DEBATE: Should the government take equity stakes in struggling businesses to help support them? August 21, 2020 Should the government take equity stakes in struggling businesses to help support them? Leigh Webb, associate director and head of private equity sponsor coverage at finnCap Group, says YES. While I agree that, on the whole, government ownership is far less effective than using equity or capital markets when bailing out companies, this is not [...]
US stocks open higher as Wall Street eyes more records August 19, 2020 Wall Street opened higher on Wednesday and looks to be heading for another day of new all-time records. The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high yesterday after recovering all of the losses suffered during the coronavirus crash and was up once again on Wednesday morning by a further 0.28 per cent to 3,399 points. [...]
UK firms cut more than 106,000 jobs amid coronavirus pandemic August 19, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has battered the UK economy since it arrived in early 2020 – and no sector has remained unscathed, with more than 100,000 job cuts planned during the pandemic. The government’s furlough scheme has allowed millions of people to keep getting a paycheck, but fears are growing that when this is phased out [...]
Brits dash for the Channel in bid to beat France quarantine August 14, 2020 British holidaymakers are scrambling to get home before they are forced to quarantine for 14 days after the government last night announced that it was removing France from its travel corridors list. According to transport secretary Grant Shapps, there are roughly 160,000 UK holidaymakers currently in France who have been caught out by the ministers’ [...]
Markets live: US stocks near record high on stimulus hopes as FTSE 100 soars August 11, 2020 The FTSE 100 jumped today as US stimulus hopes offset bleak new data that showed a surge in UK job losses during the coronavirus crisis. The blue-chip index was up 2.42 per cent at 6,197 points at midday, before closing up 1.71 per cent at 6,154 in a bullish day for western markets. The gains [...]
Heathrow calls for airport testing as passenger numbers drop 88 per cent August 11, 2020 Around 88 per cent fewer people travelled through Heathrow Airport in July compared with last year as the coronavirus pandemic continued to strangle air travel. In total, over 860,000 people used the airport last month, a slight uplift from the 350,000 who did so in June, which Heathrow said was down to the government’s “travel [...]
A third of UK firms plan job cuts by October as furlough scheme ends August 10, 2020 As many as one in three UK firms plan to slash jobs by October as the government winds up its coronavirus furlough scheme, a new survey has revealed. Roughly 33 per cent of companies, charities and public sector bodies said they expected to make redundancies in the third quarter, according to a poll from the [...]
FTSE 100 flatlines as Trump order ramps up US-China tensions August 7, 2020 The FTSE 100 flatlined on a choppy morning of trading after US President Donald Trump signed executive orders hitting Chinese firms Tiktok and Wechat, and Congress and the White House failed to agree on a stimulus plan. London’s blue-chip index was roughly flat at 6,027 points at midday. The FTSE 250 of mid-cap firms rose [...]
British Airways reaches halfway point in 12,000 job cuts August 7, 2020 More than 6,000 British Airways staff have opted to take voluntary redundancy, as the airline makes progress on its mission to cut 12,000 jobs. The airline will send out letters to its remaining staff today to tell them whether they still have a job or not, and if they do, whether they will be required [...]
Meggitt shares sink over reports firm mulling equity raise August 6, 2020 Engineering firm Meggitt has said it is reviewing its options after reports that the FTSE 250 firm was considering raising new equity to help bolster its finances. Yesterday Bloomberg reported that the aerospace engineer was mulling a $600m (£455m) sale of new stock and was reviewing its debt with advisers. Shares fell 6.2 per cent [...]