Saga hikes profit expectations following Ageas deal January 30, 2025 Saga, the financial services and travel provider for over-50s, has said it expects to report an underlying profit before tax above previous guidance. In a trading update, the firm said it expected underlying profit before tax for the last six months of 2024 to come in marginally higher than the year before. Saga’s travel arm [...]
Wizz Air shares tank after profit warning January 30, 2025 Wizz Air slashed its annual profit forecast on Thursday despite quarterly losses more than halving amid record passenger traffic. Shares tanked on the announcement, falling nearly 12 per cent in early trading. The Hungarian carrier reported a €75.9m (£63.6m) loss in the three months ended December 31, around 58 per cent smaller than the year [...]
BT appoints chief for new UK-centric business arm as revenue dips January 30, 2025 BT has appointed a CEO for its new UK-centric BT Business, at the same time as reporting a dip in revenue due to tough trading outside of the UK. BT’s share price fell just over four per cent in early trades. Jon James will be appointed a CEO of BT Business in March, and it [...]
St James’s Place: Stock price jumps after new money surge January 30, 2025 St James’s Place brought in £4.3bn in new money throughout 2024, bringing its total assets under management to a record £190.2bn. Britain’s largest wealth manager attracted £1.5bn of new money over the last quarter of the year, it said in a trading update, 70 per cent ahead of expectations. The firm’s pension arm brought in [...]
AIM and Aquis: London’s junior stock markets under threat without ‘urgent action’ from Reeves January 30, 2025 The government must take “urgent action” to revive London’s junior stock markets AIM and Aquis or risk more firms flooding overseas this year, a top City group has warned. In a new report today, The City UK, a trade body representing the UK’s financial services sector, called on the Chancellor Rachel Reeves and financial regulators [...]
Retail crime ‘spiralling out of control’ despite £1.8bn spent on protection January 30, 2025 Retail crime is “spiralling out of control”, hitting a new high last year despite billions spent on protection. Losses from customer theft reached a record £2.2bn, while retail violence and abuse increased over 50 per cent to more than 2,000 incidents a day, according to the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) Annual Crime Survey. More than [...]
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ fiscal rules on a ‘knife edge’ January 30, 2025 The Resolution Foundation warned that Rachel Reeves may be forced to find some extra cash through tax increases or spending cuts, or else face "market jitters".
Savers get three-month warning over £50bn in maturing ISAs January 30, 2025 Savers are being urged to act as a huge £53.9bn in cash ISAs will mature by April, according to Paragon Bank. Paragon said that £36.4bn of that was held in one-year, fixed-term deals, which are almost certainly paying better rates than savers can get today. Derek Sprawling, savings managing director at Paragon Bank, said: “Over [...]
Fed holds interest rates despite pressure from Donald Trump January 29, 2025 The pause comes after three consecutive interest rate cuts and means the federal funds rate stands in a range of 4.25-4.5 per cent.
Andrew Bailey: ‘No trade-off’ between financial stability and growth January 29, 2025 Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, was giving evidence in the Treasury Select Committee.