French Connection in the red after ‘worse than expected’ trading March 10, 2020 French Connection reported a loss last year after trading in the second half was “considerably worse than expected”. The figures The high street retailer this morning said it fell to a loss of £2.9m last year compared to profit of £800,000 in the comparative period. Group revenue fell 11.4 per cent to £119.9m due to [...]
Coronavirus provides ‘market opportunities’ for TP ICAP March 10, 2020 TP ICAP’s full year earnings were in line with expectations today as the firm reported that coronavirus uncertainty could create more opportunities going forward. The world’s largest inter-dealer broker released its full year results today, recording £1.83bn in group revenue – a four per cent increase. This translated into operating profit of £279m, which was [...]
Coronavirus: DFS warns of footfall drop as profit slumps March 10, 2020 Sofa retailer DFS warned that coronavirus has caused a slump in footfall at its showrooms as it reported a dive in profit at the end of last year. The figures Gross sales fell 5.8 per cent to £629.7m, and revenue fell 5.7 per cent to £488m in the 26 weeks ended 29 December. Profit before [...]
Standard Life Aberdeen profit slips as investors withdraw funds March 10, 2020 Standard Life Aberdeen’s underlying profit dropped 10 per cent in 2019 as investors continued to withdraw their cash from its funds, hurting revenue. The figures Fee-based revenue fell 13 per cent to £1.63bn after net outflows in 2018 and 2019. And adjusted profit before tax dropped 10 per cent year on year to £584m as [...]
M&G launches redundancy scheme to slash staff costs March 10, 2020 Asset management firm M&G today announced it has launched a redundancy scheme to reduce staff costs by 10 per cent this year. The figures M&G reported a drop in adjusted operating profit before tax from £1.62bn in 2018 to £1.15bn last year. IFRS profit after tax increased from £811m to £1.06bn. Assets under management and [...]
Has the time come for healthtech? March 10, 2020 More than 110,000 coronavirus cases have been recorded worldwide and at least 3,800 patients have died. Only time will tell how devastating the effect of coronavirus will ultimately be on the human population and the global economy. Whatever happens, the Covid-19 virus could well go down in history as a moment of profound change in [...]
Government bides its time as markets panic March 10, 2020 When sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions. Global markets were already nervous about the looming consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, so Saudi Arabia’s declaration of an oil price war obliterated what little confidence remained on trading floors around the globe. Oil prices had already fallen as the virus took a bite [...]
George Osborne’s former adviser Rupert Harrison: Extra spending in Budget is ‘welcome’ March 10, 2020 Rupert Harrison has spent the last few weeks monitoring obscure economic indicators – everything from pollution in Chinese cities to traffic in Milan – in an effort to guide his clients at investment giant Blackrock through the worst market crisis since 2008. He’s no stranger to financial turbulence, however, having been chained at the hip [...]
City Moves for 10 March — Who’s switching jobs at Vectura, Heylo and Segro? March 10, 2020 Today’s City Moves includes Vectura, Heylo and Segro Vectura Drug delivery service Vectura has announced the appointment of Mark Bridgewater as chief commercial officer. Mark has more than 20 years of experience in medical device and pharmaceutical services. Prior to joining Vectura, he was vice president of business development and account management for Europe and [...]
Can the chancellor protect the UK economy from coronavirus? March 10, 2020 You have to feel sympathy for Rishi Sunak. Suddenly appointed as chancellor after the unexpected resignation of Sajid Javid, he found himself with just weeks to put together the first Budget of the Boris Johnson era. Any chance he could simply copy Javid’s homework was then dashed when the former chancellor gave the Times chapter [...]
