Hermes bags profit boost as demand from Asia drives surge in sales March 20, 2019 Luxury bag maker Hermes has posted double-digit profit growth for the full year as rising demand in Asia helped boost sales across all business lines. Read more: Asos confident on full-year targets despite 'challenging' markets The figures Hermes’ net profit rose 15 per cent to €1.4bn (£1.2bn). Consolidated revenue was up 7.5 per cent to [...]
Corbyn fails yet again to grasp the magic of competitive markets March 19, 2019 It is not the worst thing that Jeremy Corbyn has ever said. But it’s certainly one of the most revealing. A year ago, the Labour leader was explaining why he wanted to leave Europe’s Single Market while staying in the customs union – a stance memorably described by my fellow think tanker Kristian Niemietz as [...]
All the world’s a sound-stage March 13, 2019 Johnny Hon loves a show and he loves a stage. Unlike most globe-trotting international investors, he also finds time to invest in them. Hon, the founder and chairman of venture capital business and angel investor the Global Group, is a showbiz impresario, acting as an executive entertainment producer as an enjoyable sideline. UK-educated Hon is [...]
European authorities impose flight ban on Boeing 737 Max 8 models after fatal Ethiopia crash March 12, 2019 THE CRISIS at aerospace giant Boeing reached a fever pitch today after aviation authorities and airlines across the globe grounded its latest jet model, after it suffered its second fatal crash in five months. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) was joined by others in China, Singapore and Australia yesterday in putting a flight ban [...]
Malaysia, Singapore and Australia issue flight ban on Boeing 737 Max 8 models after fatal Ethiopia plane crash March 12, 2019 The crisis at aerospace giant Boeing has continued to grow this afternoon after Malaysian authorities became the latest to ban the firm's latest jet model from flying in or out of the country. Malaysia follows Singapore and Australia's decision to ground their fleets of Boeing 737 Max 8 planes this morning, after the US aircraft [...]
This investment clock says what assets to buy and when March 11, 2019 By Tom Bailey from interactive investor. It’s inevitable that the unremitting global economic cycle will impact stock markets, but when? The economist Paul Samuelson once joked that the stock market has predicted nine of the past seven recessions. But while the over-reactive nature of equity market investors and their poor predictive powers ring true, there [...]
Luxury retailer Farfetch to merge Chinese business with JD.com March 11, 2019 Luxury fashion retailer Farfetch will merge its China sales platform with ecommerce giant JD.com before the end of the year as it looks to cash in on growing demand for luxury goods in the country. The merger, first announced last month, comes after the London-based firm bought Toplife, JD.com’s luxury fashion venture. Read more: Chinese [...]
The UK’s competition policy must be fit for a world of tech giants and hidden cartels March 11, 2019 Competition is the oxygen of the capitalist system. From Adam Smith on, there have been warnings of the threats to economic health if competition is restricted by would-be monopolists or cartels. In the UK, the system is policed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). It rarely hits the headlines except for occasional controversial cases like [...]
US recession risk spikes amid trade war and consumer spending slowdown March 10, 2019 The risk of a recession in the US has shot up thanks in large part to weak consumer demand, a report has warned. The likelihood of a fall in GDP in two successive quarters spiked to 73 per cent from just 24 per cent in December, according to a report from economists at Swiss bank UBS. A [...]
FTSE 100 risers and fallers: Index dips amid fears over global growth March 8, 2019 The FTSE 100 index slipped 0.7 per cent today driven by a plunge in gambling company GVC's shares and poor Chinese export data that has sparked fears over global growth. GVC led the day’s fallers with its share price 13.82 per cent down after dropping as low as 18 per cent earlier in the day after its chief [...]