https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js It announced it was putting forward 70 candidates for the upcoming European parliament elections, including Rachel Johnson, the sister of former foreign secretary Boris Johnson. Former Conservative and the group’s interim leader, Heidi Allen, said at the launch event in Bristol: “These elections are a chance to send the clearest possible message – we demand a People’s Vote and the right to campaign to remain in the European Union. We are not afraid to say it as clearly as that. “This is no rebel alliance. This is the home of the Remain alliance.” Change UK are launching their campaign in anticipation of the EU elections, which are set to take place on the 23rd of May. Nevertheless, should the government and parliament prove able to agree on a deal beforehand, the UK could launch the Article 50 process and leave as planned.We have had thousands of applications to be European elections from former Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem, Green and SNP members. Change UK are the Remain Alliance in the European elections. @Anna_Soubry #ChangePolitics Support us: https://t.co/INZuNa8Mop pic.twitter.com/EDWu6EdVPM
— The Independent Group (@TheIndGroup) April 23, 2019
Change UK launches its EU election campaign
Change UK launched its European election campaign in Bristol on Tuesday, announcing its candidates.
Change UK, formerly known as The Independent Group, are running on a pro-remain platform.
They also advocate for a second referendum on the issue, a proposal that has been rejected by both the Prime Minister and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The party was formed from an alliance of former Labour and Conservative MPs, who had become disillusioned with how their party’s were handling Brexit.
The party said that it received more than 3,700 MEP applications.
Fastjet shares rise amid ‘marginal’ 2019 profit forecast
Fastjet shares ticked up on Tuesday after the company forecast a ‘marginal’ profit for 2019 in a trading update.
The low-cost African airline said that despite incurring a loss of $41.2 million in 2018, it expects to deliver a modest profit for the upcoming year, amid various restructuring efforts.
During the first quarter of the year, Fastjet saw the group record an underlying net operating loss of around $200,000 on revenue of $9.5 million.
This proved an improvement from the $7.8 million loss reported on revenue of $13.8 million during the final quarter of 2018.
The company added that the first quarter of the year ‘represents a seasonally weaker demand period’.
It was also detrimentally impacted by cyclones in Mozambique, fuel protests and currency volatility in Zimbabwe.
Nico Bezuidenhout, fastjet Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“In 2018, we took significant and decisive action to right-size the Group and ensure the business has a solid platform on which to build future growth. Whilst these cost-cutting measures were at times painful, our newly-sized operations provide fastjet with a materially enhanced strategic position to pursue the growth opportunities on offer on the continent.
Despite the impact of cyclones in Mozambique at the start of the current year and continued fuel protests and currency volatility in Zimbabwe, fastjet is making progress and expects to generate a marginal underlying operating profit for 2019, with further route expansion planned for Zimbabwe in the second half of the coming year, as well as a brand entry into South Africa in 2020.”
Last year, the airline narrowly avoided falling into administration, amid a series of profit warnings.
Shares in Fastjet (LON:FJET) are currently + 5.09% as of 11:21AM (GMT), on the back of the trading update.
Barclays set to cut investment bankers’ bonuses
Barclays is set to cut bonuses for investment bankers as it looks to keep activist investor Edward Bramson at bay.
The British bank is set to cut bonuses at its investment banking division in a bid to streamline costs, ahead of its upcoming annual meeting.
This will mean that pay will be more closely tied with performance, in light of the divisions underwhelming performance.
The financial institution is also set to adopt a tougher stance on promotions. In 2018, 85 bankers were promoted in Barclays International compared with 74 the year before.
The reported decision comes amid increased pressure from Bramson, who has a 5.5% stake in the bank through his company Sherborne Investors.
This makes Bramson the bank’s third largest investor.
Bramson is seeking a seat on the board, and is also proposing that the bank streamlines its investment unit.
Nevertheless, according to reports, Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley has opposed the move, remaining committed to maintaining the bank’s investment banking presence.
Barclays’ annual meeting is set to take place on May 2nd.
In its most recent annual results, Barclays reported profits of £3.5 billion, sending shares upwards.
Shares in the bank (LON:BARC) are currently down -2.55% as of 11:01AM (GMT).
Samsung’s Galaxy Fold samples retrieved following test issues
Samsung (KRX:005930) is retrieving all of its Galaxy Fold samples just a day after it postponed the new gadget’s launch, according to Reuters.
A person with direct knowledge of the situation has said that Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is reclaiming samples that it had sent to reviewers. This is to investigate the reports of its broken screens.
The Galaxy Fold was set to be launched in the US on the 26 April, and the 3 May in the UK. However, the launch has been delayed in order to allow the tech giant to revaluate its product. It is now unknown when the foldable device, valued at £1,800, will go on sale, and a new launch date is due to be revealed in the upcoming weeks.
A variety of technology journalists had issues with the device, such as breaks, bulges and screen problems, just after a single day’s usage.
Some people even mistakenly peeled off a layer of film from the screen’s coating, thinking that it was a disposable screen protector.
“We will also enhance the guidance on care and use of the display including the protective layer,” Samsung commented on the issue.
Though it was said that the folding screens could be opened and closed again for over 100,000 times without causing any damage, in practice the device did not live up to its laboratory trials.
Elsewhere in the tech industry, Samsung rival Apple (NASDAQQ:AAPL) recently announced that it would cut its iPhone production by 10% across the three months from January. It said it would produce between 40-43 million iPhones, a downgrade from its previous plans to produce 47-48 million devices.
At 15:30 GMT +9, shares in Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KRX:005930) were trading at -0.33%.
Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) were last trading at +0.33%.
British Land set to sell £429 million of Sainsbury’s superstores
One of the UK’s largest property development and investment companies, British Land (LON:BLND), said that it had exchanged on the sale of 12 superstores from its joint venture with Sainsbury’s for £429 million, to Realty Income Corporation.
The company said that its share of the proceeds will be £193.5 million.
The sale will reduce its retail business from roughly 50% to a third of its total assets.
In an aim to deliver its long-term strategy to build a mixed-use business, British Land is focusing on three core elements – campus focused London offices, a smaller, refocused, Retail business, and Residential, primarily build to rent.
Moreover, the company said that it was progressing unique development opportunities, such as Canada Water, in addition to the investment into its campuses.
British Land said that it will focus on the additional sale of retail assets which do not align with its strategy.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of May. It follows the sale of its last four freestanding Debenhams stores in December as it moves its estate away from the gloomy British high street.
“We have a clear view of the value of our assets and despite the clear challenges currently in the retail market, we remain opportunistic and proactive,” the company said in a press release.
Many retailers have fallen victim to the tough trading conditions to hit the UK high street. It was recently reported that almost 2,500 high street stores closed in 2018, according to PwC research compiled by the Local Data Company (LDC). Research shows that Banks and financial services lead the way with 291 net closures, closely followed by fashion retailers with 269 closures.
Headquartered in London, British Land is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100.
Brexit party lead EU election polls, says YouGov
Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party is leading European election polls in the UK, according to a survey by YouGov.
YouGov said that the former UKIP leader’s new party leads polls with 27% of the vote.
This was followed by Labour with 22% of the vote, with the Conservative’s trailing behind with 15%.
Meanwhile, the newly formed Change UK party, formerly known as The Independent Group, secured 6%, behind UKIP’s 7% and the Green Party with a 10% share of the vote.
Whilst the Conservative’s and Labour will not doubt be concerned about the surge in support for the Brexit party, YouGov said that the UKIP vote felt the biggest tremor.
Whilst support for Farage’s new political venture surged 12 points since last week, support for his former party, UKIP, halved.
Farage was a founding member and the leader of UKIP party.
He has been viewed as a key architect of Brexit, having campaigned alongside the VoteLeave campaign in the run-up to the 2016 referendum.
In 2016 he stood down as leader, claiming that he “wanted his life back”.
Despite being a fervent pro-leave supporter, as of currently Farage is still an MEP for the European Parliament for the South of England.
The prospect of the UK’s involvement in forthcoming EU elections has been widely contested by the EU and those within Westminster.
This proves particularly troubling given the fact that the UK voted to leave more than two years ago.
Initially, Prime Minister Theresa May had pledged for Article 50 to be initiated on March 29th.
However, she ultimately failed to secure sufficient support in parliament for her withdrawal deal.
As a result, Westminster remains in somewhat of a political deadlock, with no clarity on the path forward for delivering Brexit.
In a bid to avoid a no-deal scenario, The UK and EU have thus agreed upon a flexible 6-month extension to Brexit until October.
As it stands, this means that the UK will indeed most likely participate in upcoming EU elections.
Nevertheless, this may be avoided if parliament decides on how best to proceed with Brexit, ahead of May 23rd.
Funding Circle revenue jumps 40%
Funding Circle (LON:FCH) updated the market on its first quarter on Thursday, sending shares upwards.
The peer-to-peer lending platform said that growth was driven by a 44% increase in loans under management, totalling £3.4 billion.
Revenues were also boosted by higher transaction yield, largely as a result of new policies in the US, alongside growth in other revenue streams.
As a result, the company reported year-on-year growth of 40%.
Samir Desai CBE, CEO and co-founder, said: “Q1 was a period where Funding Circle reinforced its leadership position across each of its markets, reaching a new high of loans under management of GBP3.4 billion. We continue to implement our strategy of diversifying funding sources with a new commitment from the European Investment Bank, as well as launching two new institutional investor products.”
The company which was launched in the UK in 2010, floated on the London Stock Exchange in September 2018.
It was initially valued at £1.5 billion at 440p, however, it has since traded below this level.
Thursday’s company update sent Funding Circle shares up during trading, as investors took stock of the details.
Shares are currently trading +3.54% as of 13:29PM (GMT).