Serco grows revenue for first times since 2013 as outsourcer puts past behind it February 26, 2020 Outsourcing giant Serco posted its first year of revenue growth since 2013 and paid its first dividend since 2014 as the firm entered the new decade in style. Shares in the firm rose over three per cent over the day’s trading. The figures Revenue grew 15 per cent in 2019, from £2.8bn in 2018 to [...]
Global car sales set to fall in 2020 as coronavirus fears grip February 26, 2020 Moody’s has lowered its forecast for global car sales for 2020 as the continued coronavirus outbreak reduces demand and disrupts automotive supply chains around the world. The ratings agency expects global automobile unit sales to decline 2.5 per cent in 2020, narrowing from a 4.6 per cent drop in 2019, but worsening from the 0.9 [...]
Rio Tinto returns record dividend as firm warns of coronavirus impact February 26, 2020 Rio Tinto today returned a record final divided of $3.7bn as the Anglo-Australian mining giant thanked the strength of its “world-class portfolio and balance sheet” for helping it through the “current volatile environment”. However, the FTSE 100 firm warned that it was “closely monitoring the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus and [is]prepared for some short-term [...]
Virgin Galactic shares stall as space tourism firm posts $73m loss February 26, 2020 Richard Branson-founded Virgin Galactic fell to a $73m loss in the final quarter of 2019 as the space tourism firm announced it had received twice as many registrations for its space flight programme. The loss, which has widened compared to the same period last year, meant that Virgin Galactic’s share price, which has risen nearly [...]
Heathrow soars to ninth year of growth as third runway decision looms February 26, 2020 Heathrow Airport posted its ninth consecutive year of passenger growth as stakeholders gear up for tomorrow’s judicial review decision on whether the third runway expansion project can go ahead. The transport hub also said that though it was closely monitoring the coronavirus outbreak, it does “not expect [it] to have a material negative impact on [...]
Peugeot owner PSA roars to record profit as group prepares for Fiat merger February 26, 2020 Peugeot manufacturer PSA Group offset a slump in vehicle sales across European markets as it posted a record profit in 2019, ahead of its merger with Fiat Chrsyler later this year. However the firm said that an industrial shutdown in China as a result of the coronavirus outbreak could knock its supply chain, leading to [...]
Tourism body calls on government to rethink immigration policy February 25, 2020 A trade body representing the UK’s travel and tourism industry has called on the government to rethink its new immigration policy or risk “undermining the business model of many UK companies”. ABTA, the Travel Association, has today released a paper demonstrating the importance of non-UK workers to the UK travel industry which outlines the challenges [...]
Car dealers confident for coming year as Brexit fears dwindle February 25, 2020 An overwhelming majority of UK car dealerships are confident about the outlook for their business, despite a challenging 2019 for the motor industry. A new survey by Close Brothers Motor Finance shows that 98 per cent of dealers were optimistic about the future, with almost two-thirds (63 per cent) describing themselves as “very confident”. The [...]
Meggitt boosts profit but warns over coronavirus and 737 Max hit February 25, 2020 Meggitt said that it would be impacted by both the coronavirus outbreak and the halt in production of the 737 Max after in year in which the aerospace engineers boosted profit by 33 per cent. Shares in the British firm fell 2.7 per cent by midday. The figures Statutory profit before tax increased from £216.1m [...]
Airline stocks sink for second day amid coronavirus sell-off February 25, 2020 Airline stocks continued their decline today as investors continued to sell over growing fears over the economic impact of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Norwegian Air was the worst affected, falling almost 13 per cent, whilst budget carrier Easyjet and tour operator Tui both fell around three per cent. British Airways-owner IAG, Ryanair, Lufthansa and Wizz [...]
