DEBATE: Is Rishi Sunak’s digital tax a good idea to save the high street? August 3, 2020 Is Rishi Sunak’s digital tax a good idea to save the high street? Jordan Shlosberg, co-founder of proSapient, says YES. High street retail is not fundamentally unprofitable, but is disadvantaged compared to online retail through higher taxes and overpriced leases. Through shifting the national tax burden from physical to online retail, the government can support [...]
Big Tech cashes in on worst day for US economy since Great Depression July 31, 2020 The world’s four largest tech firms yesterday announced blockbuster earnings for three months to June, despite the US economy facing its darkest day since the Great Depression. Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple, worth more than $5 trillion ($3.81 trillion) in total, smashed expectations as they all posted record profits yesterday. The upbeat results were met [...]
Pets at Home shares rise on jump in pet ownership July 31, 2020 Shares in Pets at Home jumped this morning after the retail chain reported a surge in demand for pet ownership after the coronavirus lockdown. Pets at Home said there were “tangible signs” of an increase in animal owners “as people adopt new attitudes to work and leisure pursuits” following the lockdown. A jump in pet [...]
Strong iPhone sales power Apple past expectations July 30, 2020 Sales of Apple’s hallmark iPhone surpassed analyst expectations by $4bn in its fiscal third quarter, pushing the tech firm to report revenue gains in every product category and geography. With 60 per cent of its smartphone sales coming from international markets, the California-headquartered tech giant posted iPhone revenues of $26.42bn, leapfrogging analyst expectations of $22.37bn. [...]
Amazon blows past estimates in revenue and profit beat July 30, 2020 Amazon surprised investors as it beat analyst estimates for second-quarter revenue and profit by a long shot, sealing off a strong quarter for the e-commerce retailer. Amazon reported a net income of $5.2bn in the second quarter, or $10.30 per diluted share, doubling its profit from a year earlier of $2.6bn. Analysts had been expecting [...]
Argos scraps catalogue after 50 years as shoppers move online July 30, 2020 Argos will stop printing its iconic catalogue after almost 50 years due to the increasing shift to online shopping. The retailer said it would stop producing the catalogue due to changing customer shopping habits. The bi-annual catalogue will no longer be regularly printed by the end of January 2021, according to reports. Argos first launched [...]
Shell escapes first ever loss following strong oil trading July 30, 2020 Royal Dutch Shell avoided its first ever quarterly loss after strong oil trading helped offset a slump in revenue from its oil and gas operations as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. French oil giant Total followed suit as all the world’s major energy firms felt the sting of collapsed oil and gas demand. The [...]
SCS shares jump as furniture sales soar after lockdown July 30, 2020 Shares in furniture retailer SCS jumped this morning as it reported a surge in demand following the coronavirus lockdown. Order intake before lockdown was down 4.2 per cent on the previous year, plunging 92.5 per cent below 2019 levels during lockdown. Demand bounced back as restrictions were eased, with order intake between 24 May and [...]
John Lewis may convert department stores into affordable housing July 30, 2020 John Lewis is considering converting some of its store estate into housing in an attempt to strengthen its services business as the high street battles the impact of the coronavirus crisis. The retailer, which owns the department store chain and Waitrose, said it is exploring the concept of new mixed-use affordable housing with third parties. [...]
Coronavirus self-isolation to increase by three days to 10-day lockdown July 30, 2020 People with symptoms of coronavirus will be told to self-isolate for three extra days, taking the total quarantine period to 10 days, as the government wrestles with mounting fears that Britain faces a second wave of the virus. The new measures are set to be announced later today by deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan [...]