First-time investors push profits higher at Hargreaves Lansdown February 1, 2021 A surge in younger investors investing for the first time have helped push up profits at the UK’s largest investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown. Hargreaves Lansdown reported a 10 per cent increase in pre-tax profit in the six months to December, to £188.4m, compared with the same period a year earlier. Net new business was up [...]
Eaton buys Cobham air refueling arm for $3bn as Advent sell-off begins February 1, 2021 Engineering firm Eaton today announced that it would buy Cobham’s air-to-air refueling arm for $2.8bn (£2bn). The deal values Cobham Mission Systems at about 14 times its 2020 earnings. US private equity firm Advent bought Cobham last year and proceeded to split it into nine divisions, of which Mission Systems was one. Opponents of the [...]
UK mortgage approvals reach highest level since 2007 February 1, 2021 The number of mortgage approvals reached their highest level since 2007 last year as buyers took advantage of the stamp duty holiday. The housing market remained resilient in the face of volatility and essential closure of the market during the first lockdown. There were 818,500 mortgage approvals over 2020, up from 789,100 the previous year, [...]
Covid testing push in Surrey after South African variant found with no travel links February 1, 2021 Residents in Woking, Surrey will be offered coronavirus tests after two people in the community tested positive for the South African variant, with no travel links to South Africa. Households in the Goldsworth Park and St Johns areas of Woking will be visited and requested to carry out a Covid-19 test – regardless of whether [...]
EU watchdog wants Apple to pay €13bn in back taxes after all February 1, 2021 EU competition enforcers are filing to overturn a verdict which they claim was a legal mistake when it abandoned an order for Apple to pay €13bn (£11.46bn) in Irish back taxes. The decision forms part of the European Commission’s clampdown on ‘aggressive’ tax planning by multinationals. The Commission said in 2016 that two Irish tax [...]
High and dry: London medical cannabis company enters administration February 1, 2021 London-based pharmaceutical company Senzer has entered administration, after failing to get enough backing to float on the Alternative Investment Market. Professional services firm Begbies Traynor has been appointed administrator of Senzer, which entered administration in early January. Senzer developed and manufactured respiratory devices for medical cannabis use. Its core product was a breath-activated inhaler that [...]
UK orders 100m doses of Valneva’s Covid-19 vaccine ahead of clinical approval February 1, 2021 French vaccine manufacturer Valneva said this morning that the government has ordered an additional 40m doses of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, boosting vaccine orders to 100m. Lined up for 2022, the additional vaccines should provide a buffer, particularly if any of the population require revaccination. Interim chair of government’s vaccines taskforce Clive Dix said: “The [...]
Rishi Sunak set to release Covid recovery plan this month February 1, 2021 Rishi Sunak will release a plan for the UK’s post-Covid economic recovery this month alongside Boris Johnson’s roadmap of how the country will ease the current lockdown. The plan will reportedly include a medium-term strategy for how the UK will boost investment and skills as the economy starts its recovery, and will be released before [...]
A new era dawns with latest crypto boom February 1, 2021 Here we go again. Crypto is on the move once more, with its architect-in-chief, Bitcoin, reaching all-time highs of $40K in the past few weeks and the entire crypto market capitalisation breaching $1 trillion. Cue the eye rolls, and familiar mantras trotted out by the uninformed: “it’s not a real asset; it’ll all come crashing [...]
Central London’s economy hit hardest by Covid as tourist spending plummets £10bn February 1, 2021 Research published by Sadiq Khan shows central London’s economy has been hit hardest by Covid-19, largely due to home working and a sharp drop in tourism. Tourism spending fell by £10.9bn in 2020 compared to the year before, with more than 26,000 jobs at risk in arts and culture alone and the night-time economy also [...]
