Starbucks confirms partnership with Alibaba in a bid to increase China sales | City A.M. August 2, 2018 Starbucks is officially partnering with Alibaba in an effort to boost its delivery and online Chinese presence. The tie-up comes after an abrupt drop in Starbucks’ China sales in June, which was pinned on a crackdown on third-party delivery firms that had helped propel orders in its stores. Starbucks chief executive Kevin Johnson told reporters: [...]
July’s top and bottom performing funds August 2, 2018 The threat of global trade wars continued to weigh on sentiment towards Chinese equities during July. However, US stocks have remained resilient. President Trump has always said that America could withstand a trade war easier than most thought and the market, at least so far, appears to be in agreement. Mr Trump believes that because [...]
Greggs flags flat full year profits as it says it’s cautious on consumer outlook July 31, 2018 Greggs has said profits will be flat for 2018 as the baked goods business warned it is cautious about the consumer outlook. But investors were happy with its solid half year update: Greggs' share price was up 5.9 per cent in early trading. The figures Total sales at Greggs rose 5.2 per cent to £476m, [...]
DIY SOS: Travis Perkins warns Wickes profits will be lower as consumers spend less on home improvement July 31, 2018 Wickes parent Travis Perkins warned this morning that the home improvement retailer’s profits will be lower than expected due to a weaker consumer backdrop in the UK’s DIY market. Shares dropped more than eight per cent in early trading. The figures The business, which also has several trade-facing units, reported like-for-like revenue growth of 4.2 [...]
Bank of England: Economists split as monetary policymakers set out into the unknown | City A.M. July 30, 2018 The Bank of England is widely expected to raise interest rates on Thursday, but the decision by the monetary policy committee (MPC) is likely to be one of the most controversial in recent memory. While most City observers now think rates will rise, economists are split as to whether hiking borrowing costs amid a weak [...]
Tesla released a $1500 surfboard, and it sold out in a matter of hours | City A.M. July 29, 2018 Tesla debuted a new product on Saturday night, in the form of a perfectly normal surfboard. Branded with the Tesla logo and decorated in its trademark red and black colours, the limited run of 200 boards was designed in partnership with surfer brand Lost. While Lost’s boards usually retail within the region of $800, this [...]
Two years on: how Brexit has affected the UK economy July 22, 2018 The UK economy was supposed to plunge into recession soon after the vote to leave the EU, but the majority of forecasters were wrong. Consumer confidence remained positive, encouraging increased spending, despite a slowdown in almost every other sector of the economy. As household consumption is a large contributor to GDP growth, it more than [...]
Last Week in the City: August rate rise now less likely July 20, 2018 Garry White, chief investment commentator, looks at the market-moving events that have shaped the UK equity markets this week (16 to 20 July 2018). The chances of an interest rate rise at the Bank of England’s August meeting appeared to recede this week after inflation data was more subdued than expected and retail sales data [...]
Why Mike Ashley’s retail gambles are a mistake | City A.M. July 20, 2018 When the fishes swim one way, I swim the other,” said Sports Direct supremo Mike Ashley last year describing his investment strategy. Despite this billionaire bombast, some of his investments are sinking and weighing down Sports Direct at the same time. The sportswear chain reported a sharp drop in annual profits yesterday, partly because of [...]
Amazon (AMZN) reaches $900bn market cap milestone in a race with Apple (AAPL) to become the first trillion-dollar company | City A.M. July 18, 2018 Tech giant Amazon briefly broke past the $900bn (£689.7bn) market value mark today, making it the second company ever to reach the milestone. The company hit $902bn in a session high earlier today, after its share price rose 0.8 per cent at $1,858.88. Apple is the only other company to be valued above that mark, [...]