Wincanton to restart dividend payments on strong outlook November 5, 2020 Logistics firm Wincanton announced that it would restart paying dividends today on top of bullish forecasts for its financial outlook. Although profit shrunk from £26.2m to £19.1m in the first half of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the FTSE 250 firm said that it expected its full year results to be “materially ahead” [...]
Sainsbury’s to slash 3,500 jobs and close Argos stores November 5, 2020 Sainsbury's will cut 3,500 jobs and close 420 Argos sites, as the firm posted a £137m loss for the first half of the year.
The polls failed again, and blindsided businesses are crying out for better corporate intelligence November 5, 2020 So Joe Biden will be the 46th President of the United States. Or Donald Trump will squeeze home (though, at the time of writing, that seems less likely). It has been a nerve-wracking 48 hours for anyone who watches US politics — and one of the reasons for that is that commentators and pollsters got [...]
Virgin Media boosts customer numbers ahead of O2 merger November 5, 2020 Virgin Media today reported its biggest quarterly increase in broadband customers since 2017 as the firm said its proposed merger with O2 was on track. The telecoms group said its fixed-line customers have surpassed 6m after an increase of 37,000 in the third quarter. This is compared to a loss of 3,000 in the same [...]
Car sales fall again in worst October in nine years November 5, 2020 Sales of new cars declined again last month in the weakest October in nine years for the UK car market. New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that sales dropped 1.6 per cent to 140,945. More than half of the decline came as a result of Wales’ two week “firebreak” [...]
Trainline posts £40m loss as passenger numbers evaporate November 5, 2020 Trainline this morning posted a £43m loss as the coronavirus pandemic hammered the number of passengers making rail journeys. In its first half results, the FTSE 250 firm said that sales fell 81 per cent to £358m in the period to the end of August, including the three month initial lockdown in the spring. Passenger [...]
Astrazeneca boosts revenue but misses first vaccine delivery target November 5, 2020 Pharma giant Astrazeneca has seen its sales and revenue rise for the year to date despite the ongoing disruption from the coronavirus pandemic. The FTSE blue-chip said that revenue increased eight per cent to £19.2bn in the first nine months of the year, while sales rose nine per cent. The company, which is working with [...]
Talktalk extends deadline for Toscafund offer November 5, 2020 Telecoms provider Talktalk has extended the deadline for major shareholder Toscafund to make a solid offer for the company until 3 December. Last month the asset manager made a 97p per share approach for Talktalk, with the original deadline set for today. The current offer values the telecom at around £1.1bn, and represents a significant [...]
CBI predicts fourth-quarter contraction and urges long-term thinking November 5, 2020 The UK economy is likely to contract in the final three months of the year as the government’s new England-wide lockdown – put in place to slow coronavirus cases – hits businesses hard, the CBI has said. Britain’s economy faces a “bleak midwinter,” CBI chief economist Rain Newton-Smith told journalists. It came as the leading [...]
Separatist Scots beware: A new Scottish currency would be catastrophic November 5, 2020 Some 12 out of the last 15 opinion polls on Scottish secession have shown majority support for splitting up the United Kingdom. During a period of unprecedented crisis, Scots have chosen to rally round the flag — only this time the flag is that of Scotland, not the UK. However, while polling numbers may be unnerving [...]
