Stellantis beats revenue expectations but warns chip shortage could slow it down May 5, 2021 Stellantis beat analyst forecasts for revenue in its first quarter as a new entity but warned that the global semiconductor shortage would slow down production in the second quarter. The car giant, which was formed by the mega-merger of Peugeot-owner PSA and Fiat Chrysler, said revenue came in a €37bn for the quarter, ahead of [...]
Airline passenger numbers creep higher as holidaymakers await green light May 5, 2021 Covid-19 passenger restrictions continued to squeeze airlines’ passenger numbers in April, a year on from the start of the pandemic, although there were some chinks of light for the sector. Ryanair said it flew 1m people last month, twice as many as it did in March, but still millions short of its normal capacity. Compared [...]
FTSE ends day with slump as Wall Street’s Nasdaq plunges nearly three per cent May 4, 2021 The FTSE 100 slipped back below the 7,000 point mark by the market close, despite a strong start to the week’s trading after the Bank Holiday weekend. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.67 per cent by the end of the day, with banking stocks, including HSBC Holdings, Barclays and Standard Chartered posing the biggest drag on [...]
UK banks provided over $50bn in financing for coal-exposed firms from 2018 to 2020 May 4, 2021 The UK’s biggest banks provided $56bn worth of financing for firms involved in the coal industry between 2018 and 2020, new research today has found. Of the top five banks exposed to the sector, Barclays provided by far the most financing to firms on the Global Coal Exit list, with $27bn. HSBC and Standard Chartered [...]
Saudi Aramco beats forecasts as profit jumps 30 per cent on higher oil prices May 4, 2021 State-run oil giant Saudi Aramco beat analysts’ forecasts today as first-quarter net profit rose 30 per cent amid the rise in oil prices. Crude prices have climbed about a third this year due to recovering fuel demand, helping a host of oil firms post improved results. “Given the positive signs for energy demand in 2021, there are [...]
UK PMIs: Manufacturing growth hits 27-year high in April May 4, 2021 The UK’s manufacturing growth gathered pace in April as production increased for the 11th consecutive month. The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 60.9 per cent last month, marking the highest reading since 1994. The reading also came in ahead of a flash estimate of 60.7. The growth was driven by a [...]
Travelodge to open 17 new hotels in 2021, creating 360 jobs May 4, 2021 Travelodge this morning announced that it will open 17 new hotels this year, creating 360 new jobs across its network. The new hotels mean that the firm will have a total of 597 venues across the UK, Ireland, and Spain. Two of the new hotels will be in London, with the rest spread around the [...]
Uber inks deal with Arrival to build electric car for its drivers May 4, 2021 Uber has this morning announced a partnership with UK start-up Arrival to build electric taxis designed for its ride-hailing drivers. The car, which will enter production in the first quarter of 2023, will be designed in partnership with the ride-hailing giant’s drivers. The partnership is part of Uber’s push to eliminate emissions from all 45,000 [...]
COP26: What are the UK’s goals for the landmark summit? May 1, 2021 It’s six months until the UN’s flagship climate conference, COP26, kicks off in Glasgow. As the host of this year’s conference, the UK has a unique job: to corral the world’s biggest economies into updating their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) – formal targets to reduce emissions – in line with the demands of the 2015 [...]
Heathrow plunges to another loss as airport tells Border Force to ‘get a grip’ April 29, 2021 Heathrow Airport reported yet another loss this morning as the UK’s largest air travel hub continued its long wait for aviation to restart. The firm said that it had suffered a £329m loss in a quarter in which it saw just 1.7m passengers, down 91 per cent from last year. In total, that means that [...]