Pressure on Reeves after more sluggish growth – but it’s not all doom and gloom January 16, 2025 Rachel Reeves’ handling of the UK economy is likely to come under further scrutiny after the publication of another set of lacklustre GDP figures. The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of last year. It is now on track to be stagnant in the second half, having grown [...]
Pearson’s stock price falls after revenue slowdown January 16, 2025 Academic publisher Pearson saw its stock price fall almost three per cent in early trading after reporting a slowdown in quarter-on-quarter organic growth. “Pearson’s transformation from being an owner of media titles like the Financial Times and selling expensive physical academic books to a company at the forefront of digital education has not been without [...]
Luxury stocks boom as Richemont kicks off reporting season with a bang January 16, 2025 Luxury stocks across the world have been given a boost by Cartier-owner Richemont’s booming sales figures this morning. Richemont’s report, the first set of luxury results covering the festive season, indicated that the luxury market may finally be recovering from a slowdown that has lasted nearly two years. Revenue from jewellery, Richemont’s biggest division, rose [...]
Young’s: Pub chain in ‘great shape’ after Christmas despite Budget burden January 16, 2025 Young & Co have reported an excellent Christmas trading period, with optimism abound despite a higher cost burden for the hospitality sector this year. The pubs-and-rooms operator, which has around 228 pubs and 5,600 employees, said that revenue in the five weeks to January 13 rose 30.4 per cent, with like-for-like sales up 11.6 per [...]
Freetrade: IG Group swoops for trading app January 16, 2025 IG Group has acquired stock trading app Freetrade for £160m, as the FTSE 250 firm looks to target a new UK audience of traders. The trading platform, along with its 720,000 customers and £2.5bn in assets, will move to IG Group in mid-2025, subject to regulatory approval, the firm said in a stock exchange notice [...]
Savills: End of work from home drives recovery in office property market January 16, 2025 International property services company Savills has predicted a strong commercial property market this year driven by cheaper financing, the sustainability agenda and workers’ return to the office. The FTSE 250-listed firm told the market this morning that while it expected challenging conditions to continue, “most markets are in recovery”. However, the firm added that geopolitical uncertainty, [...]
Robot hoovers on the menu as Premier Inn owner counts cost of Budget January 16, 2025 Whitbread, the hospitality chain which owns Premier Inn, could see UK costs increase by more than £100m following the Autumn Budget. In a statement on the London Stock Exchange, the firm warned of gross UK cost inflation of between five and six per cent on a £1.7bn cost base, when factoring in the impact of [...]
Wise: Fintech’s customers surge on back of payment deals boom January 16, 2025 Customers at fintech platform Wise have jumped 20 per cent over the last year as the firm continues to make deals with top financial clients. In a quarterly trading update, the money transfer firm revealed that cross border volumes had surged 24 per cent, or 27 per cent on a constant currency basis, to £37.8bn. Meanwhile, [...]
Deliveroo: Push into retail and groceries drives growth January 16, 2025 Deliveroo has said its retail and grocery partnerships drove growth in the last quarter of the year despite a still-tough trading environment. Its share price rose nearly five per cent in early trades. The delivery company launched its on-demand grocery service in March 2020, and has since partnered with a range of brands, with companies [...]
Taylor Wimpey: Housebuilder holds guidance but warns of cost pressures January 16, 2025 Taylor Wimpey has said it’s on track to meet its profit target for the year, but echoing a similar warning from rivals Persimmon and Vistry, said rising costs could be a headwind to growth in 2025. The FTSE 100 firm expects an operating profit of £416m for 2024, down from £470.2m the year prior, according [...]
