UK investors facing dividend drop-off as inflation squeezes profits January 30, 2023 Investors in UK firms are facing a drop-off in dividends this year as rising costs cause firms to rein in their payouts following a bumper 2022, according to new data.
Week ahead: FTSE traders eye Shell and BT results as Bank of England prepares for another rate hike January 29, 2023 London traders are gearing up for a big week of corporate results, with UK giants Shell, BT Group, Glencore, GSK and Vodafone Group updating markets. Shell is due to announce their final results for 2022 on Thursday and are expected to post record profits as oil giants continue to benefit from the global energy boom. [...]
Bank of England, Fed and ECB to heap more pain on global economy – but could peak rates be in sight? January 29, 2023 City traders are gearing up for a week in which the world’s top central banks will heap even more pain on households and businesses by hiking interest rates to tame inflation – but they could send the first signal indicating they will stop doing so soon. The UK, US and eurozone economies are beginning to [...]
Bank of England expected to raise interest rates by 50 points to post financial crisis high of four per cent January 26, 2023 The Bank of England is set to hike interest rates 50 basis points to four per cent next week, jacking them up to the highest level since the financial crisis, markets expect. City traders reckon its governor Andrew Bailey will lift borrowing costs for the tenth time in a row, something the UK central bank [...]
Q&A: Fintech boss Janine Hirt on how London can stay ahead of EU rivals January 26, 2023 Fintech is an increasingly vital part of the UK’s financial ecosystem – so it’s high time to chat with Janine Hirt, the CEO of industry body Innovate Finance, on the challenges that come with keeping the UK out in front of Europe While the UK has historically been a global leader in FinTech – receiving [...]
Recession risks ramp up as UK economy goes ‘from bad to worse’ January 26, 2023 The risk of a recession striking the UK is gathering pace experts warned today as still extremely high inflation and collapsing confidence has resulted in the economy going from “bad to worse”. Swelling costs squeezing margins are forcing businesses to cut back production, while higher prices are eroding consumers’ incomes, knocking spending. Those two factors [...]
London motorists hit with sharpest uptick in car insurance costs as UK premiums surge January 25, 2023 Motorists are now paying £100 more for car insurance than last year, according to new research which shows premiums have increased at their sharpest rate in six years. Car insurance premiums have increased 19 per cent over the past 12 months, meaning motorists now pay average sums of £629 to insure their vehicles, Confused.com’s Car [...]
December’s deep freeze: Cost of living crisis leaves Aviva with a £50m bill for burst pipes and water tanks January 25, 2023 Aviva said last December’s freezing weather meant it had to pay out £50m to policyholders claiming for damage caused by burst pipes and water tanks. An Aviva spokesperson told City A.M. said soaring energy costs had led to more frozen pipes because households were more reluctance to turn on the heating, leading to more extremes [...]
UK’s wealth gap: Cost of living crisis boosts income of richest Brits by £1k but leaves poorest £600 a year worse off January 25, 2023 The disparity between Britain’s richest and Britain’s poorest earners has grown as a result of the cost of living crisis and a freezing in the income tax threshold, figures have revealed. The richest Brits have managed to increase their household disposable income by just over £1,000 in the last year, while the poorest are on [...]
Will the global economy avoid a recession? Some people think so January 24, 2023 The global economy will narrowly avoid a recession this year due to China dismantling its zero Covid policy, forecasters have predicted today. A boost from the world’s second biggest economy re-entering the global community is set to power world GDP 1.9 per cent this year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Beijing’s surprise scrapping of [...]