Crash landing for Senior as Covid travel disruption wipes out profits March 8, 2021 Senior plc today warned this year would be as challenging as 2020 after the British aircraft parts supplier swung to an annual loss. The firm was struck by Covid-related disruptions to travel throughout the year, alongside Boeing’s 737 Max crisis. Senior reported an adjusted pre-tax loss of £6.2m, compared with a profit of £78.5m a [...]
Deliveroo transactions surge to £4.1bn ahead of London listing March 8, 2021 The value of transactions made through Deliveroo almost doubled last year due to a surge in demand for takeaway food during the pandemic, the food delivery firm said this morning ahead of its London listing. The firm’s gross transaction value – the total amount of cash it processes on its platform – grew 64 per [...]
Domino’s exits Swedish market to focus on core UK and Ireland business March 8, 2021 Domino’s has disposed of its Swedish business as it progresses with its strategy to exit international markets in order to focus on its core UK and Ireland operations. The pizza chain announced this morning it has sold its entire shareholding in PPS Foods – also known as Domino’s Sweden, to minority shareholder Eyja fjárfestingafélag. Domino’s [...]
Mastercard vice chair: We can’t let Covid crisis hold back female entrepreneurs March 8, 2021 In Q3 of 2020, venture funding for female founders hit its lowest quarterly total in three years. Whilst the current Covid-19 pandemic stands as one of the greatest disruptors to our way of life in living memory, when we have disruption and crisis we also have opportunity to do more, and to do better. There [...]
Direct Line profit slumps as major costs hit home insurance division March 8, 2021 Direct Line saw profit drop in 2020 as weather-related costs in its home insurance line offset a strong performance in its motor business. The firm said operating profit fell 4.5 per cent to £522m, while pre-tax profit plummeted 11.4 per cent to £451m. Weather costs increased to £43m from £6m in 2019, while gross written [...]
London cyber firm Kape acquires Israeli rival in $150m deal March 8, 2021 London-based cybersecurity company Kape Technologies has snapped up Israeli IT firm Webselenese in a deal worth almost $150m (£108m). Kape, which provides privacy-focused software, said the mixed cash and share deal will help expand its audience and fuel organic growth. Shares in Kape jumped by more than a fifth after the deal was announced this [...]
Starling Bank secures unicorn status with £272m funding round March 8, 2021 Starling Bank today confirmed it has raised £272m in its largest ever funding round, confirming its status as Britain’s newest unicorn. The digital bank raised the funds in a series D round led by Fidelity Management and Research. The Qatar Investment Authority, Railpen — the investment manager for the £31bn Railways Pension Scheme — and [...]
AIM outperforms London’s main market during 12 months of Covid-19 March 8, 2021 A year on from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the AIM has strongly outperformed London’s main market, something highly unusual in periods of economic downturn. London’s AIM outperformed the FTSE All-Share by a number of metrics, in part due to several of its listed companies performing well during the pandemic. The AIM All-Share index [...]
Ministers in talks over post-Brexit global services deal March 8, 2021 The government is said to be in talks to create a global trade agreement in services in an effort to boost the UK economy after Brexit. Senior ministers and City lobby groups have held discussions over a plan that would allow countries including Britain to export services such as banking, insurance and legal advice to [...]
Brexit fuels sharper fall in takeovers by UK investors in continental Europe than worldwide average March 8, 2021 The coronavirus pandemic and Brexit hampered deal activity between the UK and continental Europe in 2020, with the number of European businesses bought by UK acquirers falling by nearly a third. The number of takeovers by UK acquirers of continental European businesses fell 30% from 488 in 2019 to 342 in 2020, new research has [...]
