Premier Inn owner Whitbread gets serious Omicron beating over Christmas as new investments are postponed January 12, 2022 Premier Inn owner Whitbread has revealed a knock to demand over the festive season from the spread of the Omicron variant and cautioned over rising costs. The group saw total UK sales drop 4.4 per cent year-on-year in the six weeks to January 6, dragged lower by a 17.2 per cent slump in food and [...]
A very merry Christmas: Sainsbury’s upgrades full year profits to £720m thanks to retail boom January 12, 2022 Sainsbury’s has reported a very merry Christmas this morning, upgrading its pre-tax profits for the full year to £720m.
Plan B curbs deliver chilling blow to London business confidence January 12, 2022 The chilling impact on the UK economy inflicted by the reimposition of Covid-19 restrictions has whacked business optimism in London, reveals a new study released today. A sharp hit to consumer confidence from plan B measures to curb the spread of Omicron has weakened the trading environment for the capital’s businesses, leaving them sweating over [...]
Rate lift off to boost Wall Street banks’ bottom lines this year as investors eye earnings season January 11, 2022 The US Federal Reserve flexing its inflation fighting muscles this year by hoisting interest rates rapidly is set to boost Wall Street banks’ bottom lines in 2022. The likes of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Citi are in line to benefit from Fed chair Jerome Powell leading the fight against a spiralling cost of living across [...]
UK economy to shrug off Omicron quickly but lean into inflation blizzard January 11, 2022 The UK economy will shrug off the impact of the Omicron variant quickly, but will then fall into an inflation blizzard, top City economists have bet. Despite widespread concerns the new strain would plunge the economy back into doldrums seen during previous periods of high virus cases, the impact of the Omicron variant will be [...]
Exclusive: ‘Omicron is a reminder the world is only as good as the weakest link in the vaccination chain,’ says abrdn exec January 11, 2022 Ongoing inflationary shocks, questions around interest rates and the emergence of the new Omicron Covid variant are all making navigating uncertainty more challenging. Nonetheless, when we look beyond the headlines, there remain some reasons for optimism going into 2022, according to Richard Dunbar, head of multi-asset research at global investment giant abrdn. Square Mile-based Dunbar [...]
OECD inflation scales to 25-year high as cost of living crisis sweeps across rich nations January 11, 2022 Inflation among the world’s top economies has soared to its highest level in 25 years, according to fresh figures released yesterday. The cost of living scaled to 5.8 per cent in November on an annual basis across countries that make up the Organisations for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Inflation was driven higher by a [...]
Breakdown in social cohesion to put global economy in a vice, warn world’s top business brass January 11, 2022 A breakdown in social cohesion will cause volatility to ripple throughout the world, putting the global economy in a vice. The risk of social upheaval has intensified sharply since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis and now poses a real threat to eroding multilateral cooperation and derailing the global economy, according to a survey of [...]
Average used car price surges as market continues to grow January 11, 2022 The price of a used car surged 30.5 per cent year-on-year, making December the 21st consecutive month of growth for the second-hand automotive market. According to Auto Trader’s retail price index, the £17,816 average was driven by mainly by exceptional levels of consumer demand, reflected in the 27 per cent increase in visits to Auto [...]
Global tech stocks show signs of recovery after sharp sell-off January 11, 2022 Global tech stocks have shown signs of a rebound following a sharp sell-off in recent days.