Britain’s trade gap widens as exports to EU fall March 12, 2019 The UK’s trade deficit in goods and services widened by £1.3bn to reach £10.4bn in the three months to January as exports of cars and fuels fell, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. Britain’s trade in goods deficit widened by £1.6bn with EU countries and £0.8bn with non-EU countries to reach a total of £38bn, the [...]
Stockwatch: A recovery play and takeover target March 8, 2019 By Edmond Jackson from interactive investor Persistent director buying implies long-term value at this well-known firm, argues our shares analyst. Have shares in £260 million price comparison website Gocompare.com (LSE:GOCO) finally bottomed out? Four non-executive directors appear to think so, buying nearly £44,000 worth of stock at around 65p once the company was out of [...]
Insurer Hastings adds more customers as it grows profits and revenue February 28, 2019 Hastings’ share price ticked upwards today as it profit and revenue climbed in 2018 even as customer growth slowed. The figures Profit after tax rose three per cent year on year to £130.6m as revenue rose five per cent to £756.4m, compared to 2017’s £715.6m. Gross written premiums also climbed three per cent to £958.3m. [...]
Autotech M&A deal value falls to five-year low in second half of 2018 February 20, 2019 Merger and acquisition value in the automotive technology sector hit a five year low in the second half of 2018 as car manufacturers struggled with dwindling demand in China and a global crackdown on emissions. A total of 100 M&A deals were completed in the second half of last year, including Renault, Ford and Volkswagen’s [...]
A brave new driverless future? Let’s separate fact from fiction February 18, 2019 You can’t browse the internet without seeing a sensational headlines announcing the imminent ascendency of the driverless car. “Fully driverless cars could run on UK roads by end of year”, “Britain’s driverless revolution will be a car crash as safety rules are recklessly scrapped” and “Driverless Car! It’s about to happen on UK roads” – to [...]
General Motors takes stake in British car tracking startup as it looks to driverless future February 12, 2019 US car giant General Motors (GM) is taking a stake in a British technology startup as it prepares for a driverless future. The deal, which values Chester-based Wejo at $275m (£213m), includes a $25m cash injection into the connected cars firm. Read more: General Motors cuts costs with 8,000 redundancies It also gives Wejo access [...]
Breakdown group AA boosts full-year profit expectations February 12, 2019 Breakdown cover group AA today raised expectations for its full-year profit after retaining or extending its key business contracts. In a trading update AA said it expects its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) would be not less than £340m, having previously said it expected profit to be in the range of £335m [...]
Chris Grayling says it will be the EU’s fault if Britain leaves without a deal on 29 March February 5, 2019 Transport secretary Chris Grayling has said the blame will lie with Brussels if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal on 29 March. The Cabinet minister said the UK government had done all it could to secure an agreement and that it would be down to the EU's failure to compromise me if a [...]
Full speed ahead for motor insurers on the legal road to self-driving cars January 21, 2019 In the last twelve months alone, the government has spoken loudly about the direction in which it wants advances in self-driving cars to go. And yet, though these developments are certainly innovative, and exciting, speed bumps remain – especially for the motor insurance industry – on the road to autonomous vehicles becoming an everyday reality. [...]
Off road: Is the car industry in reverse? January 14, 2019 The automotive industry faces recession and decline. Driverless cars are on the horizon, but has the moment for motors already passed? The first Model T Ford rolled off the production line in 1908. Available in “any colour… so long as it is black”, in the words of magnate Henry Ford, the car marked a breakthrough [...]