Infrastructure in Deep Tech October 27, 2020 Lex Sokolin’s Fintech Blueprint newsletter last week set out the challenges for the financial services sector in 2020. He summarised the argument saying “(1) the shift from physical to digital communities is being accelerated by the COVID environment, and (2) this has led to the acceleration in adoption of virtual worlds, events, and economic activities [...]
Easyjet raises £300m from plane sales in bid to boost balance sheet October 27, 2020 Easyjet today agreed to sell nine more planes for £305.7m as the low-cost carrier seeks to relieve pressure on its balance sheet. Wealth management firm Wilmington Trust Services will buy five Airbus 320s, and aircraft leasing firm Sky High 112 will buy the remaining four 320s. Earlier this month Easyjet was reported to have told [...]
BP swings back to profit but coronavirus weighs on demand October 27, 2020 BP returned to a small profit in the third quarter, but warned the pace of recovery from Covid-19 remains uncertain as the pandemic weighs on fuel demand and refining profits. The oil major reported a profit of $86m (£66m) profit for the three months to 30 September, beating analysts’ expectations of a $120m loss. The [...]
Can behavioural finance explain how investors think about sustainability? October 27, 2020 Schroders Global Investor Study 2020 examined the attitudes and beliefs of more than 23,000 investors on sustainability. It is a vast project that yields fascinating insights on the way investors think. We thought it would be interesting to put some questions to Stuart Podmore, Investment Propositions Director and an expert in behavioural finance, about the [...]
St James’s Place net inflows slow amid ‘challenging’ environment October 27, 2020 Wealth manager St James’s Place (STJ) has recorded a rise in funds under management even as the pace of inflows slowed in the third quarter. As at 30 September, total funds under management increased to £118.7bn compared with £112.82bn in 2019. St James’s Place reported net inflows of £1.33bn in three months ended 30 September, [...]
Santander rebounds from historic loss as loan repayments pick up October 27, 2020 Santander returned to profit in the third quarter following a historic loss, upgrading its full-year forecasts as customers began to recover from the initial impact of Covid-19. Net profit at the Spanish lender trebled in the third quarter to €1.75bn compared to 2019, when Santander was hit by a large writedown in the value of [...]
Premier Inn owner Whitbread swings to huge loss due to hotel closures October 27, 2020 Premier Inn owner Whitbread (LON:WTB) swung to a huge loss in the first half of the year as revenue plummeted while its hotels were closed during coronavirus lockdowns. The figures In the six months ended 27 August, Whitbread posted a loss for the period of £660.5m, a drop of 483.6 per cent from £172.2m profit [...]
Doctor, Doctor: How can we cure our chronic NHS shortage? October 27, 2020 Shortages of PPE and ventilators have been at the top of the agenda during this pandemic, but such attention has masked a far more intractable problem: the global shortage of doctors. According to one forecast, in 10 years there will be a global deficit of 400,000 doctors, with that undersupply spread between 32 OECD countries. [...]
Covid-19 sparks bleakest UK hotel sector outlook ‘in 50 years’ October 27, 2020 UK hotel trading performance is expected to plummet next year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on travel and tourism, the latest research showed in the bleakest outlook for the sector in 50 years. Research by accountancy giant PwC showed that hotel occupancy rates are forecast to be 55 per cent across the [...]
UK legal case launched against Fiat Chrysler over diesel emissions October 27, 2020 Auto giant Fiat Chrysler (FCA) is facing a £5bn UK legal challenge over claims that the carmaker concealed the true levels of emissions that its vehicles produced from customers. International law firm PGMBM has issued a case in the High Court alleging that up to half a million cars manufactured since 2008 were fitted with [...]
