Tencent profit beats expectations as Wechat ban looms August 12, 2020 Tencent today said it has smashed expectations for second-quarter revenue and profit as the Chinese tech giant enjoyed higher demand for its video games during the Covid-19 lockdown. The world’s largest video game company posted revenue of 114.9bn yuan (£12.7bn) in the three months to the end of June — an increase of 29 per [...]
Dr Martens returns government furlough money after ‘resilient’ trading August 12, 2020 British shoe brand Dr Martens has returned money from the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme due to resilient trading during the pandemic. Dr Martens, which closed all of its stores in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and America from 16 March, said it had repaid the funds from the UK government furlough scheme. UK-based retail [...]
Balfour Beatty swings to loss as coronavirus shuts down construction in UK August 12, 2020 Shares in construction firm Balfour Beatty fell 4.4 per cent this morning after the company posted a £24m loss for the first half. The FTSE 250 firm said that the coronavirus pandemic, which hampered work at its building sites, was behind the loss. The figures Balfour Beatty swung from a £64m underlying profit for the [...]
PwC boss Kevin Ellis: returning to work like ‘crossing the Rubicon for some people…you have got to make them feel safe’ August 12, 2020 The chair and senior partner of PwC UK Kevin Ellis said the Big Four firm had found it needed to overcome fear among some of its workers to help them return to the office. Speaking on City A.M.’s The City View podcast, Ellis said: “It is about crossing the Rubicon for some people…you have got [...]
Liberty Global snaps up Swiss telecoms group Sunrise for $7.4bn August 12, 2020 Liberty Global today said it has acquired Swiss telecoms group Sunrise Communications in a deal worth 6.8bn Swiss francs ($7.4bn). Liberty, which is run by US cable mogul John Malone, said it had agreed to buy Sunrise for 110 Swiss francs a share, representing a 32 per cent premium on the company’s average share price [...]
Asos shares jump as profit forecast raised due to online shopping boom August 12, 2020 Shares in fast fashion retailer Asos jumped this morning after it announced that full-year sales and profit are expected to beat forecasts due to an online shopping boom during the UK coronavirus lockdown. Asos said revenue growth is expected to be between 17 per cent and 19 per cent, with profit before tax of around [...]
Rishi Sunak says ‘hard times are here’ as UK plunges into worst recession on record August 12, 2020 Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak today warned that “hard times are here” after the UK’s GDP contracted by 20.4 per cent in the last three months, plunging it into the worst recession on record. Speaking to Sky News, Sunak warned that “many more people” would lose their jobs as a result of the recession, [...]
Just Eat Takeaway sales soar during coronavirus lockdown August 12, 2020 Food delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway saw revenue soar 44 per cent in the first half of the year as consumers ordered food at home while restaurants closed during lockdown. The figures Revenue was up 44 per cent to €1bn as lockdown restrictions forced restaurants to close and consumers were told to stay at home. [...]
An obesity strategy that stigmatises patients won’t work August 12, 2020 At the end of last month, the government revealed an array of measures as part of its new obesity strategy to “protect against coronavirus and safeguard the NHS”. Unveiling a 12-week plan to get the nation fit and healthy, the Prime Minister spoke openly about his own brush with death, and the part his excess [...]
