British factories on the mend as recession u-turn gathers pace March 1, 2023 British factories are performing better than expected in another sign the economy is on course to perform a screeching u-turn and avoid a recession, a closely watched survey has shown. S&P Global and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply’s (CIPS) final purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the UK manufacturing sector nudged higher from an [...]
Explainer: England’s homelessness crisis is at the worst it’s been in years March 1, 2023 The number of people sleeping rough over the last year has increased in every single region in England – with the biggest increase in London. In 2022, the number of people sleeping rough was up 26 per cent compared to the previous year. In London, the numbers are up 34 per cent. This is the [...]
‘Shame on them’: Skipton Group boss slams banks for not passing on rate hikes to savers March 1, 2023 Skipton Group today criticised rival high street lenders for failing to pass on higher interest rates to savers. Britain’s banks have seen their income boosted by the Bank of England’s attempt to stave off inflation with a succession of ten straight interest rate hikes. The base rate now stands at four per cent – the [...]
Cost of living crisis has forced families to take on £1.1bn debt and dig into savings, says Bank of England March 1, 2023 Families are saving far less than they did over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic and maxing on credit cards to maintain spending amid the cost of living crisis, official figures have revealed. Brits set aside £3.5bn in January in savings accounts, a slight increase from December, but below the pre-pandemic monthly average increase of [...]
Unexpected green candles appear for Bitcoin, Ethereum and most altcoins March 1, 2023 Bitcoin is trading for $23,740, up by more than 2% over 24 hours while Ethereum is in a similar range at $1,652, also in the green by 1.8%.
Co-operative Bank profit surges to £132.6m as CEO Slape confirms bank still looking at acquisition targets March 1, 2023 The Co-operative Bank recorded a big increase in pretax profit in its final year results thanks to higher interest rates as CEO Nick Slape confirmed the bank was still scanning the market for acquisition targets. . Across 2022 as a whole, pretax profit increased to £132.6m up from £31.1m last year. This was primarily a [...]
House price growth plummets to lowest level in a decade as confidence and costs see off buyers March 1, 2023 House price growth has plummeted to its lowest in more than a decade as a cocktail of high borrowing costs, inflation and low confidence has deterred buyers. Properties dropped in value by -1.1 per cent year on year in February, according to Nationwide’s House Price Index, down from 1.1 per cent the previous month. This [...]
Persimmon warns of housing market uncertainty despite £200m revenue hike March 1, 2023 Persimmon Homes reported a an increase in revenues during the full year ending December 2022, but admitted the UK housing market “remains uncertain”. The London-listed house-building company saw its revenues increase by £.3.8bn, from £3.6bn the previous year. Underlying operating profit jumped four per cent year on year to over £1bn, from £973m in 2021. [...]
Aston Martin: ‘Ultra luxury’ strategy pays off with revenues up 26 per cent and GT/Sports range ‘sold out’ March 1, 2023 Aston Martin has reported a full-year loss of £118m, growing from a loss of £74.3m year-on-year but ahead of consensus expectations for £135m. The luxury carmaker said capital expenditure was expected to increase year-on-year but that it would deliver significant growth in profitability this year and positive free cash flow in the second half. Aston [...]
Food inflation reaches 14.5 per cent and looks set to remain high, new data reveals March 1, 2023 Food inflation reached a staggering new high of 14.5 per cent in February, according to new data, with retail groups predicting that prices will continue to rise over the coming months. While inflation more broadly has started to come down, food inflation soared to 14.5 per cent in February, up from 13.8 per cent the [...]