Was that the Dip? Crypto markets bounce back! January 12, 2021 Crypto at a Glance The decision by some news outlets to declare a bear market yesterday, mere seconds into what was a widely-expected retrace, was always going to leave them at risk of having egg on their face when it rebounded. But then, they’re probably used to wiping yolk off their sweaty brows when it [...]
Fintech Curve closes $95m Series C round as it eyes US expansion January 12, 2021 London-based fintech Curve has secured $95m in its latest fundraising round to fuel its expansion into the US and launch a new credit product. Founded in 2015, the startup allows users to consolidate all their credit and debit cards into one smart card and app. The Series C round was led by IDC Ventures, Fuel [...]
Checkout.com valuation reaches $15bn after latest fundraising round January 12, 2021 London payments firm Checkout.com has tripled its valuation to $15bn following a $450m Series C fundraising round. The round, which makes Checkout the fourth largest fintech globally, was led by New York-based Tiger Global Management, joined by Greenoaks Capital and existing investors including Insight Partners and DST Global. Payments has been one of the leading [...]
Vistry to resume dividends after housebuilder reports strong 2020 performance January 12, 2021 Vistry has announced it will resume dividend payouts after a strong second half performance, with the housebuilder expected to report 2020 profit of around £140m. The FTSE 250 developer said this morning that it is planning a “modest” final dividend when it announces its full-year results next month. The company said the decision to resume [...]
Hut Group outperforms expectations as questions are raised about boss’s income January 12, 2021 The Hut Group (THG) had a good Q4 2020, enjoying revenue growth of 51 per cent year-on-year, outperforming previous guidance of 40-45 per cent. THG, which owns a range of online beauty and nutrition brands like MyProtein and Lookfantastic, delivered Q4 2020 group revenue of £558.7m, versus £370.0m in Q4 2019. Revenue was boosted by [...]
Tesla and the S&P 500: what could have been? January 12, 2021 Tesla has finally joined the S&P 500 Index on 21 December 2020. Back in September, Standard & Poor’s announced that the index’s inclusion committee had decided not to add Tesla to the S&P 500. This unexpected news sent Tesla shares tumbling more than 16% in one day. Given Tesla’s sheer size — it is now among the [...]
Smart politicians will be looking to cities as a springboard for greatness January 12, 2021 For much of the second half of the 20th century, powerful city politics was dying. As the great industrial centres went into decline, so too did their once-proud corporations and mayors. County boroughs like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds were gathered together in 1972 and melded into metropolitan counties like “Merseyside” or “West Midlands”, and [...]
DIY firm Kingfisher sales jump on online boom January 12, 2021 Home improvement firm Kingfisher said that a boom in online sales had seen fourth quarter sales rise 16.9 per cent. In a trading update, the London-listed firm said that it was comfortable with the top end of current estimates for profit of £667m-£742m this year. It added that e-commerce sales had increased by 150 per [...]
Rathbones names ex-Phoenix boss Bannister as chairman January 12, 2021 Rathbone Brothers has appointed ex-Phoenix Group CEO Clive Bannister as its new chairman. Bannister will take over from Mark Nicholls at the wealth manager, who will retire from the role at the company’s annual general meeting in May. The news comes as Rathbones reports a nearly 9 per cent jump in total funds under management [...]
Recruiter Robert Walters profit falls a quarter January 12, 2021 Recruitment firm Robert Walters said that gross profit fell nearly a quarter in the final period of trading amid the coronavirus crisis. The FTSE 250 company said that profit for the fourth quarter came in at £71.4m, down 24 per cent from £94.2m in the same period last year. The fall represents an improvement on [...]
