the coronavirus crisis. The high street stalwart reported a £87m pre-tax loss for the first half of the year. In the same period last year it made a profit of £158.8m in the same [...]
BMW profit races back but second wave fears abide November 4, 2020 Car giant BMW’s profit came roaring back in the third quarter as growing Chinese demand for its cars helped the firm recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Profit at the German auto company rose 9.6 per cent to €2.5bn in the period, up from 2.2bn last year. BMW was boosted by a 31 per cent sales [...]
G4S fends off Allied Universal takeover as prospect of bidding war hots up November 3, 2020 A new contender has entered the fray in the attempt to take over outsourcing firm G4S, it was revealed this morning. The FTSE 250 firm said that it had rejected a 210p per share offer to buyout the company from American firm Allied Universal. Shares in the company rose 3.9 per cent to 212.7p. The [...]
