Explainer-in-brief: Breaking the Odessa deadlock August 2, 2022 Yesterday the first container ship filled with grain left Ukraine after months of impasse. It was a huge breakthrough, enabled by a deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations. The cargo ship was loaded with 26,000 tonnes of corn. It left Odessa, a Black Sea port that’s been blocked since the beginning of the [...]
Direct Line Insurance reports lower profit amid rising inflation and uncertain economic conditions August 2, 2022 Direct Line Insurance Group reported lower profits for the first half of 2022 as rising inflation and a gloomy market outlook impacted performance. The insurance company had a 47 per cent drop in operating profit to £195.5m from the first half of 2021 as it dealt with “challenging” market conditions and tighter FCA regulations. Profit [...]
Claims globalisation has ‘had its heyday’ are premature, Lloyd’s chief executive says August 2, 2022 Claims the dual shocks of Covid and the war in Ukraine have halted the “all conquering forces of globalisation” are “premature,” Lloyd’s of London chief executive John Neal told City A.M. In an op-ed in this newspaper, the insurance chief said that while we will “rightly see a degree of retreat and retrenchment” in [...]
Even as we turn inwards to shore up security, globalisation is still alive August 2, 2022 Ten years ago, it would have been hard to imagine an end to the all-conquering forces of globalisation. Our world has been on a one-way ticket to integration since the mid-20th century – and it has shown little sign of return. Yet with the dual shocks of Covid-19 and the invasion of Ukraine revealing the [...]
IFS: Sunak’s pledged Income Tax cut smaller than his tax rises as chancellor August 1, 2022 Rishi Sunak’s newly unveiled promise to cut the basic rate of Income Tax from 20p to 16p by the end of the decade is smaller than the tax rises he made as chancellor, according to an influential economic think tank. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) today also said the tax plans of Sunak and [...]
HSBC hits back at Ping An calls to carve out Asia business August 1, 2022 HSBC today hit back at intense pressure from its biggest shareholder to spin out its Asia business. The chief of Britain’s largest lender, Noel Quinn, said HSBC’s “strength as a well connected, global institution is the main reason our wholesale clients choose to bank with us”. “We are determined to capitalise on the advantages our [...]
HMRC suspects big firms are underpaying £1.4bn due to workers’ false ‘self-employed’ classification August 1, 2022 The taxman suspects big firms are underpaying tax to the tune of £1.4bn, by classifying workers as ‘self-employed’ when they’re actually full staff. Leading law firm Pinsent Masons claims HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs) suspects companies are classifying staff as self-employed to avoid making Employers’ National Insurance contributions. HMRC has been clamping down on the [...]
Exclusive: UK small businesses on high recession alert August 1, 2022 British sole traders and small businesses are battening down the hatches in preparation for a looming recession, exclusive research shared with City A.M. reveals. Over three quarters of small firms are fretting over the UK economy steering into reverse, according to fintech firm iwoca. Firms are scrambling to boost their cash reserves to help weather [...]
Currys told to ditch price lock by shareholder to increase margins July 31, 2022 Currys has been told to ditch its “price lock” commitment and make goods more expensive by a veteran hedge fund manager amid the cost of living crisis. Crispin Odey, who holds a substantial stake in the firm, said “freezers and washing machines are going to have to be more expensive as they are currently being [...]
Ringfencing risks driving up energy bills, warns Cornwall Insight July 30, 2022 The cost of ringfencing consumer credit balances will risk adding more costs to bills "at a time when consumers can ill afford them" says Cornwall Insight.