Moneysupermarket profit drops as demand for travel insurance and credit products falls February 18, 2021 Moneysupermarket, the financial services price-comparison platform, suffered a fall in profit and revenue last year as lockdown restrictions caused a drop in demand for insurance and credit products. Moneysupermarket, which also owns the advice website Moneysavingexpert, said profit after tax fell 27 per cent from £94.9m in 2019 to £69.3m last year. Group revenue was [...]
Why I can stomach higher equity valuations – Schroders CIO February 17, 2021 The rising involvement of retail investors has been an intriguing trend during the pandemic, culminating in the surge and slump of GameStop shares. As an industry, we worry about the disconnection of individual investors from financial markets, the hubs of wealth creation. Direct ownership of shares by individuals has been declining for decades. For that reason, [...]
UK CPI creeps up during January lockdown February 17, 2021 The UK’s Consumer Prices Index was 0.7 per cent in January, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. Rising prices for food, transport and household goods helped to drive the increase. January’s figure was up slightly from December’s reading of 0.6 per cent despite a return to national lockdown restrictions. Inflation remains a long [...]
The Great Frost of Covid-19 will pass – and Britain’s economy will heat up February 17, 2021 The Great Frost of 1709 has been in the news this week, quite possibly for the first time since 1709 itself. According to Bank of England estimates, this was the last time that GDP fell by more in a single year than it did in the Covid year we have just had. The Office for [...]
Greening the economic recovery is vital for the UK’s long-term prosperity February 17, 2021 The decisions we make in the coming weeks and months on how the UK economy recovers from covid-19 will shape our economy for decades. It is crucial that we start to phase-out carbon intensive industries and lock-in clean, green innovation. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus what happens when humans disrupt natural systems [...]
City counts the cost of Brexit but eyes turn to new global opportunities February 16, 2021 As temperatures hit record lows in February, parts of London’s financial markets are feeling the cold as consequences of Brexit bed in. The much reported toppling of London as the continent’s top share-trading hub in January is a symbolic moment more than a significant economic shift, but it plays into a wider discussion about the [...]
Some City investors are starting to get nervous about inflation February 16, 2021 The UK will release new inflation data later this week, but if recent investor comments and analyst notes are anything to go by, it is becoming increasingly clear that some within the investment community are starting to get nervous about inflation. According to last month’s figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s annual [...]
Adapt and thrive: There’s a £200bn prize for British firms willing to embrace new ideas February 16, 2021 After the toughest of years, many businesses are still reeling from the impact of Covid-19. Shuttered high streets and closed forecourts are the visible scars from a bruising year. But alongside this, some businesses are swimming against the tide, with strong profits reported at firms like Next and Jaguar Land Rover. Covid-19 shone a spotlight [...]
Up we go: Pound sterling approaches $1.40, hitting two-year-high thanks to Covid vaccine rollout February 15, 2021 Pound sterling nears $1.40 after hitting two-year-high on Covid-19 vaccine rollout
The Week Ahead: Barclays, Natwest, retail sales, public borrowing February 15, 2021 City A.M. takes a look at some of this week’s market-shaping events. Barclays – Full year results (Thursday) The past 12 months have been difficult ones for banks in general, but UK banks have underperformed relative to their peers, Hewson said, with the unknowns of what a final Brexit deal might look like also weighing [...]