Ocado raises £575m as it looks to widen online grocery market share June 21, 2022 Online retailer Ocado has raised £575m in a share placing, rallying extra funds as demand dries up. The London-listed firm announced the placing after the stock market closed yesterday, revealing just hours later that it had met its quota. The placing auctioned off 72.3m shares at 795p — a nine per cent discount to yesterday’s [...]
Oil and gas body warns windfall tax will deter investment in domestic energy sector June 20, 2022 OEUK has ramped up its criticisms of the imposed windfall tax - describing the new levy as "punitive," amid fears it could jeopardise investment.
Housebuilders tank on stock market with investors ‘nervous’ about mortgage rates June 20, 2022 Housebuilders lead the London Stock Exchange’s top fallers today, after the latest house price data cautioned the tightening of purse strings amid a cost of living crisis. Barratt Developments and Berkeley Group led the descent, falling a little over four per cent each. While Persimmon dove 3.7 per cent, Ashtead slipped 2.8 per cent and [...]
30 per cent spike in insolvent companies as firms hit by rising costs and falling consumer spending June 20, 2022 The quadrupling of interest rates since December has tipped thousands of companies into insolvency, with a 30 per cent spike in the last three months. Almost 6,000 firms have gone down according to Mazars, the audit and tax specialists, up from 4,578 inn the previous three months. This comes after the Bank of England raised [...]
London councils expect inflation to burn £400m hole in finances amid cost of living crisis June 20, 2022 London boroughs are expecting inflation to burn a £400m hole in their finances, according to a local government association. London Councils, the cross-party organisation which covers all 32 London borough councils and the City of London, said today that rising inflation has cut £100m from the financial uplift boroughs received for 2022-23. Inflation levels, currently at a [...]
London boroughs sound the alarm bells as skyrocketing inflation is eating £400m hole into budget June 20, 2022 Skyrocketing inflation is driving £400m of additional budget pressures on boroughs in the capital, London Councils warned this morning. Although the government increased local authority funding this year, fast-rising inflation has effectively cut £100m from the financial uplift boroughs received for 2022-23. London Councils, a cross-party group representing all 32 boroughs and the City of [...]
Interest rate hikes are a hard lesson for investors who relied on central banks bailouts June 20, 2022 In May last year, I wrote in this newspaper about the risks of moral hazard and the pandemic, with a generation of investors who had developed a skewed sense of risk. After the unprecedented level of central bank intervention, many believed policymakers would always ride to their rescue, providing portfolio safety nets with cheap money [...]
Indignant brokers fiercely dismiss Martin Lewis’ notion many mortgages are ‘a ticking time bomb’ June 19, 2022 The well-known personal finance guru Martin Lewis recently warned that mortgages are a “ticking time bomb” for homeowners, as he said Brits should lock in cheap mortgage rates soon before monthly payments become unaffordable. Lewis’ comments come as the cost of living for most Brits is climbing fast, with energy bills going up by an [...]
Money Spotlight: The reasons your real pay is dropping like never before June 19, 2022 Britons saw their basic pay fall at the fastest pace on record in April due to soaring prices. More pain is in store for UK households as inflation is set to hit further eye-watering peaks later this year. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said yesterday that regular wages excluding bonuses plunged by 4.5 per [...]
Asda chair calls for business tax relief amid historic inflation levels June 19, 2022 Retail grandee Stuart Rose has said the government was too slow to move on the cost of living crisis and historic levels of inflation. The Asda chair and former Marks & Spencer boss has urged ministers to help struggling households amid the “tough times.” Speaking on Aquis Exchange’s Full & Frank podcast, Rose said Asda [...]