Crowd2Fund offer investment opportunity in artisan ice cream La Gelatiera
Healthy London-based artisan ice cream maker La Gelatiera, winner of two Golden Fork awards and four UK Top 50 Foods at Great Taste Awards, are expanding and offering the public an opportunity to invest through a crowdfunding campaign.
The company offers its own modern take on the age-old delicacy of ice cream making and combines the owners family heritage of artisanal gelato making with their slow food ethic, incorporating healthy seasonal ingredients into their creations. La Gelatiera was co-founded by Antonia Parisi and Stephene Leyvraz, who grew bored of working in the corporate world and set up the business instead. Parisi, whose grandfather made gelato in Italy, is carrying on a family tradition, and the shop’s original recipes were based on his grandfather’s creations. Freshness and healthiness are key factors in the creation of their product range; all ice creams are produced daily, with 100% natural ingredients, and the company exclusively uses un-homogenised organic Jersey Cow milk from dairies in Somerset. Additionally, they are very transparent about their supply chain and where their ingredients are procured from.
Following the success of the gelato shop, opened in 2011 in Covent Garden La Gelatiera are now planning to expand their operations to open up a second retail outlet. They are planning to raise the funds to open and launch the second shop by seeking a £40,000 revenue loan (with a 9.5% APR) on Crowd2Fund.com. The funds will be used to launch and market a second London based shop, increase the size of the kitchen, and help scale up the business to serve growing demand business customers.
The company is seeking financing through the crowd, as it provides an opportunity to reach and engage with their enthusiastic customer base. Parisi says, “Using Crowd2Fund is a great way to reach out to our existing brand ambassadors as well as new customers. The loan will go towards our expansion of the brand, by opening a new shop in the Olympic village in Stratford, as well as allowing us to grow revenues by selling to supermarkets and to businesses.”
For more information, visit their campaign page here.
UK economic growth slowest for three years
Britain’s economy ended 2015 at its slowest pace of growth for nearly three years, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Fourth-quarter gross domestic product grew by 0.5 percent, up slightly from 0.4 percent in the three months to September but setting the annual figure at 2.2 percent; a considerable fall from last year’s growth of 2.9 percent. According to the International Monetary Fund Britain is set to retain this rate of growth throughout 2016 and 2017, one of the highest rates amongst advanced economies.
Output figures were stronger, with growth in the three months to December 1.9 percent higher than a year earlier, but down from 2.1 percent in the third quarter. These figures are the latest in a string of evidence that global economies are facing a difficult period, that may well continue throughout 2016.
28/01/2016
US rates remain unchanged as economy slows
The US Federal Reserve decided against raising interest rates further, citing the month’s global slowdown and saying that it would continue “closely monitoring” economic conditions.
US exports have fallen because of the strengthening dollar, and crises in China in January led to volatility on Wall Street. Due to this, the Fed held interest rates between 0.25% and 0.5%, after raising them for the first time in nearly a decade in December. In a statement, they said that “the committee is closely monitoring global economic and financial developments and is assessing their implications for the labour market and inflation.” Policymakers indicated that they were reluctant to abandon a plan to tighten monetary policy this year, saying that the economy was still on track for moderate growth and a stronger labor market even with “gradual” rate increases. Another rise in March has not been ruled out. In reaction to the news, Asian shares rose slightly on Thursday and oil prices fell back after climbing in the previous session.28/01/2016
Facebook soars after tenth quarter of growth
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) shares soared in after hours trading on Thursday, after an increase in mobile advertising saw it double fourth quarter profits.
The social networking site hit 1.59 billion users on Thursday and shocked Wall Street with a tenth consecutive quarter of growth. Its 2015 fourth quarter revenue was at $5.841 billion, with $0.79 earnings per share. These figures mean quarter on quarter growth was up 29.8%, up 51% on the same period last year.
The company also said that 80% of its advertising revenue in that period came from mobile advertising, up from 69% a year earlier.
Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who returned to work on Monday after two months of paternity leave, commented that 2015 was a “great year for Facebook”, saying “our community continued to grow and our business is thriving.”
Facebook’s growth strategy relies heavily on monetizing the developing world, more than tripling its revenue from the area over the last four years. Despite these users being on slow connections, old smartphones and not having much buying power, Facebook has convinced advertisers to pay to target them.
Facebook shares were up 12.12 percent in after hours trading.
28/01/2016
Is this the end of Apple’s growth?
Tech giant Apple ( NASDAQ:AAPL) has reported its slowest growth in iPhone sales since the product’s launch in 2007, a sign that the company’s exponential growth may be coming to an end.
Apple sold 74.8 million iPhones in its fiscal first quarter, compared with 74.5 million a year ago and reported that revenue for the next quarter would be around $53billion, below the $58 billion of last year.
The company said they had felt repercussions from the weakening of the Chinese economy, with demand slowing in one of their largest markets, with Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri telling Reuters in an interview:
“As we move into the March quarter it’s becoming more apparent that there are some signs of economic softness. We are starting to see something that we have not seen before.” The company’s shares have fallen 5 percent this year, and were volatile in after hours trading last night. They have since steadied, and the company is now trading up 0.55 percent at 96.61 (1107GMT).RBS shares fall on £2.5bn profit hit
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (LON:RBS) saw shares fall this morning, after a trading update revealed that it would take an unexpected £2.5 billion hit to fourth quarter profits.
The profits were hit as more cash than expected was set aside for compensation and litigation costs surrounding mis-sold loan insurance, as well as an impairment charge at its private banking arm. RBS CEO Ross McEwan said in a statement:
“I am determined to put the issues of the past behind us and make sure RBS is a stronger, safer bank. We will now continue to move further and faster in 2016 to clean-up the bank and improve our core businesses. We’ve always been open about the scale of past issues facing RBS and although there is clearly much more to do, this announcement is a further step towards addressing legacy issues and building a great bank for our customers and delivering long term value for our shareholders.”
McEwan is in the process of turning the troubled lender around so that the government can sell more of its 73 percent stake in the Group, which it took after its near-collapse in 2008.
RBS shares fell nearly 3 percent just after open this morning, and is now trading down 2.67 percent at 254.60.
Politicians call on Osborne for explanation of Google tax deal
An increasing number of politicians are calling on Chancellor George Osborne to defend HM Revenue and Custom’s deal with Google over the amount of back-tax to be paid to the UK.
The deal, agreed last week after an “open audit” of Google’s accounts by the UK tax authorities, stands at £130 million and covers payment owed since 2005. However, many politicians have called that amount into question, suggesting that for the size and prominence of Google, it is a “very small number”.
European MPs have now entered the fray, demanding that Osborne explain how the figure was reached. French MEP Eva Joly said the settlement was “bad news for everybody”, and accused the UK of making itself into “a kind of tax haven to attract multinationals”.
HMRC has defended the deal, with a senior official insisting that it was collecting the “full tax due in law”.
Google is one of several multinational companies to be have been accused of avoiding tax, in spite of making billions of pounds of sales in Britain. Osborne has made moves to cut down on tax avoidance of multi-national companies, but has recently come under fire for this himself, after claims made in November that his family firm Osborne and Little, started by his father Sir Peter Osborne, has paid no UK corporation tax for seven years.
27/01/2016
Marston’s break Christmas sales fourth year running
Pub and brewing company Marston’s who owns Pitcher & Piano topped records, earning £3m on Christmas day.
The FTSE 250-listed company reported 3% like-for-like sales growth at its 400 premium managed pubs in the 16 weeks to 23 January outperformed competitor JD Wetherspoon, who blamed waning profits on increased labour costs.
Ralph Findlay, the chief executive has commented;
“This performance demonstrates the appeal of our pubs and the value for money we offer, underpinned by excellent service. In brewing, our principal brands and new beers contributed to an excellent first quarter.”
In light of Marston’s growth, analysts at Numis have upgraded their recommendation of the company to ‘buy’, saying:
“Marston’s is generating strong organic growth… the company is trading ahead of expectations,”
Shares of the company were up 5.1 percent at 158.4 pence by 0818 GMT on the London Stock Exchange.
Who are the winners and losers behind the oil crisis?
Over the past year, global oil prices have seen a dramatic fall. This oil collapse, with prices today reaching below $30 per barrel, has the potential to have profound geopolitical consequences.
So who are the possible winners and losers of the falling oil prices?
Russia
As one of the world’s largest producers, Russia will undoubtedly be affected by the oil crises. The World Bank has already warned that Russia’s economy could shrink by at least 0.7% if the oil prices do no increase. This is following data confirming that Russia’s economy loses $2bn of revenues for every dollar fall in the oil price. Despite warnings, Russia has confirmed that it will not cut its production to level out prices with Alexander Novak the Energy Minister saying; “If we cut, the importer countries will increase their production and this will mean a loss of our niche market,”.
Saudi Arabia
Similarly to Russia, the world’s largest oil exporter could also support global prices by cutting back on production but shows no sign of doing this. With reserve funds of approx $700bn, Saudi can withstand these low prices for some time however will need oil prices to be up at around $85 for the long term.
Nigeria
Africa’s top oil producer and with crude sales funding 75% of the country’s budget, Nigeria will ultimately face huge consequences to its economy. Despite warnings, the falling oil price is not preventing the Nigerian government’s new big spending plans, which analysts have warned is a bad idea in the current climate. Chuba Ezekwesili, a research analyst at Nigerian Economic Summit Group has said: “They’re sort of delaying the inevitable. I feel like eventually it has to give way, and by the time it does I feel the economy is going to be hurt because a lot of businesses can’t work under those conditions.”
United States
The picture in the US is looking slightly more complex. Whilst the government has noticed consumers benefiting from the lower prices in petrol, which is fueling consumer spending, the collapse in oil price is predicted to cast a shadow of the US energy industry. Due to cheap oil prices, fracking has become less attractive to investors leading to losses of tens of thousands of jobs.
Dixons Carphone increases profit forecast following strong Christmas
Dixons Carphone, which trades as Currys, PC World and Carphone Warehouse, has reported strong Christmas sales following increased sales in mobile phones.
In the ten weeks to January 9, sales at stores open over a year rose ahead of analysts’ average forecast by 2%, rising a total of 5%
The firm expected a 2015-16 pretax profit of 440-450 million pounds versus analysts’ previous average forecast of 440 million pounds and the 381 million pounds made in 2014-15.
Shares for Dixons Carphone closed Monday at 467.1 pence, valuing the business at 5.4 billion pounds.
Sebastian James, the chief executive, has said;
“We think it was a good Christmas trading period. We are now also taking the opportunity to put our estate into its long-term shape by rolling out the three-in-one format across the UK and Ireland. Our experience has taught us that the net effect on both sales and colleague levels is likely to be neutral or better.”