Robots likely to take jobs from over 10 million workers within 15 years
Around 30 percent of British jobs are at risk from advancements in Artificial Intelligence, according to new reports, affecting over 10 million UK workers.
Robots and artificial intelligence machines are likely to replace a third of UK jobs within 15 years, consultancy firm PwC said in a report released on Friday.
These figures are higher in both the US, at 38 percent, and Germany, at 35 percent. In Japan the risk is marginally lower, with around 21 percent of jobs likely to be affected.
John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, told the BBC that “more manual, routine jobs” were the most at risk, with jobs needing a “more human touch” safer.
Jon Andrews, the head of technology and investments at PwC, commented: “There’s no doubt that AI and robotics will rebalance what jobs look like in the future, and that some are more susceptible than others.
“What’s important is making sure that the potential gains from automation are shared more widely across society and no one gets left behind. Responsible employers need to ensure they encourage flexibility and adaptability in their people so we are all ready for the change.”
Venture Life shares fall, despite 57pc profit boost
Shares in international consumer self-care group Venture Life group (LON:VLG) sunk on Thursday, despite reporting an increase in both revenue and gross profit.
Revenues for the group were up 57 percent to £14.3 million for the year ended 31st December, up from £9.1 million in 2015.
Gross profit increased 83 percent to £5.5 million, giving a gross margin of 38 percent. Adjusted EBITDA profit stood at £0.8 million, an improvement on 2015’s loss of £0.6 million.
Sales growth continued to be strong in China for the second half of 2016, with the trend looking set to continue into 2017 with two long term distribution agreements, including one on UltraDEX, signed this year.
Commenting on the results, Jerry Randall, Chief Executive Officer of Venture Life, said:
“Venture Life has had a significant year along its path to becoming sustainably profitable. Revenue growth of 57% and our first EBITDA profit demonstrates the focused strategy of the Group is working.
“Increasing revenues through our business are enhancing margins, and this year the Group has demonstrated its ability to grow successfully through both organic and acquisitive means.
“First international partner deals on both UltraDex and Benecol ‘once-a-day’ liquid sachets confirm the appetite for these excellent products, and we continue to expand and strengthen our distribution networks for these and our other brand products.
“We have strengthened our commercial team and developed three new and innovative products through our on-going R&D efforts, and we look forward to the continued growth and momentum throughout 2017.”
Venture Life focus on developing, manufacturing and commercializing products for the ageing population, including the sales of branded healthcare and cosmetics products direct to retailers as well as manufacturing services under contract development.
Shares in Venture Life are currently down 2.94 percent at 66.00 (1241GMT).
Retail sales surge in February, dampened only by rising petrol prices
UK retail sales rose 1.4 percent in February, but soaring petrol prices held down figures for the quarter as a whole.
During the three months to February, seen as a more reliable figure when assessing consumer habits, sales volumes ropped by 1.4 percent. This represents a larger drop than the 0.5 percent decline recorded in the three months to January, and the biggest three-month fall recorded by the Office for National Statistics since March 2010.
Fuel prices in February were 18.7 percent higher than a year earlier, with petrol costing an average of 120p a litre in February, and diesel 3p more. ONS statistician Kate Davies commented:
“February’s retail sales figures show fairly strong growth, though the underlying three-month picture shows falling sales as February’s figures follow two consecutive months of decline in December and January.
“The underlying trend suggests that rising petrol prices in particular have had a negative effect on the overall quantity of goods bought over the last three months”, Davies concluded.
Sterling surged on the news that retail sales had increased in February, with sterling currently up 0.30 percent against the dollar and 0.30 percent against the euro (1149GMT).
FTSE 100 sinks, dragged down by major British stocks
The FTSE 100 fell from its record highs on Wednesday, dragged down by a stronger pound and sliding shares in Kingfisher and IAG.
The FTSE 100 is currently down 0.74 percent at 7323.48, with the FTSE 250 down 1.07 percent at 18,784.48 (1223GMT).
The indexes were affected by large falls in household names such as Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q. Kingfisher is currently trading down 5.61 percent after saying it was concerned that uncertainty around Brexit and French politics could hit future demand.
Other major shares including Barclays, Standard Chartered and British Airways owner IAG also fell on Wednesday.
George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says:
“Screwfix is again the driving force behind a strong UK performance. However, with over half of group sales coming from overseas, much of the improvement in Kingfisher’s reported profits can be attributed to sterling’s weakness.”
The falls in British markets follow those in the US, with shares sinking across the board on Tuesday as investors question US President Donald Trump’s ability to deliver on promises to boost growth.
Cost of living in London now cheaper than Tokyo, Paris and New York
The cost of living in London has fallen to its lowest level in two decades, with the pound’s fall pushing down prices in the capital.
The latest figures from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) show that London is now the cheapest of the world’s major economic centres, including Paris, New York and Tokyo.
The sharp fall of the British pound in the wake of Brexit has made prices in London more attractive for foreign visitors, although has had little effect on workers in the capital who earn their wages in pounds.
“While the declines mean that British cities are cheaper compared to their international peers, the rise in import prices caused by the weak pound will mean that locals won’t see their own shopping baskets falling in price.
“In fact the opposite is likely to be true and, while UK cities fell down the ranking local prices for the basket of goods surveyed have begun to creep back up,” said the EIU.
According to figures from Expatistan, London is now 8 percent less expensive than Tokyo. Food accounts for a large proportion of this, at 15 percent lower, with entertainment also also 13 percent cheaper.
UK inflation hits highest level since 2013, negative effects for savers
UK inflation hit its highest level since September 2013 in February, with food prices recording their first annual increase for over two years.
The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to 2.3 percent in February, a sharp increase from 1.8 percent in January. Food prices increased by 0.3 percent on the same period a year earlier. The Bank of England has taken the rising inflation into account, expecting it to peak at 2.8 percent next year. According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, rising transport costs, particularly for fuel, were the main contributors to the increase in the rate. Rising inflation rates are likely to have negative effects for savers, with Vince Smith-Hughes, retirement expert at Prudential, commenting:“These rising inflation figures will dismay pensioners who are living on a fixed income or drawing down an income from their pension fund. Rising inflation hits retired people harder than others because they spend a disproportionate amount of their income on fuel, food and heating.
“Those drawing down an income will need to think carefully about how much they withdraw from their pensions. Increasing withdrawals to pay for higher food and fuel bills means they run a greater risk of exhausting their pension savings.”
British stock markets are down on the news, with the FTSE 100 is currently down 0.03pc to 7,426.21, while the FTSE 250 has fallen 0.16pc to 19,120.96 (1336GMT).May to trigger Article 50 next Wednesday
Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that she will trigger Article 50 on Wednesday 26th March, beginning the UK’s process of leaving the European Union.
Once the Article is triggered, negotiations can begin between the UK and other member states to determine the relationship post-Brexit. The negotiations will last two years, before Britain formally exits the European Union.
Negotiations will begin nine months after the British people voted 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent to leave the European Union in a referendum.
Parliament gave their approval for May to trigger the Article two weeks ago, when peers and MPs passed unamended a bill giving the her authority to begin the process.
Brexit secretary David Davis confirmed that Article 50 would be triggered on 29th March, calling the process “the most important negotiation for this country in a generation”.
“The government is clear in its aims: a deal that works for every nation and region of the UK and indeed for all of Europe – a new, positive partnership between the UK and our friends and allies in the European Union.”
Vodafone merge with Indian rival Idea to become country’s largest provider
Vodafone’s Indian business has merged with one of its biggest rivals in the region, Idea Cellular, in order to fend off competition from other networks.
The combined business will be the country’s largest telecoms provider, with almost 400 million customers and a 35 percent share of the market.
Vodafone will hold 45 percent of the combined entity, withAditya Birla Group, Idea’s owner, taking 26 percent. In the three years from closure of the deal, which is expected to be in 2018, the Aditya Birla Group has the right to buy up to 9.5 percent stake from Vodafone at Rs 130 per share to equalize the stakes of both partners. The rest will be held by the public.
In a statement, Aditya Birla Group’s chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla, said:
“This landmark combination will enable the Aditya Birla Group to create a high quality digital infrastructure that will transition the Indian population towards a digital lifestyle and make the Government’s Digital India vision a reality.”
Vodafone Group’s CEO Vittorio Colao reassured customers that “both brands will continue to exist and we will leverage on both brands.”
Birla will be the chairman of the combined entity, with the Aditya Birla Group having the sole right to appoint the Chairman as one of its three directors. Vodafone will retain the right to appoint the combined group’s Chief Financial Officer. According to a joint press release, both Vodafone and the Aditya Birla Group will jointly appoint the CEO and Chief Operating Officer.
Guest post: Gold and the US dollar – a volatile affair of hate and love
As the much anticipated Fed Base rate decision looms on the horizon, I thought I would have a look at one of the most turbulent relationships in the market which is never short of offering up some form of drama: Gold and the USD.
To the untrained eye, they seem to never get along. One pushes and the other shoves – but all great love affairs are complicated.
To begin with, the USD and gold have had something special in common for a long time, something very few financial assets have managed to attain – both belong to the exclusive safe-haven club. Along with the Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc, these two frenemies are often traders’ choice at times of financial uncertainty.
Still, the complication appears because there is an obvious inverse relationship between the US currency and the precious metal; when one rises the other falls, and vice versa. The market equation tends to be as follows:
High USD price = Low gold price
Low USD price = High gold price
Despite this recurrent equation, at any given time both gold and USD could move in the same direction. Let’s delve back in history and see why these old friends became so closely related to each other in the first place.
It can all be traced back to a vital date which changed the face of the economy; July 22nd 1944. On that fateful date the “Bretton Woods Agreement” was signed off, pegging currencies to the price of gold and considering the U.S. dollar the world’s reserve currency, which meant it would be linked to the price of gold. It was a landmark system for monetary exchange rates, and it was the first meeting between the two so to speak.
This sweet relationship lasted until 1971 when a nasty break up occurred due to concerns that the USD was overvalued, and so U.S. President at the time, Richard Nixon called for a temporary suspension of the dollar’s convertibility which made gold prices vulnerable to the USDs external value, and that was enough to break their closely linked near 30-year connection.
In the minds of investors and traders however, the two will stay closely linked. This mentality has led to close correlation in the movement of the two. In 2008 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that 40 to 50 percent of the moves in gold prices since 2002 were related to the US dollar.
The correlation can even be easily identified in the recent financial crisis which started in 2008; the USD initially crashed against other currencies such as the euro and British pound, leading to the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates and introducing several rounds of quantitative easing.
But how did gold react? Well it hit an all-time high in August of 2011.
Since then we have seen two US rate hikes in 2016, and gold prices have stalled – US dollar rises gold falls.
This becomes relevant today because of the Fed’s decision on increasing interest rates again, due on the 15th of March. For many it is a done deal, in fact according to Bloomberg’s World Interest Rate Probability, there is a 100 percent chance of a rate hike.
This may explain why gold has fallen after seeing an impressive start to 2017 and reaching around $1263 in February. Where gold will be following the 15th, only time will tell.
The attraction to this evergreen relationship between gold and the US dollar needs no further proof than seeing that almost 75 years after gold and the USD were officially linked in Bretton Woods, there is still a psychological tilt towards the yellow metal when the value of the US dollar decreases. Their relationship seems destined to be at odds for a very long time, and this story is for the ages.
This is a guest post by James Trescothick, the Chief Global Strategist at EasyMarkets.Risk warning: Forward Rate Agreements, Options and CFDs (OTC Trading) are leveraged products that carry a substantial risk of loss up to your invested capital and may not be suitable for everyone. Please ensure that you understand fully the risks involved and do not invest money you cannot afford to lose. Our group of companies through its subsidiaries is licensed by the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission (Easy Forex Trading Ltd- CySEC, License Number 079/07), which has been passported in the European Union through the MiFID Directive and in Australia by ASIC (Easy Markets Pty Ltd -AFS license No. 246566).
Eurostar profits sink in the wake of terrorist attacks in Europe
International train service Eurostar disclosed a 28 million euro loss for 2016, after terrorist attacks in European capitals had a negative impact on passenger numbers.
Revenue was also down 3 percent at 794 million euros, with passenger numbers 4 percent down at 10 million.
The disappointing figures come despite the group having had the busiest December on record last year. The company labelled 2016 a “difficult year” but added that 2017 was off to a “strong start”, with sales revenue up 12 percent so far.
Eurostar made a 31 million euro profit in 2015. Chief executive Nicolas Petrovic said: “Despite the difficult trading environment last year, we continued to make major investments in new trains, our stations and our overall service.
“With the return of travellers from the US and business travel on the increase, the market is now rebounding strongly and we are optimistic about the growth prospects for the year.”