Twitter drops on user growth troubles
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) shares have fallen in after-hours trading as their latest quarterly results fail to show any improvements for the troubled micro-blogging site.
Twitter, whose shares have dropped against its IPO price after trading for just a few years, reported a net loss of $90 million – an improvement on the $125 million loss this time last year. The site also reported a slowdown in user growth, a key indicator as to the site’s health, with the number of average monthly active users remaining at 320 million for the second quarter in a row.
However, whilst revenue growth saw a rise of 48 percent on the fourth quarter of 2014, shares fell 10 percent in after hours trading – which has now been somewhat recovered.
11/02/2016
Oil drops again as Goldman Sachs confirm weak future
Oil prices dropped again on Thursday due to record amounts in storage, and a confirmation from Goldman Sachs that they expect prices to stay low and volatile for the rest of 2016.
Brent crude futures fell 40 cents to $30.44, after rising slightly last week on hope of an OPEC agreement. WTI crude futures were back down almost to the low hit in January, which was its lowest point since 2003.
The oil markets are now coming to the end of their peak season, whereby consumers stock up for winter heating, putting further pressure on a market where demand already significantly outstrips supply. Producers have become more and more open to accepting low prices to obtain market share, wit hIran offering discounted oil to Asian markets to undercut rival Saudi Arabia.
It is likely that concerns over China will continue to weigh on the market for the rest of this year, with supply still increasing exponentially against demand.
11/02/2016
Dunelm up 6 percent on strong half-yearly growth
Shares in homeware retailer Dunelm Group are up over 6 percent this morning after releasing a positive report for the first half of the 2016 trading year.
Sales were up 10.3 percent to £448.1 million, with profit before tax also up from £68.2 million in the first half of 2015 to £75.5 million this year. Dunelm have recently put a three part growth strategy into operation, with these figures being a solid confirmation that the company are moving in the right direction.
In a statement, CEO John Browett said: “Our focus remains on growing the business for the longer term, after making good progress so far.
“We had a strong sale at Christmas…it is a really exciting time to be at Dunelm.”
Dunelm (LON:DNLM) are trading up 6.61 percent at 880.50 (0951GMT).
10/02/2016
Europe’s lenders face sell-off in face of global uncertainty
European lenders have lost nearly a quarter of their market value since January 1st 2016, totalling nearly $250 billion, as global uncertainty shakes investors.
This year has been one of the worst in financial history, with rock-bottom oil prices, further market volatility in China and the pressure of a European referendum in Britain impacting negatively on global markets – and it seems these factors are causing investors to sell off shares in Europe’s biggest lenders.
Worries of bad debts from cheap European cash lie under then surface of banks’ ‘recovery’ over the last eight years, and the failure of banks to negotiate the crash of 2008 still resonates for many investors, who are choosing to withdraw in case of another similar failure. One strategist was quoted by Reuters as saying: “there are no buying signals in the banking sector. Why own them?”
10/02/2016
Japanese shares enter bear market
Japanese shares had another bad spell on Wednesday, with markets continuing yesterday’s losses and falling overall by 7 percent over the last two days.
Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 2.3 percent at close, a lesser fall than Tuesday’s 5.4 percent – their worst trading day of the year so far. These latest falls mean that Japan has entered a bear market, with markets losing 20 percent for their value over the past nine months.
The volatility has been caused by a strengthening of the yen, which is likely to have a negative impact on exports. Japan’s economy has faced troubles recently, despite the government’s attempts to calm the waters with the introduction of negative interest rates. Uncertainty has also hit government bonds, with the yield on Japanese ten year bonds dropping into negative territory for the first time.
Non-farm payroll figure drops sharply to 151,000
The latest US jobs data has just been released, with the non farm payroll figure coming in at 151,000.
This is a steep drop from last month’s unexpectedly high figure of 292,000, and far lower than the figure of 190,000 expected by analysts prior to the release.
This weak figure is likely to deter the Fed from raising rates in the near future and is a disappointing number for those hoping for some good economic news. This figure comes at the end of a week where the dollar fell 3 percent against other major currencies, and after a spate of figures showing that a global economic downturn may be on the cards.
BG Group defies oil downturn with profit rise
BG Group, the oil firm who is the subject of a near-complete takeover by Royal Dutch Shell, reported a significant rise in pre-tax profits for 2015.
These results are some of the most positive to come from oil companies of late, as falling oil prices have hit several hard – including Shell, who yesterday announced an 87 percent profit fall.
BG announced that pre-tax profits for the full year were $2.97 billion, compared to a $2.3 billion loss in 2014. In the most recent quarter BG made a loss, but improved from a loss of $8.3 billion for the final quarter of 2014 to just $1.17 billion for the same quarter of 2015.
In a statement, BG’s CEO Helge Lund said: “We are pleased to have delivered an excellent operational performance in 2015. This strong performance is the result of the capability and commitment of our teams across the organisation.”
For Shell, BG’s strong results bode well and prove their position as an asset to the Shell business. BG’s (LON:BG) shares are currently up 1.23 percent at 1070.5 (1038GMT).
05/02/2016
Latest UK wage growth data worrying for economy
Deputy Governor of the Bank of England Ben Broadbent has confirmed that the recent drop in oil prices and subsequent impact on the economy means that British inflation is likely to remain below 1 percent for the rest of this year.
This will also make will a rate rise in the near future unlikely.
“The drop has been a pretty protracted one…and will keep inflation below 1 percent…throughout this year,” Broadbent said in an interview on BBC Radio.
However, he went on to say that inflation looks set to rise in 2017:
“Indeed we expect it to go back to target, if not a little above, in two to three years.”
Further data was released today regarding the jobs market, which also hampered expectations that the Bank of England will raise rates this year. According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, British starting salaries rose last month at the slowest pace since October 2013, adding to concerns about the pace of wage growth in the UK.
Yesterday the Bank of England cut its forecast for wage growth, another key figure impacting on when interest rates will be raised; wage growth slowed in the three months to November to its lowest level since 2006.
These sets of data are just the latest in an string of economic news that points to another slowdown in the global economy. US jobs data released later today will be a key indicator as to the health of employment in the world’s largest economy.
05/02/2016
Oil rises on hope of OPEC meeting
Oil jumped higher again on Thursday, trading above $35 per barrel, as a weaker dollar and possibility of an OPEC meeting impacted prices.
Oil was up 7 percent in the previous session, gains that have been built upon again today. Brent crude was up 35 cents at $35.39 this morning, with US crude up 40 at $32.68.
Concerns that the Federal Reserve may have been wrong about the strength of the U.S. economy and may not raise interest rates this year weakened the dollar, pushing up the price of commodities. Similarly, six OPEC states and two non-members would be open to attending a meeting to try and curb oil supply, according to the Venezuelan oil minister Eulogio Del Pino after talks were held in Iran.
The countries open to involvement would be Iraq, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Iran and Venezuela, as well as non OPEC states Russia and Oman. Del Pino has been coordinating efforts to arrange a meeting over the last week, stating that “the idea is not just to hold a meeting, but for all the countries to attend with the intention of reaching agreements.”
04/02/2016
GoPro shares tumble 19 percent after dramatic loss
Sharers in tech company GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) fell 19 percent in a after hours trading, as the Group disclosed an overall loss in the last quarter.
Net income losses came to $34.5 million – a dramatic fall from the $122.3 million profit last year – suggesting that they are failing to keep up with competition from cheaper Chinese rivals. In a statement, the company conceded the need to make their cameras more user friendly to attract retain customers:
“Growth slowed in the second half of the year and we recognise the need to develop software solutions that will make it easier for customers to offload, access and edit their GoPro content,” said founder Nicholas Woodman.
To counter the fall, the company will be cutting production of some of its range and CFO Jack Lazar will be replaced by Brian McGee. This year to date shares in GoPro, who design and manufacture wearable video cameras, have fallen over 40 percent.
04/02/2016