UK to raise £225bn from bond sales to fund coronavirus measures April 23, 2020 The UK government is planning a huge increase in bond sales to fund its economic response to the coronavirus, selling roughly four times as much debt over the next three months than originally planned in the March Budget. The Treasury said it will try to raise £180bn from investors in the bond markets over the [...]
Coronavirus: Healthtech needs a route to market April 23, 2020 In just a few weeks the healthtech sector has made 10 years of progress, underlining why this week’s decision by the Chancellor to create a fund to support our innovative tech startups is necessary. Most entrepreneurs position themselves as problem solvers but in healthtech we are seeing hundreds of tiny companies, often working with world-leading [...]
Hipgnosis takes majority stake in Mark Ronson’s publishing catalogue April 23, 2020 Music royalties investment firm Hipgnosis today said it has acquired the majority of the publishing catalogue of prolific songwriter and producer Mark Ronson. Hipgnosis has taken control of 70 per cent of the 315-song portfolio, which includes more than 83 number one hits and two songs that have been streamed more than 1bn times on [...]
UK economy suffers unprecedented slump amid coronavirus lockdown April 23, 2020 The UK economy suffered an unprecedented blow in April as the coronavirus lockdown choked off demand, according to a closely watched gauge which slumped to its lowest level since records began. The IHS Markit/Cips composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) crashed to a reading of 12.9 in April. This was the worst score since the survey [...]
Robbie Gibb consortium wins last-minute bid for Jewish Chronicle after dramatic row April 23, 2020 A consortium led by former Downing Street spin doctor Robbie Gibb is set to take control of the Jewish Chronicle after its dramatic last-minute bid for the collapsed newspaper was accepted. The London weekly last week announced it was seeking a creditors’ voluntary liquidation alongside the Jewish News, with which it had agreed to merge. [...]
UK borrowing higher than expected before coronavirus lockdown April 23, 2020 The UK went over its borrowing target for the most recent financial year, it revealed today, but coronavirus spending is set to dwarf its budget deficit. Borrowing between April 2019 and March 2020 rose to £48.7bn, compared to forecasts of £47.4bn, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). But a swathe of public spending [...]
Oil prices steady after historic crash left market reeling April 23, 2020 Oil traders were on the receiving end of some welcome respite this morning as prices firmed overnight after a week of extreme volatility. After yesterday’s collapse to pre-millenium levels, global benchmark Brent crude continued its rally to rise seven per cent to $21.82. US standard West Texas Intermediate also firmed up, gaining 10 per cent [...]
Coronavirus: Meggitt to cut 1,800 jobs due to global aviation shutdown April 23, 2020 British defence contractor Meggitt will cut 1,800 jobs as the firm embarks on a major cost-cutting programme to cope with the shutdown of the global aviation market. The cuts, which represent 15 per cent of the engineer’s workforce, are part of a number of measures to be implemented in order to reduce expenditure by £400-£450m [...]
Taylor Wimpey plans to start reopening construction sites next month April 23, 2020 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has announced plans to reopen the majority of its construction sites in England and Wales at the start of May. Taylor Wimpey will be the first major housebuilder to reopen sites after weeks of lockdown. The firm said site management teams will return on 4 May, with the first subcontractors returning on [...]
What’s happening to dividends and what next? 11 questions answered April 23, 2020 Nick Kirrage, co-head of the Value team, and Sean Markowicz, part of the Research and Analytics team, chatted with us about the future of dividends and buybacks. With so many investors reliant on dividends to boost their income or support their retirement we wanted know what’s happening now, whether investors should be concerned and what [...]
