FCA bans sales of crypto-derivatives to retail consumers October 6, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority has announced rules banning the sale of derivatives related to certain types of crypto-assets to retail consumers. The ban will affect the sale, marketing and distribution of any derivatives – including contracts for difference, options and futures – as well as exchange traded notes that relate to unregulated cryptoassets. Read more: [...]
Watches of Switzerland shares soar as it clocks strong sales during pandemic October 6, 2020 Watches of Switzerland has raised its full-year expectations after the company saw sales jump 20 per cent over the last quarter, sending shares up almost 23 per cent in morning trading. Revenue at the luxury watchmaker beat expectations over the 10 weeks to 25 October, hiking 20.2 per cent year on year to £202.7m. The [...]
Chanel snaps up Bond Street boutique for £310m October 5, 2020 French luxury fashion brand Chanel has reportedly bought its boutique store on Bond Street for £310m in a vote of confidence for the central London commercial property market. Reports that the designer firm will pay around £70m above the £240m asking price for the property cements Bond Street’s status as a “safe haven”, despite plummeting [...]
Worst September on record for new car registrations October 5, 2020 New car registration fell to their lowest level since records began in September in a further blow for the battered auto industry. Just 328,041 cars were registered last month, down 4.4 per cent lower year-on-year, new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed. That’s the weakest performance since the introduction of [...]
Mulberry swings to full year loss as coronavirus shuts down high street October 5, 2020 Fashion house Mulberry fell to a £14.2m loss in the last financial year, the firm announced today, as the coronavirus pandemic derailed the firm in its final month of trading. The firm said that it had been on course to report a profit for the second half of the year before the virus shut down [...]
Moonpig mulls public listing following lockdown boom October 2, 2020 Online greeting card retailer Moonpig is in talks for a stock market flotation after a boom in sales during lockdown stamped its position on the e-commerce market. Moonpig Group, owned by Exponent Private Equity, is in talks with investment banks about options that include a public listing, according to Sky News. Discussions are thought to [...]
Walmart confirms Asda sale to billionaire UK brothers in £6.8bn deal October 2, 2020 Asda is back in British ownership after Walmart today agreed a sale to the Blackburn-based Issa brothers in a £6.8bn deal.
Kazakhstan fintech Kaspi plans London IPO October 2, 2020 Kazakh banking and fintech firm Kaspi has confirmed plans to float on the London Stock Exchange this month. Kaspi, which controls the third-largest bank in Kazakhstan, said it plans to sell new and existing shares by listing its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) on the stock exchange. The company did not reveal what stake its shareholders [...]
Why Klarna — not Revolut or Monzo — represents the winning fintech strategy in a pandemic October 2, 2020 Last month, a new funding round gave buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) fintech Klarna a headline valuation of $10.65bn. At a stroke, Klarna became the most valuable fintech in Europe – more than double the value of Revolut and almost 10 times more than Monzo. Why, in the middle of a pandemic, has Klarna inspired such investor confidence? [...]
Retail investors boost August flows as market recovery continues October 1, 2020 UK savers ploughed £1.8bn into retail funds last month as the fund market started to show signs of a post-Covid recovery. Volatility within bond markets has calmed somewhat as a result of central bank stimulus, which is in turn attracting investors. Read more: Investors turn their back on UK equity funds due to Brexit jitters [...]