UK’s sanitising obsession boosts sales at Dettol maker Reckitt Benckiser during Covid pandemic April 28, 2021 The UK Government’s message of “Hands, face, space” during the Covid pandemic is still paying off for hygiene and cleaning products maker Reckitt Benckiser. Reckitt Benckiser reported a higher-than-expected jump in quarterly sales as Brits kept up their heightened cleaning regimens a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, and the company backed its full-year outlook. The pandemic [...]
Santander UK profit soars two-thirds April 28, 2021 Santander UK hailed a “strong” set of results this morning as profit before tax rose nearly two-thirds in the first quarter. The bank said that pre-tax profit was up 61 per cent, jumping from £114m to £184m over the three month period. It added that its return on tangible equity (RoTE), a key metric, was [...]
What is the post-pandemic outlook for Asian shares? April 28, 2021 Despite the global turmoil caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, stock markets were generally strong in 2020 and the Asia ex Japan region was no exception. Indeed, in many ways the region was first into the pandemic and first out, with successful containment of the virus in many countries enabling economic activity to resume more quickly [...]
European Parliament calls Brexit a ‘historic mistake’ before voting for trade deal April 28, 2021 The European Parliament has voted to ratify the EU’s post-Brexit trade deal with Britain, but not before branding Brexit a “historic mistake”. MEPs overwhelmingly approved the deal, with 660 votes to five and 32 abstentions, in a result announced this morning. The deal was provisionally ratified by the 27 EU ambassadors in December to ensure [...]
Metro Bank signals lending progress after slow start to the year April 28, 2021 Metro Bank said it is starting to see growth in consumer lending again, after a lockdown-led sluggish start to the year. Metro Bank saw a 17 per cent plunge in lending for the first quarter, with the company’s total net loans falling to £12.05bn for the first three months of 2020, versus £14.51bn a year earlier. [...]
Business rates relief snub costs Sainsbury’s £400m as profit slumps despite lockdown sales boost April 28, 2021 The last year saw most Brits spend up large at the supermarket, but despite a sales boom Sainsbury’s first quarter profit has slumped because it chose to say no to business rates relief. Sainsbury’s, the UK’s second largest grocer after Tesco , said it made an underlying pretax profit of £356m in the year to [...]
Driverless cars set for UK roads by the end of the year April 28, 2021 Britain’s roads could see their first driverless cars by the end of the year after the Department for Transport gave an autonomous driving system the green light today. Officials said that the technology could improve road safety by reducing human error, which contributes to over 85 per cent of accidents. In a statement this morning, [...]
Persimmon builds up sales to pre-Covid levels April 28, 2021 Sales at housebuilder Persimmon for 2021 so far are 23 per cent ahead of last year, meanwhile, it has set aside £75m to address the issue of flammable high-rise cladding. With the average price for homes sold to private owners at around £252,000, the group enjoyed £3bn in sales in the first quarter of 2021, [...]
Antonio Horta-Osorio signs off at Lloyds with a £1.4bn post-tax profit April 28, 2021 Lloyds bank posted a £1.4bn after tax profit for the first quarter, up nearly 200 per cent on the same time last year, in boss Antonio Horta-Osorio’s final results at the helm. The banking giant’s statutory profit after tax for the three months to 31 March 2021 was £1.39bn compared to £480m this time last [...]
Shakespeare: Primark at the heart of the reopening fun April 28, 2021 The easing of lockdown restrictions on April 12 allowed non-essential retail stores to reopen nationwide – and data from YouGov BrandIndex UK suggests that Primark has been a particular beneficiary. The budget fashion chain recently returned £121m to the Treasury, following record sales in the week after the lockdown restrictions were relaxed. In the days [...]
