Coronavirus: Self-employed bailout won’t be perfect, says minister March 26, 2020 A health minister has warned self-employed workers in line for economic relief today that their package might not be “perfect”. Health minister Edward Argar said the government did not “want the perfect to be the enemy of the good” in formulating a package to assist the self-employed during the coronavirus outbreak. Rishi Sunak will unveil [...]
Coronavirus: Covent Garden landlord cans £100m share buyback plan as shops shut March 26, 2020 Coronavirus has turned Covent Garden into a ghost town and closed restaurants and shops will lead to lost rental cash, according to Capital & Counties (Capco). The owner of Covent Garden said in a Covid-19 update that most of its retail and dining units on its estate were shuttered and therefore it would incur “a [...]
Royal Navy shadowing Russian warships in the Channel and North Sea March 26, 2020 The Royal Navy has been tracking seven Russian warships after detecting “unusually high levels” of activity in the Channel and North Sea. “The Navy has completed a concentrated operation to shadow the Russian warships after unusually high levels of activity in the English Channel and North Sea,” the Royal Navy said. Nine UK warships were [...]
Coronavirus: London Southend Airport to close for four days a week March 26, 2020 London Southend airport will shut for more than half of the week from Monday due to the complete collapse in passenger demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak. From next week, the airport will only be open between 16:30 and 21:30 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays due to severely reduced service. Due to the onset of [...]
Dixons Carphone posts surge in online shopping as Brits work from home March 26, 2020 Dixons Carphone has reported a huge increase in online sales as Brits splash out on laptops, TVs and kitchen appliances to cope with coronavirus quarantine. The retailer today posted a 72 per cent increase in online sales of electrical goods in the three weeks to 21 March. The boost was driven by booming demand for [...]
British Land scraps dividend and defers £40m in rent March 26, 2020 British Land has suspended its dividend and will defer £40m in rents this quarter and spread repayment in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The firm is deferring March quarter day rents and spreading repayment over the six quarters from September 2020. The financial impact of this is expected to be £40m. The company added it [...]
130 profit warnings triggered by COVID-19 March 26, 2020 I’m not even sure where to begin. I think I’ll start with my week in numbers… On Monday…UK quoted companies issued as many profit warnings in a day as they did in the whole of April 2019 On Tuesday….8 FTSE Retailers warned, the sector’s average quarterly total in 2019 On Wednesday, by 10am…5 FTSE Household Goods and Home Construction companies had [...]
US senate unanimously approves $58bn package for airlines March 26, 2020 Late last night the US senate voted unanimously in favour of a $58bn (£49bn) rescue package for its struggling aviation industry, which has been decimated by the plunge in travel demand caused by coronavirus. Almost half – $25bn of the total package – comes in the form of grants, which airlines will use to continue [...]
Coronavirus: Moody’s downgrades outlook for Europe’s biggest banking systems March 26, 2020 Ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded the outlook for six of Europe’s biggest banking systems to “negative” as coronavirus threatens lenders’ profitability and asset quality. Moody’s said the banking systems of France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium face a very difficult year and can therefore no longer keep their “stable” rating. The ratings agency [...]
Coronavirus: New York and London slip up in financial centres ranking March 26, 2020 The world’s leading financial centres saw their ratings tumble in an annual survey today as the global coronavirus pandemic saw investors flee for the relative stability of western Europe. New York and London kept their top two positions in the Global Financial Centres Index list, which measures the competitiveness of the world’s financial centres. But [...]
