Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust: City broker warns of underperformance March 5, 2025 City broker Stifel has warned that popular investment trust Scottish Mortgage might suffer from underperformance in coming years as growth-focused US stocks begin to fall out of favour with markets. In a research note today, Stifel analysts Iain Scouller and William Crighton said that noted that Scottish Mortgage’s share price has jumped around 27 per [...]
Chancellor lining up billions in spending cuts as fiscal headroom wiped out March 5, 2025 The Chancellor Rachel Reeves is preparing to announce “major measures” including substantial spending cuts to a number of government departments – including welfare – in the Spring Statement. According to BBC News, sources said that “the world has changed” since the Budget, and that £9.9bn in fiscal headroom projected by the Office for Budget Responsibility [...]
Brits spent almost £1bn this Valentines Day March 5, 2025 Brits spent almost £1bn on flowers, gifts, and at-home meals this Valentine’s Day as shoppers sought to create a special occasion at home rather than splashing out at a restaurant. According to the latest NIQ Till Tracker, £962m was spent on food and gifting on Valentine’s Day, with the biggest growth in spending on flowers, [...]
Supermarket sales rise, but Asda continues to struggle March 4, 2025 Sales at UK supermarkets rose above inflation in February as Brits looked for cost-effective ways to treat themselves. Take-home sales at the grocers rose by 3.6 per cent over the four weeks to 23 February, while prices rose 3.3 per cent, according to Kantar. However, the headline figure masked a gulf between the performance of [...]
‘Sell’ Greggs shares analysts say after poor results March 4, 2025 High street bakery Greggs has reported a double-digit increase in sales for 2024, taking it past the £2bn sales milestone for the first time. However, its share price fell more than eight per cent in early trades, which analysts attributed to a slowdown in sales growth. “Profits are up but it’s not the stellar performance [...]
Lower retail prices drive shops into deflation March 4, 2025 Prices in UK shops continued to fall in February, as discounting in retail offset high grocery prices. Shop prices fell by 0.7 per cent year on year in February against a decline of 0.7 per cent in January, driven by a 2.1 per cent drop in retail prices. “Discounting is still widespread in fashion as [...]
Will western brands return to pariah state Russia? March 4, 2025 It was the sight that heralded a new geopolitical era. Hundreds of Russian punters standing in a disorderly queue and braving the bitter Moscow air to sample their first bite of the latest big import from America. The iron curtain – having been chipped away slowly for years – had fully fallen just two months [...]
Small businesses forced to raise prices ahead of national insurance jump March 3, 2025 The price of small businesses’ goods and services is set to be the latest victim of Rachel Reeves’ national insurance hike, a new survey has revealed. More than four-in-ten of the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have said the government’s increase in National Insurance Contributions (NIC) for employers will negatively impact them. Nearly a [...]
Sadiq Khan’s plan to ‘turbocharge’ London’s economy is wilfully naive March 3, 2025 Sadiq Khan’s London Growth Plan is an admirable and ambitious vision for the capital, but its bold projections should be taken with a pinch of salt, says James Ford When running for his historic third term last year, Sadiq Khan claimed to be the “most pro-business Mayor ever”. Now he is putting his money where [...]
Oak Furnitureland battles rising costs as sales cut March 3, 2025 Oak Furnitureland remains in the red as a catalogue of issues impacted its sales during its latest financial year. The Swindon-headquartered retailer has revealed its revenue fell by 17 per cent to £236m in the 12 months to the end of June 2024 because of “a soft market, the Red Sea disruption and the subsequent [...]