Astrazeneca beats forecasts due to strong drug sales in lockdown July 30, 2020 Pharmaceuticals giant Astrazeneca this morning reported better than expected second-quarter sales and profits for the second quarter due to strong sales during the coronavirus lockdown. The figures The FTSE 100-listed firm, which has signed up to produce a front-running coronavirus vaccine candidate, said product sales in the three months to 30 June reached $6.05bn. Analysts [...]
BoE hires Accenture in £150m deal to overhaul payments system July 30, 2020 The Bank of England has hired IT consulting firm Accenture to refresh a key part of the UK’s crucial payments system in a deal worth up to £150m. The firm will overhaul the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) service, the backbone of the country’s huge payments system. RTGS settles an average £685bn of payments each working [...]
Kodak shares soar 1,500 per cent on coronavirus drug loan July 30, 2020 Shares in Kodak have surged by 1500 per cent since the end of trading last week on the back of a Donald Trump deal that will see the photography company develop drugs to treat coronavirus. Trump made the announcement of the $795m funding yesterday, sending Kodak’s stock price on the New York Stock Exchange soaring [...]
We’ve relaxed the rules for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to give our smallest firms a chance July 30, 2020 Our government-backed loan schemes have been a demonstration of what can happen when banks, the government and businesses work together. In a time of extreme disruption and uncertainty, we got much-needed support out to businesses when they needed it most. This protected jobs and livelihoods, and meant that when we were able to start safely [...]
Standard Chartered profit slumps as credit impairments mount July 30, 2020 Standard Chartered suffered a 33 per cent drop in pre-tax profit in the first half of the year as it braced itself for loans to go bad amid the coronavirus pandemic. The bank’s shares dropped 3.9 per cent after it said it expects “expect new waves of Covid-19 related challenge in the coming quarters”. The [...]
Give people seeking asylum the right to work in Britain July 30, 2020 The Prime Minister has said he wants the UK to build back better as the country and economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s a worthy goal — and the good news is that there are thousands of people in our communities with a wide variety of skills who are desperate to help. They are [...]
Robert Walters sees profit slump 80 per cent amid coronavirus July 30, 2020 Recruitment group Robert Walters suffered an 80 per cent drop in pre-tax profit in the first half of the year after all of its operations regions were “significantly impacted” by the coronavirus pandemic. The figures Robert Walters’s profit before tax slumped 79 per cent to £4.3m in the six months ended 30 June, from £20.9m [...]
Credit Suisse posts 24 per cent profit jump and merges investment arms July 30, 2020 Credit Suisse hailed a huge 24 per cent rise in net profit today as it revealed its plan to combine its global markets and investment banking divisions. The Swiss banking giant also began a cost-cutting exercise to save around 400m Swiss francs per year. “The measures we outline today are the right ones to further [...]
German economy shrinks at record rate as coronavirus bites July 30, 2020 The German economy contracted at a record rate in the second quarter of the year as the coronavirus pandemic sent the country into lockdown. German GDP fell by 10.1 per cent quarter on quarter after shrinking two per cent in the first three months of the year. It was the biggest drop since records began [...]
Hermes second quarter sales plunge 42 per cent amid store closures July 30, 2020 Luxury brand Hermes announced this morning that sales fell 42 per cent in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic forced it to close stores and pause production. The French designer group, which makes the £7,000-plus Birkin bag, said revenue in the first half of the year was down 25 per cent to €2.5bn. The [...]
