Ryanair cuts traffic forecasts again as carrier slams ‘brutal lockdowns’ January 7, 2021 Ryanair has cut its traffic forecast for the full financial year to 26m-30m passengers, just a fifth of last year’s number, amid the new coronavirus lockdowns. The Irish carrier said that due to new restrictions in the UK, Ireland, and parts of the EU, it would reduce flights from 21 January. Few, if any, flights [...]
Scandinavian fund EQT join race for First Group’s US businesses January 7, 2021 A Scandinavian fund has joined the bidding for transport operator First Group’s US assets, which are valued at £2.5bn. Sky News reported that EQT Infrastructure made a $3.7bn bid for the First Transit and First Student in the days leading up to Christmas. The fund, which is run by one of Scandinavia’s most powerful equity [...]
TP ICAP launches rights issue to fund Liquidnet deal January 7, 2021 Interdealer broker TP ICAP is seeking a £315m rights issue to fund its acquisition of electronic trading network Liquidnet Holdings. The rights issue is expected to result in the issue of 225.3m shares for qualifying shareholders equivalent to 40 per cent of the existing share capital base. The FTSE-250 listed firm announced the deal in [...]
Khan pushes for airport testing, while airport boss wants taxpayers to foot bill January 7, 2021 Sadiq Khan pushes for airport testing, while Southend airport boss wants taxpayers to pay for pre-flight tests
Sainsbury’s bags Christmas sales rise after online shopping boost January 7, 2021 Sainsbury’s today posted a strong rise in sales over Christmas as a record number of customers bought their shopping online. The supermarket chain said like-for-like sales were up 9.1 per cent during the festive period, despite people holding smaller gatherings due to lockdown measures. The company said it sold smaller turkeys and more beef and [...]
Top UK Treasury civil servant earns five-year reappointment January 7, 2021 The UK Treasury’s top civil servant has been reappointed for another five-year term, after impressing Downing Street with his response to the Covid crisis. Department permanent secretary Sir Tom Scholar has been one of the architects of the Treasury’s response to the Covid crisis, which has seen Rishi Sunak spend more than £300bn to keep [...]
HMRC issues record £28.3m fine for money laundering breaches January 7, 2021 HMRC has issued a record £28.3m fine to Luton-based business MT Global, a money transfer company. The fine is the largest ever issued by HMRC and relates to “significant” breaches of money laundering regulations between 2017 and 2019. The company was penalised for failures in carrying out risk assessments, its policies, controls and procedures, due [...]
Total crypto market cap hits $1 trillion January 7, 2021 Crypto at a Glance It should get boring writing the same thing every day, but surprisingly typing out NEW ALL-TIME HIGH never really loses its thrill. Today though, it’s not just a new bitcoin all-time high ($37,000, see you later) – the total cryptocurrency market cap has surged past $1 trillion for the first time [...]
Fashion retailer Joules forecasts £18m revenue hit due to new lockdown restrictions January 7, 2021 British fashion retailer Joules has forecast a revenue hit of up to £18m due to the current Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in the UK, the firm said as it announced a sharp drop in store sales over the winter. Joules said total store sales declined 58 per cent in the seven weeks to 3 January due [...]
UK PMIs: Construction activity continues growth in December January 7, 2021 Construction activity continued to recover in December, helped by higher order books and resumption of work that had been delayed due to the pandemic. The IHS Markit/Cips purchasing managers (PMI) index for construction scored 54.6 in December, with any score above the 50 mark indicating growth. The reading was more or less unchanged from November, when a [...]
