Online shoppers help Joules return to profit with £122m e-commerce sales August 3, 2021 Joules has returned to profit after online sales contributed to full-year revenues climbing to almost £200m. The fashion and homeware retailer reported group revenue increased by 4.3 per cent to 199.million despite lockdowns forcing stores to shut for periods and cancellations of the brand’s country shows. Online sales were up by 48 per cent to [...]
Kick in the teeth: Gopher ‘highly disappointed’ as Playtech rebukes Finalto offer August 3, 2021 Gopher Investments this morning expressed extreme disappointment in the board of Playtech’s decision to reject its offer for Finalto and recommend a lower offer from a consortium of Israeli investors. Gopher, which owns a 4.97 per cent stake in online gaming and gambling software provider Playtech, said it was “highly disappointed” in the Playtech board’s [...]
Insurer Direct Line’s first-half profits rise as pandemic restrictions ease August 3, 2021 Insurer Direct Line has today reported a rise in its earnings for the first half of the year, despite a difficult car insurance market, which its home businesses offset. The company reported an operating profit of just under £370m for the six months ended June 30, an increase from £265m a year earlier. Direct Line [...]
SEC chief vows to crackdown on cryptocurrencies August 3, 2021 The new chief of the US’ financial markets watchdog has vowed to crackdown on cryptocurrencies as soon as possible. Speaking to Bloomberg, Gary Gensler, commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, said that he has instructed “staff to use all of our authorities anywhere we can” to improve oversight of crypto assets. Read more: [...]
China sets ‘buy Chinese’ targets for state companies against US trade deal August 3, 2021 The Chinese government has issued new procurement guidelines for state-owned companies and organisations that require up to 100 per cent local content on over 300 items, setting new obstacles for foreign suppliers. Document 551, titled “Auditing guidelines for government procurement of imported products”, was issued in May by the Chinese Ministry of Finance and the [...]
Mitigating litigation risk: The impact of corporate social performance factors August 3, 2021 Much has been written on the merits of ESG investing strategies and their ability to deliver comparable, if not superior, performance to traditional benchmarks. A majority of institutional investors are motivated to employ ESG investing strategies because they believe ESG will improve risk adjusted returns1, yet the circumstances in which ESG leads to better outcomes [...]
Historic IPO: India’s first woman-led unicorn could stoke a $4bn valuation August 3, 2021 Upcoming unicorn and beauty e-commerce startup Nykaa could be looking at a $4bn valuation once it makes the final touches to its initial public offering. The Mumbai-headquartered startup hitting a billion-dollar valuation would make it India’s first-ever woman-led unicorn. The country’s woman-led unicorn has emerged from former investment banker Falguni Nayar, who has bagged the [...]
Wave of dealmaking sees private equity investment in UK soar to highest level in five years August 3, 2021 Private equity deal value and volumes in the first half of the year rose to levels not seen since 2017, as investors gained confidence in post-pandemic recovery. There was a marked interest in mid-market private equity dealmaking, as funds competed for quality assets and completed 377 deals in the first six months of the year, [...]
Societe Generale returns to profit as retail banking recovers August 3, 2021 French bank Societe Generale swung back to profit in the second quarter of this year driven by a rebound in its retail banking arm. The lender registered net income of €1.4bn in the second quarter of 2021, up sharply from a €1.2bn loss in the same period the year before. Read more: Standard Chartered profits [...]
EY to pay $10m to settle SEC misconduct charges August 3, 2021 Ernst & Young and three audit partners settled charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over claims of misconduct in their relationship with the chief accounting officer of a US company, it is widely reported. The big four firm agreed to a $10m (£7.2m) settlement to close the case on charges of audit independence [...]
