Boohoo woes: Shares collapse as customers return more clothes than expected May 4, 2022 Boohoo faces further woes as the online retailer’s shares plunged after it admitted that consumers were returning items more than expected. Supply chain hang-ups have also led to longer delivery times, to the detriment of the Boohoo’s international proposition, it said on Wednesday. The beleaguered fashion firm recorded a revenue jump of 14 per cent [...]
HSBC launches $1bn share buyback as break-up rumours swirl May 4, 2022 HSBC has launched a $1bn (£801m) share buyback programme today, as rumours of a break-up proposal swirl. The lender will buy shares for some $0.50 each, in a bid to shrink its outstanding ordinary shares, it said in a regulatory filing this morning. The agreement, where US bank Merrill Lynch will act as principal, will [...]
Investors’ warm response to break up rumours boosts HSBC shares May 3, 2022 Shares in Britain’s biggest bank climbed today in a sign investors backed a proposal by its largest shareholder to carve out its profit-machine Asia business. FTSE 100-listed HSBC’s shares gained 1.61 per cent today on the first day of trading in London since calls to break-up the lender strengthened. Ping An, a Chinese insurance giant [...]
The City View: Michael Hewson on why calls for a windfall tax are misplaced May 3, 2022 Today Andy Silvester talks to Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets. They pick apart the arguments for a windfall tax on BP, discuss potential rate rises from the Fed and Bank of England, and go through the impact that China’s zero-Covid policy has had on manufacturing in the country. And in other news [...]
Poor start of the month for global markets: April weakness rolls into May with China lockdowns not helping May 3, 2022 Asia markets got off to a poor start to the month yesterday, as did markets in Europe after the latest China PMIs showed that economic activity in April fell back by more than expected. Much was made of the slowdown in China manufacturing to 47.4 from 49.5, however non-manufacturing saw an even bigger fall, plunging [...]
How TikTok saved the bookstar: Will the UK stay in love with reading after lockdown? April 29, 2022 A decade ago, the narrative of bookselling was of the surging popularity of digital book sales, with physical editions left on the shelf. Figures from the Publishers’ Association in 2012 saw digital book sales shoot up 54 per cent while physical book sales dipped five per cent. Fast forward to 2021 and UK publishing sales [...]
London’s top indexes fail to recover China Covid lockdown triggered losses April 26, 2022 London’s top indexes failed to recover from Monday’s bruising session as investors were still jittery due to concerns over the severity of the impact on the global economy from China sticking to its zero-Covid tolerance policy. London’s premier FTSE 100 index edged 0.08 per cent higher to 7,286.19 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 [...]
China drives global coal capacity amid pandemic recovery April 26, 2022 The global capacity of power plants fired by coal rose nearly one per cent last year, driven by Chinese growth over the past 12 months.
HSBC profits slide on looming inflation default wave April 26, 2022 A deterioration in borrowers’ credit worthiness caused by a historic cost of living squeeze prompted Britain’s biggest lender HSBC to set aside millions of pounds to deal with a rise in defaults. The bank, which sources a large proportion of its profits from China and Asia, banked $600m (£470m) in reserves to cope with a [...]
China zero-Covid policy sends chill through global markets April 25, 2022 Anxiety over the spillover effects on the global economy of China plunging more of its largest cities into lockdown as it ploughs ahead with its zero-Covid policy sent global markets tumbling today. A surge in infections has increased the likelihood of authorities tipping more cities into the most onerous Covid-19 restrictions, including China’s capital Beijing. [...]