Guinness owner Diageo hikes dividend despite impact of pub closures on sales January 28, 2021 Diageo, the owner of Guinness and Smirnoff, this morning announced it will hike its dividend despite the impact of coronavirus restrictions on pub and bar sales. Reported net sales fell 4.5 per cent during the second half of the year, while operating profit declined 8.3 per cent to £2.2bn. Organic net sales increased one per [...]
Under the influence: How reality stars’ Dubai trips could sink social media marketing January 27, 2021 While online fitness guru Sheridan Mordew has undoubtedly succeeded at influencing people, she may be struggling to make friends. When the social media influencer, who posts workout videos for her thousands of online followers, insisted that her much-documented trip to Dubai was essential business travel, she was met with little sympathy. In fact, Mordew is [...]
Pearson and Cineworld shares jump amid ‘manic’ Reddit short-selling feud January 27, 2021 Shares in Pearson and Cineworld had remained buoyed by London close today, having sparked speculation of a major short squeeze fuelled by Reddit day traders. Education giant Pearson led the FTSE 100 risers, with shares up almost 12 per cent, while Cineworld was trading 12.5 per cent higher. By the close Pearson was up nearly [...]
FTSE 100 dips as sterling rallies and investors await big tech earnings January 27, 2021 The FTSE 100 fell on Wednesday as sterling rallied amid US stimulus speculation and investors eyed a busy day of tech earnings on Wall Street. London’s blue-chip index is down 2.2 per cent to 6,539 points while the more domestically-focused FTSE 250 was trading flat. Boris Johnson confirmed the third lockdown would continue until 8 [...]
Apple set to break $100bn quarterly sales record as tech boom continues January 27, 2021 Apple’s bullish run shows no signs of slowing down, with the tech giant expected to join an exclusive club of companies to have earned revenue of more than $100bn (£730m) in a single quarter. Analysts have predicted quarterly revenue of $102.6bn for the iPhone maker, which would mark year-on-year growth of 12 per cent — [...]
Amazon halts alcohol sales in Northern Ireland following new Brexit customs rules January 27, 2021 Online retail giant Amazon has halted sales of wines, beers and spirits in Northern Ireland as it prepares to de-list more products under new Brexit customs rules. The company is concerned that excise duty will now have to be paid twice on alcohol shipments sent from British mainland across the Irish Sea. Amazon suspended orders [...]
Are any stock markets cheap going into 2021? January 27, 2021 Where is the value in stock markets today? This is a difficult question to wrestle with. At face value, the bad news is that everywhere looks to be at nosebleed-red levels of expensiveness. Of the 25 measures in our regular stock market valuation grid below (five markets and five measures for each), 16 are more [...]
Paperchase rescue deal to save 1,000 high street jobs January 27, 2021 High street stationery retailer Paperchase is set to announce a rescue deal today that is expected to save around 1,000 jobs. Paperchase will be sold through a pre-pack administration to Permira Debt Managers – connected to its current private equity owners – which has provided funding for the business since 2015, Sky News reported. Up [...]
Poundland sales grow as discount store chain introduces new price points and product lines January 27, 2021 Poundland owner Pepco reported a jump in revenue in the first quarter due to its status as an essential retailer and its introduction of new price points and product lines including clothing and homeware. The discount store chain, which trades as Pepco and Dealz in Europe and Poundland in the UK, said group like-for-like sales [...]
Before the Bell: UK unemployment set to rise to four year high January 26, 2021 On the data front we have the latest unemployment numbers from the UK this morning, for the three months to November, coming up shortly. In his spending review announced in November, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak forecast that UK unemployment could well peak in the second quarter of 2021 at 7.5 per cent, and [...]