‘Bond market tantrum risks’: Gilt traders brace for Labour leftward pivot as Starmer future uncertain
Ed Miliband returns to Labour shadow cabinet under Keir Starmer April 6, 2020 Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has returned to the frontbench as shadow business and energy secretary in Sir Keir Starmer’s new look shadow cabinet. Miliband will join Anneliese Dodds, announced as shadow chancellor yesterday, and new shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry in Labour’s key economic and business portfolios. Starmer appears to have purged the [...]
Coronavirus: Easyjet secures £600m in Bank of England funding April 6, 2020 Easyjet has secured £600m in commercial paper from the Bank of England’s (BoE) new Covid Corporate Funding Facility as the low-cost carrier seeks to strengthen its liquidity during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Shares in the firm rose 13 per cent after the announcement. Airlines have been among the businesses hardest hit by the pandemic, which [...]
JP Morgan mulls historic dividend suspension amid ‘bad’ coronavirus recession April 6, 2020 JP Morgan Chase’s boss Jamie Dimon has said the Wall Street giant could suspend its dividend for the first time in history and that he foresees a “bad recession” for the US economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Dimon also warned shareholders in his annual letter that the bank’s profit will be down “meaningfully in 2020”. [...]
BT gives staff pay rise as chief executive donates salary April 6, 2020 BT has handed out a share bonus to all staff and pledged not to cut jobs during the coronavirus crisis as the telecoms giant faces a surge in demand for its services. Each of BT’s 100,000 employees will be awarded £500 in shares in June, while thousands of non-managerial staff will be given a 1.5 [...]
Freshfields suspends partner profit distribution and freezes pay April 6, 2020 Magic Circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has suspended partner profit share for the fourth quarter and frozen pay across the firm to help weather the economic crisis triggered by coronavirus. The firm has also deferred decisions on staff bonuses until later in the year. A Freshfields spokesperson said: “We are focused on supporting our [...]
Easyjet founder warns airline could run out of money by August April 6, 2020 Easyjet’s founder and largest shareholder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has warned that unless a £4.5bn order for new Airbus planes is scrapped the carrier will run out of money by August. The Greek businessman is also seeking the removal of Easyjet chief financial officer Andrew Findlay. Haji-Ioannou said sacking Findlay “is the only way of preventing [...]
Pressure builds on social media firms to stamp out ‘crazed’ 5G conspiracy theories April 6, 2020 Social media firms are under fierce pressure to stamp out misinformation about 5G amid fears the spread of conspiracy theories is putting lives at risk. Phone masts have been set alight in locations across the UK due to posts circulating online falsely claiming that there is a link between mobile phone technology and the coronavirus [...]
Boris Johnson still ‘in charge of government’ from his hospital bed April 6, 2020 Boris Johnson is still in charge of government from his hospital bed and is continuing to receive his daily red box of briefing papers. The Prime Minister was admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital in Westminster last night due to “persistent symptoms” of coronavirus and “had a comfortable night”, according to an official Number 10 spokesman. [...]
Coronavirus squeezes mutual funds causing record fund outflows April 6, 2020 The coronavirus-induced market slump caused record fund outflows last month, with fixed income funds particularly badly hit. Investors redeemed a record £3.1bn of their fund holdings in March, according to global funds network Calastone. It represents almost three times the outflows recorded in the previous worst month in June 2016 when the UK voted to [...]
Apple to make 1m coronavirus face shields per week April 6, 2020 Apple has outlined plans to manufacture 1m face shields per week as it ramps up its efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. Chief executive Tim Cook said the tech giant had so far sourced 20m face masks from its global supply chain to distribute to health workers around the world. Apple’s design and engineer teams [...]