London Stock Exchange Group sees profits recover from 2020’s wave of pandemic uncertainty August 6, 2021 The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has seen its total profits recover in response to pandemic uncertainty which rocked its financial markets in the first half of 2020. Total profit hit £2.7bn in the six months to 30 June, up from just £914m in the first half of last year when the stock market faced [...]
‘No parade, no protest’: London Pride cancelled due to Covid restrictions August 6, 2021 This year’s Pride celebrations in London have been cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions, the event’s organisers have confirmed. The flagship LGBTQ+ event, which was first postponed from 11 June to September, had been expected to attract some 35,000 people. Organisers, who performed risk assessments for the event, said the parade could not be held within [...]
Vaccine race: Chile leads, Spain overtakes UK and one-third of world gets first dose August 6, 2021 Just under a third of the world’s population has received one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine so far in the global immunisation drive, forming part of some 4.3bn jabs distributed, the latest data reveals. Around 15.2 per cent of the world has been fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data, but only 1.1 per [...]
Huawei revenues collapse nearly a third as it peddles against US sanctions August 6, 2021 Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies has watched its revenue collapse by almost a third so far this year, as it peddles against the waters of US sanctions. Revenue hit $49.5bn in the six months to June, down 29 per cent, the group reported today. With its handset business struck by US sanctions, the UK’s decision [...]
Hikma Pharmaceutical revenue hits $1.2bn, buoyed by investments in new medicines August 6, 2021 Hikma Pharmaceuticals’ revenue has hit $1.2bn in the past six months, inching past last year’s figure. Revenue was up seven per cent in the six months to June from $1.1bn in the same period last year. The pharmaceutical firm also pulled in $326m in operating profit, some 10 per cent more than the first half [...]
Belarusian Olympic sprinter defects to Poland after warning from Grandmother August 5, 2021 Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who decided to defect to Poland instead of returning to her home country, did so because her grandmother warned her not to go home. Tsimanouskaya, 24, has said her family were worried she would be sent to a psychiatric hospital upon her arrival in Belarus. “I have always been far [...]
India’s financial crime watchdog looks to fine e-commerce giant Flipkart $1.3bn August 5, 2021 India’s financial crime watchdog is looking to fine Walmart-backed e-commerce giant Flipkart $1.35bn over claimed foreign investment violations, according to reports. The Enforcement Directorate agency has been investigating retail heavyweights like Flipkart and Amazon for allegedly bypassing laws that regulate multi-brand retail and restrict them to operating a marketplace for sellers, Reuters first reported citing [...]
Switched off: Nintendo sales tumble as lockdown gaming boom recedes August 5, 2021 Nintendo, which welcomed a frenzy for its newest console the Switch last year, has seen hardware sales tumble 21.7 per cent as the lockdown gaming boom receded amid lifting restrictions. The Japanese gaming giant posted record profits last year but has today reported that its software sales were down 10.2 per cent year on year. [...]
Savills profits swell eight-fold, reaping rewards of a UK house buying frenzy August 5, 2021 Real estate services group Savills has seen its profit before tax surge more than eight-fold in the past six months, as the firm posted record levels of UK residential transaction advisory. The firm raked in revenue of £932.6m in the six months to 30 June, up by some £141.2m in comparison to last year. Meanwhile, [...]
Commodity price surge: Glencore shareholders spy £2bn payday August 5, 2021 Glencore’s shareholders are looking at an around £2bn payday this year after commodity price surges hoisted the mining giant to a record performance in the past six months. Revenue hit £67.4bn in the first half of the year, up by some £16.3bn in comparison with the first half of 2020. The London-listed mining and trading [...]