UK house prices record surprise jump despite looming stamp duty deadline February 15, 2021 UK house prices recorded a surprise jump this month as buyers were undeterred by the looming stamp duty holiday deadline. After three consecutive monthly falls the average price of property coming to market increased 0.5 per cent – or £1,511 – this month. The number of new buyers has continued to grow despite the fact [...]
LVMH founder and former UniCredit boss launch European-focused SPAC February 15, 2021 Former UniCredit chief Jean Pierre Mustier and LVMH founder Bernard Arnault are the latest to join the SPAC boom, creating a new vehicle to invest in European financial firms. Blank-cheque vehicles have grown in popularity in the past year as IPO activity fell off a cliff at the start of the pandemic. They are created [...]
Greencoat enters Nordic market with €60m wind farm purchase February 15, 2021 Renewables investment fund Greencoat has today bought a Finnish wind farm for €60m (£52m). The purchase of the Kokkoneva wind farm from Abo wind marks the AIM-listed firm’s entrance into the Nordic market. The 43 megawatt wind farm, which is currently under construction, is due to begin producing electricity in the second quarter of 2022. [...]
Why lockdown winners are not vaccine losers February 15, 2021 The past year has brought significant changes to all our lives and sped up the growth of a number of consumer and leisure trends. Online shopping is an obvious example and the same is true for some of the other “lockdown winners”: namely computer games and cook-at-home meal kits. Like online shopping, we think these [...]
EU to allow UK data flow in boost for business and law enforcement February 15, 2021 Brussels will allow data to continue to flow from the EU to the UK after deciding that Britain had an adequate level of protection for personal information. A draft decision by the European Commission is expected to be approved this week, the Financial Times reported on Monday. The move will help with features of EU-UK [...]
Oil prices climb above $63 for first time in 13 months February 15, 2021 Oil prices rose above $63 for the first time since last January this morning as last week’s rally continued apace. The combination of hefty supply cuts, optimism over the global rollout of Covid vaccines, and tension in the Gulf sent prices up. Worldwide standard Brent Crude is currently up 1.2 per cent at $63.20, while [...]
Matt Hancock rules out vaccine certificates for domestic use February 15, 2021 Matt Hancock has confirmed that the government has no plans to introduce vaccine certificates to allow people to access domestic services like pubs and supermarkets. Over the weekend foreign secretary Dominic Raab caused confusion when he suggested ministers were still considering the option. That was despite multiple other officials, including vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi, appearing [...]
Russian budget retailer Fix Price targets London listing February 15, 2021 Russian budget retailer Fix Price this morning announced plans to launch a London listing. The company, which is the largest value retailer in Russia, said the potential initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange would allow it to pursue growth and international expansion. Fix Price, which launched in 2007, has more than 4,200 stores [...]
New Ocado finance chief to take helm next month February 15, 2021 British online grocer Ocado said on Monday that its new chief financial officer Stephen Daintith will start his role on 22 March. Ocado had announced in August that Daintith, the current finance chief of Rolls-Royce, would be joining the group. Daintith has previously held senior roles at Daily Mail and General Trust, Dow Jones and [...]
Rolls-Royce picks former Deloitte partner Kakoullis as finance chief February 15, 2021 Engineering giant Rolls-Royce has named Panos Kakoullis as its new chief financial officer, as the FTSE 100 group steers through a pandemic-driven restructuring. Kakoullis, who spent 30 years at accountancy firm Deloitte, will join the company in May. Restructuring Rolls-Royce said in January that its restructuring efforts were continuing apace, with 7,000 roles removed last [...]
