Chinese city Chengdu has extended its lockdown indefinitely, after the city reported 116 new local cases on Thursday, falling from 121 the previous day. The lockdown was supposed to end on Wednesday, however the Sichuan Province capital entered a long-term shutdown across most of its districts as it moved to eradicate all cases in line […]

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Global investment bank Nomura cut its Chinese GDP forecast against on the latest wave of Covid lockdowns. The lockdown of Sichuan Province capital Chengdu last week sent fears for production surging as the 21 million population joined a continued shutdown for tech hub Shenzhen. Nomura confirmed approximately 12% of China’s GDP was currently impacted by […]

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China has extended its Covid lockdown in Chengdu, with the city’s 21 million population set to undergo further mass testing between Monday and Wednesday. The Sichuan Health Commission reported 90 local Covid cases and 50 asymptomatic residents on Sunday, resulting in a total of 940 and 395 cases, respectively. The Xinjin district and Qionglai city […]

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Chinese city Chegdu entered lockdown on Thursday, trapping 21.2 million people within the area as Covid-19 cases surged. The region is set to undergo four days of Covid testing across the city. All residents were ordered to remain at their homes from 6pm on Thursday, with one person per day allowed outside to shop for […]

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The FTSE 100 languished in the red on Monday as the index dropped 1.9% to 7,240.5, its lowest point since mid-March in light of Beijing’s continued lockdown and market concerns about the Federal Reserve’s next moves on interest rates. Russia’s military display in Moscow to celebrate the Soviet victory against Germany in the second world […]

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InterContinental Hotels announced a 61% rise in group revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the first quarter, however, noted tighter trading in the Greater China region due to Covid-19 restrictions, in the group’s trading update on Friday. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) reported strong trading circumstances, with travel demand continuing to rise in practically all of […]

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Scotland-based brewery and pub chain BrewDog is revelling in the news that the UK’s national lockdown is set to come to an end this summer. The company reported it has had its busiest day for bookings on record after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the easing of restrictions in the coming months. Beer gardens are […]

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‘Little to cheer’ in latest UK GDP data UK GDP shrunk by 9.9% in 2020 as severe lockdowns decimated output. The severe impact of the pandemic caused a fall in output of more than twice the drop that occurred as a result of the 2008 financial crisis.  The economy grew by 1% in Q4 in […]

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Royal Mail share price reaches highest point in over two years Royal Mail raised its profit estimate for 2021 following a busy Christmas period for the postal service, a result of increased online shopping due to lockdowns. While profit levels were initially expected at £400m, Royal Mail upped its forecast for end-of-year operating profits to […]

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Following the first European Central Bank (ECB) meeting of 2021, the institution announced that it will be sticking to its current key rates and the scale of its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) for the foreseeable future, as the European economy continues to grapple with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In what The Telegraph […]

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Shares at British homebuilding firm Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) have climbed a modest 1% after the company released an optimistic trading update for the year ending 31 December 2020, citing a “healthy sales rate” and “strong demand” for its resilient performance during the Covid-19 pandemic. Wimpey announced that it has started 2021 with an “excellent” order […]

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Shares at British hoteliers Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) have bounced more than 3% after the company released its Q3 FY2021 trading update, citing “resilient operational performance” despite sales down 66.4% and occupancy at a mere 31.1% for the 5 weeks leading up to 31 December 2020. The company behind Premier Inn lamented the “very challenging hotel […]

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A new report by UK merchant payment provider Dojo has revealed how industries in the UK and beyond have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The report, which used Yahoo Finance and public Purchase Intent data, analysed and ranked which industries benefited most and least from the “unforeseen changes” in their customers’ lifestyles during the […]

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The governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has suggested that the UK’s unemployment rate may actually be higher than official figures currently show as the coronavirus pandemic continues to drive a surge in redundancies. In a speech to business leaders at the virtual Scottish Chambers of Commerce conference, Bailey acknowledged that the UK […]

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The price of oil has climbed on Tuesday morning against a weaker dollar, following yesterday’s announcement that Goldman Sachs expects Brent prices to reach $65 per barrel by this summer. A combination of Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut output and anticipation of a Democrat-driven stimulus check in the US has also boosted the commodity – […]

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The price of crude oil plummeted on Monday as concerns mount over the rapid spread of a new strain of Covid-19, causing a mass travel ban between the UK and more than 30 other countries around the world as leaders fight to keep the variant from spreading. Known as VUI-202012/01, the new strain was first […]

The post Oil dives as new strain triggers travel restrictions appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Shares across the UK’s largest airlines plummeted on Monday morning following the announcement of widespread travel bans to prevent the spread of the new Covid-19 variant. Easyjet (LON:EZJ) saw its shares freefall a hefty 9.34%, while British Airways’ parent firm IAG (LON:IAG) reported an 8.89% drop, and Ryanair (LON:RYA) a 5.11% dive just after midday. […]

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Ocado (LON: OCDO) has posted a boom in sales over the nation’s second lockdown. The group has raised its full-year forecast as the retailer benefitted from the move to online shopping and saw sales surge 35% in the three months to 29 November. Retail revenue jumped to £579.6m and the average order spend across the […]

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Cut-price pub chain, JD Wetherspoon (LON:JDW), saw its shares slide on Friday, as It announced 42% of its entire UK estate would remain closed, subject to new tier restrictions beginning next week. The company said that of its outlets, 13 pubs in England and 51 in Wales would be classified as being in tier one […]

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Pets at Home (LON: PETS) has reported a total group revenue growth of 5.1% to £574.4m in the six months to October. Thanks to an “exceptional period of demand”, the group revealed a 4.2% jump in sales compared to the same period a year earlier. The FTSE 250 firm said in a trading update that […]

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Hit hard during the pandemic, these consumer conglomerates are ideal picks for the old investment adage: buy into what you actually use. And indeed, you’d likely lead a pretty sheltered existence if you hadn’t stumbled across either a Unilever (LON:ULVR) or Diageo (LON:DGE) product. Using the Warren Buffet philosophy of buying into ‘exceptional companies’ – […]

The post Unilever or Diageo – which consumer giant should be your portfolio bedrock? appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Shares at the world’s second-largest cinema chain, Cineworld (LON:CINE), have rocketed more than 22% on the back of the news that the firm has secured waivers for its debt deadlines until June 2022 and £336 million in new loans to help see it through the remainder of the pandemic. Last week, Cineworld shares took a […]

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Cake Box shares (LON: CBOX) have opened higher on Monday morning after the group posted a rise in revenue for the first half of the year. In the 20 weeks to 30 September revenue surged from £6.6m to £8.6m – a 30% rise. Gross margin has improved to 48.4% over the half-year. Despite all stores […]

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New research published by behavioural finance experts, Oxford Risk, revealed that during the initial COVID stock market shock and first lockdown, 8% of savers and investors sold off some of their shares or took money out of the stock market. Of the number who own shares, 34% said they now own fewer than they did […]

The post 1.4 million retail investors sold over £10k of their shares during lockdown appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Arcadia could be taking out a £30m loan to deal with the impact of the second lockdown. According to Sky News, the retail empire which owns brands including Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, has been hit hard by the pandemic and could be on the brink of administration. A spokesperson told the Sunday Times it was […]

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New surveys of business activity have raised concerns of a pre-Christmas slump due to the latest Covid-19 restrictions. With lockdown 2.0 now in full swing, widespread store closures and thousands back on furlough, business activity has already taken a sharp dive into the negative, according to two separate studies by accountancy firm BDO, and the […]

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EasyJet (LON: EZJ) has said that it will only run 20% of planned fights for the remainder of 2020. The budget-airline made the announcement as the UK has entered a second lockdown and travel restrictions urge people not to holiday within the UK and abroad until 2 December. “EasyJet now expects to fly no more […]

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The furlough scheme will be extended until the end of March. Rishi Sunak said in the House of Commons on Thursday that the government will continue to pay 80% of wages as the UK enters a second lockdown. “We can announce today that the furlough scheme will not be extended for one month, it will […]

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IHS Markit‘s PMI data illustrated that business activity in the service sector had demonstrated a ‘much weaker rise’ in October, with the rate of expansion at its slowest rate for four months. The research group also noted that the rate of new work fell for the first time since June, while hospitality, transport and leisure […]

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On the list of things markets hate, uncertainty, political conflict, and drawn-out disruption must all rank fairly highly among the top downside risk factors. Despite that, and ahead of what may end up being a closer-fought contest than many anticipated, global equities shot up at an unreasonable rate on the eve of the US Presidential […]

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Primark owner Associated British Foods (LON: ABF) has posted a 60% drop in profits to £362m. The retailer saw a 24% fall in revenue in the year ended September 12, which was driven by store closures in the third quarter during the lockdown. Since reopening sales have recovered but are still down 12% in the […]

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Shrugging off some of last week’s losses, global equities decided Monday was a time to be bullish. Given the broad macroeconomic and political outlook, you’d think they wouldn’t have much to be positive about, but perhaps that’s just it – they priced in potential downsides too hard before trading. Alternatively, things are set to get […]

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Appearing languid during the first half, the prime minister’s Halloween announcement of a second lockdown will do little to boost the balance sheets of breweries in the closing stages of 2020. Speaking on COVID challenges and the outlook for the beer industry, Mark Lynch, Partner at Oghma Partners, said: “Results from Carlsberg, Heineken, ABInBev for […]

The post Second lockdown may leave breweries flat in Q4 appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Vietnam is one of the few countries which has emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic in relatively good shape. To date, the South-East Asian country has registered just over 1,100 cases and only 35 deaths, thanks to a prompt and proactive response in clamping down on the virus early on in the year, and subsequently its […]

The post Vietnam: How Asia’s blossoming economy tackled the pandemic appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

It’s still an election, twenty new COVID policy measures, and a Christmas dinner away, but its worth trying to anticipate what equities will look like as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. And, here are three factors to consider. The Christmas COVID Crunch Despite the police commissioner’s misguided tough guy comments about breaking […]

The post Three reasons why New Year’s Eve may be an eventful time for equities appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Shoe Zone shares (LON: SHOE) plunged on Wednesday after the group a “challenging” second half of the year. Store trading since reopening in June has been -20% year on year whilst digital trading has broadly increased by 100% year on year. The retailer said it had been impacted by lockdown and continues to be hit […]

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The FTSE 100 has hit a six-month low, shedding 85 points and falling to 5644 points. The blue-chip index has lost around 25% of its value this year so far amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Top fallers of the FTSE 100 on Wednesday are Property companies British Land and Land Securities. Airline group including IAG was […]

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With lockdown restrictions seemingly implemented and changed every few weeks, high street businesses have been at the receiving end of the COVID pandemic, and this situation is unlikely to change any time soon, as shoppers look to embrace online shopping during Black Friday sales. According to new research published by money.co.uk, 77% of UK adults […]

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Having posted some painful losses on Monday, continued second wave fears saw European equities lead the downward-facing indexes on Tuesday. Speaking on the day’s performance, IG Chief Market Analyst, Chris Beauchamp, commented: “A small overnight recovery for stock futures has been rapidly given back as the session got underway, and so far there is no […]

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New data from the CBI distributive trades survey has shown retail sales in October to fall to -23%. After an 11% growth last month, new social distancing measures are taking a toll and retail sales are indicating the biggest drop in sales since June. Grocery sales have remained flat whilst retailer stores are reporting a […]

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BP (LON: BP) has reported an underlying profit of $86m (£66m) for the third quarter of 2020. Stronger oil prices led to a profit, beating analysts’ expectations of a $120m (£92m) loss for the three months ending 30 September. BP reported a record $6.7bn (£5.1bn) loss in the second quarter of the year. “BP’s future […]

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Whitbread (LON: WTB) has swung into a £660.5 loss for the six months to 27 August. The loss for the Premier Inn owner is compared to the £172.2m profit in the previous year. As hotels were closed during the lockdown, revenue plunged £76.9m to £250.8m in the UK and Germany. Over the UK lockdown, revenue […]

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An obligatory Parental Guidance sticker has been stuck on Monday’s global equities movements. Because, between election, company data, and COVID jitters, it was an unadulterated horror show. Global equities hardly elated over the election Quaking in their boots just over a week out from the US election, global equities watch in horror as the Biden […]

The post Global equities floored ahead of big week with election, company data and COVID appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

As reported by the BBC and many other major outlets, UK retail sales increased for the fifth consecutive month in September, with sales volumes rising by 1.5% mon-on-month, according to the ONS. While fuel sales remained down, the growth was led by higher-than-average consumer spend on groceries, DIY goods and garden supplies. According to the […]

The post Did retail sales really bounce back in September? appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

On Thursday, the Treasury announced that businesses using the government’s COVID loan schemes saw their debt increase by a combined £4.62 billion over the past month. This figure, which includes the £2.18 billion added by the 100% government-guaranteed ‘bounce back’ loans, is only set to rise, with authorities pushing new regions into more stringent restrictions […]

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Travis Perkins (LON: TPK) revealed a Q3 trading update on Thursday, where sales were boosted in the three months to the end of September. Thanks to a drive in home improvement projects over the past year, sales at the group grew by 3.9%. Total group sales were down by 3.4% due to store closures over […]

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With the prime minister leaving most of the country in Tiers about the prospect of further lockdown restrictions, sectors of the economy, such as hospitality, will be asking what they can expect in the coming months, and whether the situation will be even worse than the first time around. Speaking on the impact another lockdown […]

The post Lockdown will see more distressed M&A deals in hospitality sector appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

You’ll likely of heard of the fury stirred up by today’s mutiny, with high-profile Labour MP, Mayor of Greater Manchester and ‘King of the North’, Andy Burnham, refusing to implement Tier 3 restrictions on his home city. Why is he doing it? Well, because he’s probably gauged that a second lockdown won’t be popular in […]

The post Why does ‘King of the North’ Andy Burnham matter? appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

British brewery, pub and hotel operator Marston’s plc (LON:MARS) has seen its share price slide nearly 5% after announcing it will cut up to 2,150 furloughed jobs. The government’s wage subsidy scheme is set to wrap up at the end of the month, and with a swathe of British cities facing further coronavirus restrictions which […]

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The FTSE 100 opened 1.6% soon after Thursday’s opening bell as Europe braces itself for tighter Coronavirus restrictions. The blue-chip index fell as concerns that London would have tighter restrictions introduced as soon as this week. Across Europe, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin have introduced curfews in a bid to fight rising infection rates. Northern Ireland […]

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Gourmet Burger Kitchen will be axing 26 restaurants and 326 jobs in an attempt to save the wider workforce. As reported by Sky News, the chain will continue to operate in 35 sites with the remaining 669 jobs, however, 26 restaurants will be sold to Ranjit Boparan. Earlier this year, Boparan rescued the Carluccio’s chain […]

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Automotive retail group, Marshall Motor Holdings (AIM:MMH), saw its shares rally around 11%, as the company enjoyed a booming recovery in trading during the third quarter – led by particularly strong activity in September. The Society of Motor Manufacturer and Traders (SMMT) noted that total new vehicle registrations were down by 4.4% in September. In […]

The post Marshall Motor Holdings gains traction with vehicle sales up 34% appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

It’s no secret that the capacity utilisation of airlines, hotels and recreational outlets has been greatly diminished by the COVID pandemic, but recent data provided by Stockapps illustrates just how much of a hit European tourism has taken in 2020. According to Stockapps Researcher, Rex Pascual: “As countries shut their borders to protect their citizens […]

The post UK tourism fell by 96% during lockdown and remains sluggish appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

It appears the public opinion snowball has picked up enough momentum, and the optics look favourable enough for prime minister Boris Johnson to consider a second lockdown, even if it is implemented incrementally. And, while a tragedy for businesses and communities alike, I think the prime minister airs on the side of the prudent majority […]

The post Is a second lockdown the correct approach? appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

The hospitality sector is again in dire straits, with the slow creep of targeted lockdowns being implemented across the UK. The most notable of these shutdowns has been in the central belt of Scotland, where Nicola Sturgeon has kiboshed evening trading for hospitality venues for more than two weeks. Scotland’s first minister said that new […]

The post With hospitality facing another lockdown, how can the industry survive? appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

UK house prices are continuing to grow as mortgage applications hit a 12-year high. The average house price in September was £249,870 – a 1.6% rise from August. According to Halifax, the market is surging as people are looking for more space following the lockdown. However, growth is not expected to continue. Due to the […]

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Tesco (LON: TSCO) has reported a 28.7% surge in profits, causing shares to rise 2.92% on Wednesday’s opening. In the 26 weeks to 29 August, pre-tax profit grew to £551m thanks to a surge in online sales during the pandemic. Total sales at the UK’s largest supermarket rose 6.6% to £26.7bn, whilst like-for-like sales rose […]

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Ravaged by more than 8 million Covid-19 cases, and at least 328,000 reported deaths, Latin America’s virus crisis seldom makes the headlines in the UK media, yet it remains the most affected region in the world by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. ‘The fear for many is that the region has tried to do too much, […]

The post Latin America: is an economic recovery viable? appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Ailing cinema giant Cineworld (LON:UK) watched its shares slide as it posted its results for an extremely challenging six months of trading. With attendance greatly hampered by lockdown and a lack of new releases thereafter, the company saw revenues fall year-on-year by 66.9% for the six months ended 30 June, down from $2.15 billion, to […]

The post Cineworld faces curtain call with $1.6bn loss and shares falling 10% appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

The FTSE 100 led the European equities rally for a second consecutive day on on Wednesday, following the public address by Boris Johnson the previous evening, in which the prime minister reiterated his reluctance to implement a second lockdown. With promises to “keep the economy open” and “wrap [his] arms around workers and industries”, the […]

The post FTSE stays on top with Boris Johnson committed to avoiding second lockdown appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

FTSE 250 listed specialist insurance firm Beazley (LON:BEZ) booked an almost 11% fall in its share price on Tuesday, as it announced it would have to revise its original Covid insurance claims cost estimate, to double its previous prediction. In April, the company estimated that that the cost of Covid claims for its first party […]

The post Beazley shares lead FTSE 250 fallers as it doubles Covid insurance claims estimate appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Enjoying a prolonged summer holiday, global equities have finally smelled the coffee, sat up and banged their heads on the Covid second wave reality check. Shedding points at will on Monday morning, the European equities horror show only worsened as the afternoon progressed, as a worse-than-expected Dow Jones open did little but stoke existing anxieties. […]

The post Global equities hit two-month low as Covid second wave anxiety takes hold appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Heading up the FTSE 100 losses with a 25% dip in early morning trading, BA owner IAG (LON:IAG) continued the tailspin it began at the end of the previous week. The drop began after the company announced a rights issue last week, in hopes of raising £2.5 billion in exchange for increasing its share count […]

The post Even at a 36% discount, Warren Buffett suggests IAG shares aren’t worth it appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

London City Airport has become the latest in the aviation sector to announce a swathe of job cuts, amid plans to lay off 239 staff as part of a “crucial restructuring” drive prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. The airport, which is based in East London and serves a largely business clientele, was shut for three […]

The post London City Airport to axe a third of its workforce appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

It’s official, we’re in a recession, and new government restrictions on social gatherings and regional lockdowns could be indicative of a worrying reality: the current situation may be bad for an SME but hoping for a rapid improvement is fanciful. Indeed, in June the IMF predicted that the global economy would contract by 4.9% in […]

The post Five step plan to help your SME weather the COVID recession appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

New data from the Bank of England suggests that the housing market is bouncing back after lockdown. UK mortgage approvals jumped to 66,300 in July – up from May’s low 9,000 in May and June’s 40,000. Figures are still lower than February’s 74,000, however, remain strong and are higher than the expected 55,000 approvals expected […]

The post Is the housing market bouncing back? appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

The recent trading update of baked goods retailer Cake Box (AIM:CBOX) told the story of promising customer demand, with the reopening of its stores and strong online sales acting as the icing in the cake. Between April and May, the company noted that all of its stores in the UK due to lockdown. Having implemented […]

The post Cake Box shares rally 6% with a recovery led by tasty online sales growth appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

On Wednesday, data collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing two quarters of consecutive GDP decline confirmed what many have been expecting since the impact of the coronavirus pandemic first struck the economy at the start of the year: the UK is officially in recession. After a record contraction of 20.4% between April […]

The post “Hard times are here” as UK plummets into recession appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Family favourite fast-food pizza chain Domino’s (NYSE:DPZ) has released its interim results for the six months leading up to June 2020. Despite citing “resilient performance during unprecedented trading conditions”, the company’s underlying profits took a major 4.6% hit during the coronavirus pandemic. UK and Ireland system sales reportedly increased 5.5% year-on-year to £628.9 million, with […]

The post Domino’s Pizza posts “resilient” H1 results despite collection-only lockdown appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Restaurant chain Pizza Express (HKG:3396) and electrical goods store Dixons Carphone (LON:DC) are among the latest companies to announce large-scale redundancies during lockdown. Dixons Carphone The tech retailer said it would be cutting 800 jobs as it began restructuring its staff for a new way of running stores. The company, which owns Currys PC World, […]

The post Pizza Express and Dixons Carphone to axe a combined 1,900 jobs appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

On Thursday evening, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that renewed lockdown measures would be implemented in Northern England, including the Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and West Yorkshire regions. These recently reimposed restrictions ban separate households from meeting each-other at their homes, and follows resurgences in COVID-19 cases in each of the respective areas. The reminder […]

The post New Northern England lockdown could exacerbate inter-regional inequality appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Multinational telecommunications company BT (LON:BT.A) saw its share price dip on Friday, after posting an unsurprising but hardly uplifting set of half year financial fundamentals. While being praised by Ofcom for its provision of services during the lockdown period, BT listed the pandemic as a key contributor to negative impacts on its financial results. This […]

The post BT shares slide with half-year profits contracting 13% appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Back in February, I predicted the two-year gold price rally was not yet at its peak, and that it would hit $1,800 before it consolidated. Now – perhaps alongside a hat inscribed with ‘captain obvious’ – we can say that even my optimistic predictions were reserved, as gold rallied 2% on Monday, to its all-time-high […]

The post Gold price hits all-time high with bleak economic horizon appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Goldentree Asset, Avenue Capital and Goldman Sachs (LON:GS) owned hotel chain Travelodge, has, like many, been near the eye of the storm during the Coronavirus lockdown, with regular trading all but flat-lining. What sets it apart from its hotel counterparts, though, is that its future may be equally problematic. The staycation renaissance may not be […]

The post Two reasons Travelodge backers can expect sleepless nights appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Shares at Anglo-Dutch conglomerate Unilever (LON:ULVR) have surged more than 8% on Thursday after the company reported better than expected figures as part of its H1 2020 results. The consumer goods giant – which owns a number of household names, including Dove, Ben & Jerry’s and PG Tips – recorded a €25.7 billion turnover in […]

The post Unilever share price surges 8% as Q2 sales better than expected appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Kingfisher (LON: KGF) reported strong sales on Wednesday, leading to the B&Q owner to forecast a rise in half-year profits. For the quarter to 18 July, the group reported a 21.6% rise in like-for-like sales compared to the same period a year previously. Kingfisher started reopening stores across the UK and France from mid-April, whilst […]

The post Kingfisher share price jumps 10pc on strong sales appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

London-based fintech company Yobota commissioned an independent body from the Market Research Society to survey 2,000 UK consumers on their usage of financial technology services during the lockdown period. The research illustrated, first and foremost, that 64% of those surveyed had relied upon fintech to manage their finances between March and June, which was up […]

The post Fintech usage jumped over 50% during lockdown appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

Airline giant easyJet plc (LON:EZJ) has been accused by prominent pilots’ trade union, the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA), of using staff sickness records to calculate which employees to make redundant as the company pushes ahead with plans to axe 4,500 jobs. The firm is preparing for 727 pilot redundancies as well as shutting down […]

The post EasyJet accused of using sickness records to decide on job cuts appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

As quarantine rules are relaxed for travellers from dozens of countries arriving in the UK, the airline industry faces a grim few months ahead. The relaxing of lockdown measures around the globe may have seen an initial “explosion” in holiday bookings, but airlines are expecting cautious travellers to opt to stay home for the summer […]

The post Airlines to battle turbulence as quarantine measures ease appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

A survey by price comparison specialists money.co.uk has found that 71% of UK households have managed to save money during lockdown – slashing spending by an average of £2,879 each across the 13 weeks that Brits were told to stay at home during the peak of the pandemic. The average weekly saving of £221.50 was […]

The post 71% of UK households have saved money during lockdown appeared first on UK Investor Magazine.

The future of Malaysian budget airline, AirAsia (KLSE:AIRASIA), is in ‘significant doubt‘ according to auditing firm Ernst & Young. Prior to the challenges posed by Coronavirus, the company’s liabilities already exceeded its current assets by 1.84 billion ringgit (£340 million). With tight travel restrictions and grounded flights, AirAsia cash flow and balance sheet have been […]

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After a somewhat sore day of trading, global equities were shown mercy with a (very) partial recovery towards the end of the Tuesday session. After being forecast to drop over 200 points, the Dow Jones dipped and then regained ground, down 140 points to 26,147. In the meantime, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq played the […]

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FTSE 100 listed hotel and restaurant franchise and operator of Premier Inn, Whitbread plc (LON:WTB), announced on Tuesday that it planned to bounce back in style, after the lockdown period which perhaps hit hospitality and hotel sectors the hardest. The company said that it had already reopened 270 of its UK hotels and 24 of […]

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Sports and fashion brand JD Sports (LON:JD) booked robust financial performance for the full-year ended February 1 2020, with Coronavirus lockdown since ‘constraining’ the company’s progress. In its full-year results, though, the company were pleased to book a 30% year-on-year revenue bounce, up from £4.7 billion to £6.1 billion, while like-for-like sales in Sports Fashion […]

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Residential property developers Barratt Developments plc (LON:BDEV) have announced that they are set to begin the new financial year with “cautious optimism” on the back of surprisingly resilient trading figures, and intend to pay back a total of around £25 million in furlough fees as it welcomes back its staff. The company’s share price has […]

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Government sources have suggested that dozens of countries are to be made exempt from the current compulsory 14-day quarantine period upon arriving in the UK. Last week saw a surge in holiday bookings as rumours began to swirl that the Foreign Office is set to relax its standing “essential travel only” advice to allow for […]

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The FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE: UKX) surged by 81 (1.3%) points to reach 6,326 at its peak on Tuesday after PM Boris Johnson announced further lockdown easing measures and reports indicate that the UK’s economic activity is beginning to pick up. Markets were buoyed by good news on Tuesday, but the long-term implications of the coronavirus […]

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On the one hand stimulus hopes and Coronavirus treatments, on the other hand geopolitical tensions and a looming second wave. Global equities certainly weren’t short of things to consider on Wednesday, but rather had trouble dealing with contradictory news and mixed sentiments. On one side, markets were running off of the steam of Tuesday’s Fed-based […]

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With many employees returning from furlough, and with shops opening for the first time in months on Monday, questions are being asked about the ability of high street retailers to pick up steam as lockdown restrictions are loosened. Offering diverging accounts of the situation for companies post-quarantine were Fortnum and Mason CEO Ewan Venters, and […]

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The UK economy nosedived 20.4% in April 2020 in the largest monthly fall since records began, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The report described the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as a “significant shock” to the economy, citing the dramatic fall in GDP and “record broad-based falls in output for production, services […]

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