Secondary fundraising by retailers nears £2bn as firms eye M&A opportunities May 10, 2021 Listed retail companies have raised nearly £2bn in the past year as they sought to strengthen their balance sheets amid the pandemic. Now, they are starting to eye M&A opportunities. In recent years, listed firms in the UK have relied less on the public markets with private equity firms often considered a more attractive option. [...]
The turf wars for on-demand delivery won’t be won with a fast and dirty business model May 8, 2021 Getir, Dijia, Weezy, Zapp and Fancy. There is a handful of the new on-demand grocery delivery apps that have flooded London’s streets over the last few months. Behind each of them is a fierce turf war for customers, as they try and capitalise on the now ubiquitous presence of food delivery. The surge of grocery [...]
FTSE 100 ends the day on a high while Dow hits new record May 5, 2021 Heavyweight mining stocks pushed the FTSE 100 higher today while Wall Street opened higher on strong jobs data as the Dow Jones hit a record high. The blue-chip index closed 1.68 per cent higher, buoyed by chemicals group Croda’s shares soaring towards the top of the index after it announced a business review assessment. The [...]
FTSE ends day with slump as Wall Street’s Nasdaq plunges nearly three per cent May 4, 2021 The FTSE 100 slipped back below the 7,000 point mark by the market close, despite a strong start to the week’s trading after the Bank Holiday weekend. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.67 per cent by the end of the day, with banking stocks, including HSBC Holdings, Barclays and Standard Chartered posing the biggest drag on [...]
FTSE closes higher as US stocks pause after busy week for earnings April 30, 2021 The FTSE 100 closed higher today as the economic recovery optimism poised the index for its largest monthly gain since November last year. The blue-chip index rose 0.2 per cent, boosted by positive earnings updates from AstraZeneca and Smurfit Kappa. Meanwhile, the mid-cap FTSE 250 also rose by 0.56 per cent. Both indexes have risen [...]
Asda beats competitors to become fastest growing Big Four supermarket for first time in more than two years April 27, 2021 Asda beat its competitors to become the fastest growing of the biggest UK supermarkets for the first time in more than two years as consumers ventured further for their food shopping. The latest data showed Asda, which was recently sold by US retail giant Walmart to the Issa brothers and TDR Capital, increased its market [...]
Waitrose expands Deliveroo partnership to 150 stores, creating 400 jobs April 27, 2021 Waitrose has expanded its partnership with Deliveroo as it aims to ramps up its online delivery capabilities, in a move that will create up to 400 new jobs. The supermarket announced this morning that it will increase the number of Waitrose shops available on the delivery app from 40 to 150, serving around 13m people. [...]
London stocks end the week lower despite strong economic data April 23, 2021 London’s blue-chip stocks were little changed on Friday but finished the week lower as growing concerns over a surge in global coronavirus cases eclipsed optimism from recent data pointing to a rapid UK economic rebound. The exporter-heavy index ended the session flat, with a fall in heavyweight energy shares and large dollar earning companies including [...]
London market recovery continues following grim start to the week April 22, 2021 London’s main market continued to rise on Thursday, after rebounding yesterday following a disastrous Tuesday, in which the market fell two per cent in one day. By mid-afternoon the FTSE 100 was up 0.42 per cent, boosted by mining and industrials stocks, although the gains were capped by a stronger pound. Meanwhile, the mid-cap FTSE [...]
Markets: Wall Street slips from record levels April 19, 2021 Major U.S. stock indexes fell from record levels on Monday as investors sought cues from first-quarter earnings reports to justify the rich valuation of equities. Tesla was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, with the electric-car maker down three per cent after a Tesla vehicle, which was believed to be operating [...]