Prospect of fewer rate cuts buoys sterling and UK-focused stocks November 7, 2024 The pound and UK-focused stocks rose this afternoon after the Bank of England indicated it would take a more “gradual” approach to cutting rates in the year ahead. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to lower the base rate to 4.75 per cent in a widely anticipated move that follows a sharp fall in [...]
The Bank of England has a lot to be cautious about November 7, 2024 The Bank of England's latest interest rate decision could hardly have come at a busier time.
Price rises loom as Budget hits Sainsbury’s with £140m costs November 7, 2024 Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts has cautioned that new government measures will hit shoppers with higher prices by adding £140m to the supermarket’s costs. These include a National Insurance hike, and a rise in the UK minimum wage. The increased National Insurance contributions, as announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Autumn Budget, will surge [...]
Sainsbury’s: FTSE 100 retailer warns Reeves’ budget may push up food prices November 7, 2024 Chief executive of Sainsbury’s Simon Roberts has warned that Reeves’ decision to increase employer’s national insurance contributions (NICs) by 1.2 per cent to 15 per cent next April could lead to price inflation. Sainsbury’s has estimated the cost of the change at £140m, according to the Guardian. “This industry operates on very low margins, and there just [...]
Bank of England cuts interest rates but warns Budget will stoke inflation November 7, 2024 The Bank of England's rate decision comes just a week after the Budget.
Salesforce cuts over 450 UK jobs as profit spikes November 7, 2024 The UK arm of cloud-based software giant Salesforce cut more than 450 jobs in the year its profit jumped by over 70 per cent. The London-headquartered division of the US group decreased its headcount from 3,427 to 2,964 in the 12 months to 31 January, 2024, newly-filed accounts with Companies House have revealed. The new [...]
National Grid profit rises by a quarter following £7bn equity raise November 7, 2024 Chief executive John Pettigrew said on Thursday the group's £60bn investment plan was continuing "at pace."
Labour’s ‘growth’ agenda already looks like a bad joke November 7, 2024 Well, that didn’t take long to unravel: the first Labour Budget for nearly 15 years, and the first ever by a female chancellor, saw the parallels with Kwasi Kwarteng’s infamous 2022 mini-Budget emerging within hours. The comparison was misguided, although the jittery reaction of financial investors and rise in government funding costs told its own [...]
BT: Challenging conditions hit revenue at FTSE 100 giant November 7, 2024 BT shares traded lower by as much as 3.9 per cent in early deals this morning after the company downgraded its growth outlook for the year. The company reported a slight decline in revenue for the half-year ended 30 September 2024 due to what it has called challenging conditions in its business arm and more [...]
Ed Warner: Chair the football regulator? No thanks, not even for £130k November 7, 2024 The job ad for the chair is being circulated widely by opponents of the concept of a regulator in the hope that a moderate rather than a zealot will land the role.