Lookers set to beat profit forecasts after ‘resilient’ lockdown performance April 8, 2021 Car dealership Lookers today said that full year profit would come in “materially ahead” of the £22.6m predicted by analysts after a better than expected performance in the first quarter. The announcement sent shares into overdrive this morning, with the company’s stock up 13.3 per cent as markets opened. The FTSE 250 firm, which has [...]
Rail firms boost service levels ahead of next stage of lockdown lifting April 8, 2021 Rail firms are cranking up their service levels in the build up to the next stage in the UK’s lifting of lockdown restrictions on 12 April. By next week, when retail and leisure facilities reopen, train franchises will be running 18,000 services a day, according to industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG). That’s more [...]
Wall Street dips after Fed minutes affirm low interest rates for longer April 7, 2021 Wall Street dropped towards the end of trading, as traders digested the latest update from the Federal Reserve latest’s meeting. The Dow Jones, and Nasdaq indexes are currently down by 0.06 and 0.07 per cent respectively, while the S&P 500 is performing a little better, up 0.6 per cent. The Fed struck a dovish tone [...]
Commercial struggles offer open skies to private jet operators April 7, 2021 The global collapse of aviation over the past year has for the most part been one long unrelenting nosedive, with the occasional moment of levelling out as much-needed respite. As in most crises, however, there are both winners and losers, and though the big commercial airlines clearly fall into the latter category, an unlikely group [...]
Pod Point hires Bank of America to help with float plan – report April 7, 2021 Electric vehicle charging firm Pod Point has reportedly brought on Bank of America to work on a potential stock market float. According to Sky News, the firm could go public at some point this year, with Bank of America working together with Barclays on the deal. Pod Point is majority owned by French energy giant [...]
UK PMIs: Service sector returns to growth as lockdown end nears April 7, 2021 The UK’s services industry returned to growth in March, with business activity, new orders and unemployment all rebounding from the previous month. New data released this morning shows that the UK’s impressive vaccine rollout had seen the economy recover at a faster rate than initially expected. The IHS Markit/Cips purchasing managers (PMI) index for services registered 56.3 [...]
Historic Texas freeze cost Shell £145m April 7, 2021 Oil giant Shell has said that a storm that blanketed Texas in February, killing more than 100 people, will cost it around $200m (£145m) in adjusted earnings. The London-listed company said it expects to produce between 2.4m and 2.48m barrels of oil or equivalents per day from its upstream business unit in the first three [...]
Mayor of London election: Sadiq Khan pledges to ban gambling ads on the Tube April 6, 2021 Sadiq Khan has pledged to ban gambling advertisements on the Tube if he is re-elected as mayor next month. The mayor’s election manifesto, released today, said his current junk food ad ban on the London Underground would be extended to include “harmful gambling advertisements” if he wins the 6 May election. Khan previously banned all [...]
Innovate Finance chief exec Charlotte Crosswell to step down in May April 6, 2021 Innovate Finance’s chief executive Charlotte Crosswell has today announced that she will step down from her role in May. Crosswell has run the industry body for the UK’s fintech sector since 2017. Janine Hirt, the body’s chief operating officer, will take over on an interim basis. Her four years in charge saw Crosswell lead Innovate [...]
Boris Johnson aiming for cheap and easy travel testing system April 6, 2021 Boris Johnson has today said that he wants the testing system for international travel to be cheap and easy, after concerns were raised about the current cost of such arrangements. Under current plans, international travel is set to restart again on 17 May, although the government has warned that the date could yet be pushed [...]
