British Chambers of Commerce tells PM to ramp up public spending May 3, 2020 The government must sustain high levels of public spending to help the private sector recover from the coronavirus, according to one of the country’s largest business bodies. British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) president Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith has written to Boris Johnson to say it was “a time to be bold” and that “an expansionary fiscal policy, [...]
Why RBS killed digital bank Bo only five months after launch May 1, 2020 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has abandoned its challenger bank Bo just five months after launching it. In an already dire update on its first quarter performance today, RBS said it would “wind down Bo as a customer-facing brand” after launching it only in November. The Bo platform will instead be integrated with Mettle, [...]
The CEO Perspective: How is COVID-19 defining business purpose? May 1, 2020 When the dust settles, will business emerge having played its part and who will have stayed true to their purpose? As leaders strive to steer their corporate ships through unimaginably stormy waters, there’s an understandable need to focus solely on the management of immediate, operational and financial issues. But in the midst of uncertainty, companies [...]
Twitter posts rise in revenue despite Covid-19 advertising hit April 30, 2020 Twitter today posted a rise in revenue for the first quarter despite the lingering threat of a slowdown in advertising caused by the coronavirus crisis. The social media platform reported revenue of $808m (£646m) in the first three months of the year, up three per cent on the same period in 2019 and ahead of [...]
St James’s Place trims dividend as first-quarter AUM falls April 30, 2020 St James’s Place has withheld a third of its planned dividend after assets under management fell amid the sustained market volatility. The wealth manager said it was “not immune to how the unprecedented level of uncertainty may impact the operating environment”. Read more: St James’s Place posts five per cent profit fall as inflows slow [...]
Google removes 2.7bn bad ads as it launches Covid-19 taskforce April 30, 2020 Google removed roughly 2.7bn so-called bad ads last year as the tech giant ramps up its efforts to block misleading and malicious campaigns actors on its platform. The search engine’s crackdown, which equates to 5,000 ads per minute, is an increase on the 2.3bn adverts removed in 2018. In addition, Google suspended nearly 1m advertiser [...]
Facebook earnings: Shares leap despite lowest growth since 2012 April 30, 2020 Facebook’s shares jumped almost 10 per cent in after hours trading following a surprisingly upbeat set of first quarter results from the tech giant. Following Alphabet’s figures earlier this week, all eyes were on Facebook to see how the Covid-19 crisis has hit social media. Here are three key takeaways from the numbers: 1. The [...]
Alphabet earnings: Five key takeaways as Covid-19 hits Google April 29, 2020 Shares in Google parent company Alphabet were up almost eight per cent in after-hours trading last night after the tech giant reported its first-quarter earnings. The closely-watched report was the first in a string of major US tech results set to be published this week, and give a key indication of how the coronavirus crisis [...]
WPP revenue slumps as clients slash marketing budgets during Covid-19 crisis April 29, 2020 WPP today posted a sharp drop in revenue in March as clients across the globe slashed marketing budgets due to the coronavirus crisis. The advertising giant reported a 7.9 per cent fall in like-for-like revenue last month, while revenue slipped 3.3 per cent in the first quarter as a whole. The Covid-19 crisis has taken [...]
Dixons Carphone scraps dividend but reports strong online trading during coronavirus lockdown April 29, 2020 Dixons Carphone will not pay a dividend to shareholders this year due to the coronavirus crisis, the company said this morning as it reported strong online trading during the lockdown. The retailer said its closed stores in the UK, Ireland and Greece would have been expected to contribute an extra £400m this year. However, online [...]