17/06/2016
Headed up by Boris Johnson, the ‘Leave’ camp has edged out in front in the polls and odds are now showing at a 40% chance of the UK leaving the E.U.
Morning Round-Up: Tesco in further asset sale, Mitsubishi compensate over fuel tests, HSBC lawsuit
Tesco restructuring continues with garden centre sale
Tesco has announced the sale of its Dobbies Garden Centres business for £217 million, becoming the latest in a string of asset sales.
Chief executive Dave Lewis has been following a plan to divest Tesco of unnecessary assets and focus on reviving the grocery business since his appointment in 2014. Last week Tesco agreed on the sale of its Turkish business and the Giraffe restaurant chain in the UK, after selling Tesco’s South Korean arm late last year.
Tesco (LON:TSCO) is currently trading up 1.54 percent at 155.00 (0919GMT).
Mitsubishi to pay compensation after fuel economy scandal
Japanese carmarker Mitsubishi will pay around $600 million in compensation to vehicle owners, after admitting to overstating the fuel economy on some models.
Each owner will receive 100,000 yen – around £672 – for 625,000 minivehicles with the problem, including two models produced for Nissan.
A statement will be made from 3pm Tokyo time. Shares in the company closed up 6.42 percent on the news.
HSBC to pay to end Household International lawsuit
Shares in HSBC Holdings have risen after it announced that it would pay $1.575 billion to end a 14 year old lawsuit.
The lawsuit, which stemmed from the Household International consumer finance business that the British bank bought in 2003, could have made HSBC liable for a figure as high as $3.6 billion.
Shares have risen 0.68 percent on the news, trading at 429.35 (0938GMT).
Mulberry back in business after strategy change
British leather goods retailer Mulberry saw profits jump to £6.2 million for its 2015 financial year, with the introduction of a more affordable product range sparking demand.
Total retail sales for the 11 weeks to June 11 also rose 4 percent on a like-for-like basis, with full-year retail sales up 8 percent. Total revenue rose 5 percent to £155.9 million.
These figures are the first set of results since Mulberry retreated from an advance into the luxury sector, resulting in a a 74 percent fall in full-year profit for the year ended 2015. Lowering prices and reinventing its range, Mulberry’s latest set of results show the company is heading in a more promising direction.
16/06/2016
Morning Round-Up: US rates unchanged, Poundland profit drop, Asian shares fall
Yellen leaves US rates unchanged in the run-up to Referendum
US rates remain unchanged after this month’s Federal Reserve meeting yesterday, with Janet Yellen citing slow job growth and a possible Brexit vote as reasons for the decision.
Interest rates will now remain between 0.25 and 0.5 percent for another month. Yellen commented:
“It is a decision that could have consequences for economic and financial conditions in global financial markets.
“If it does so it could have consequences in turn for the US economic outlook that would be a factor in deciding on the appropriate path of policy.
“Obviously how that turns out is something that will factor into future decisions,” she added.
Poundland profits fall ahead of possible takeover
British chain Poundland announced a 13.5 percent fall in underlying full-year profit today, ahead of a possible full takeover by South African group Steinhoff.
The company cited subdued trading, adverse currency moves and difficulties integrating the 99p Store chain into the business.
Steinhoff, who already own 23 percent of Poundland, has until July 13th to bird for the rest of the company. Poundland made an underlying pretax profit of £37.8 million in the year to March 27th – below analysts’ expectations.
Nikkei plunges 3 percent on rising yen
Thursday became another poor day for Asian shares, with the Nikkei closing down 3 percent for the second time this week.
A rise in the yen contributed to the market fall, seeing the dollar drop to 104.06 yen – its lowest since August 2014. The impact was exacerbated by a statement from the Bank of Japan after its meeting saying it would not add further stimulus.
The Nikkei 225 index closed down 3.05 percent to 15,434.14 points, with the Hang Seng down 2.10 percent and the Shanghai Composite down 0.50 percent.
16/06/2016
Meatcure seeks backers to grow “impossibly good” burger business
Meatcure, the burger restaurant inspired by New York’s Meat Packing District, is seeking crowdfunding backers to help expand the business across the UK.
Meatcure’s story began in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, where their first restaurant made £14,000 in the first week – quite a feat in a town with only 22,000 people. This was in late 2014 and since then, the business has grown exponentially to the point where their fourth restaurant, opening this month, was completely self-financed. The quick growth, mixed with a cult customer following, has seen the demand for Meatcure to grow; the company are aiming to open five more new restaurants in market towns across the UK, preferably with the help of backers through a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs.
Meatcure’s success is down to having one simple goal: to put the best patty in the best brioche and to create an impossibly good burger. They follow a motto: “We build restaurants we like to hang out in, food we like to eat and surround ourselves with individual and inspiring people. Our staff have become our family and their family our customers.”
Their commitment to ‘impossibly good’ saw them using their own recipes working with local suppliers and the best ingredients to create the perfect patty brioche marriage. Even with a combined 230 years experience it still took nearly twelve months to perfect the recipe. With the UK having over 500 market towns and smaller cities, Meatcure hopes to bring their passion and ingenuity to a much wider audience, without compromising an ounce of quality or personal touch.
Meatcure co-founder Paul Rigby commented, “There’s huge potential benefit to investing in Meatcure’s campaign. The way we build our restaurants is fast, fun and with a view to getting a good payback for our investors. It’s not rocket science, it’s mostly wood and lots of those trendy light bulbs. Our aim is to create a backdrop for our impossibly good burgers, craft beers and killer cocktails. The good news with the crowdfunding campaign is that you don’t have to wear a tool belt or steelies – we’ll do that bit for you!”
Co-founder Rob Martyniak added, “At Meatcure we are kind of old school about things. We make impossibly good burgers, we do steak properly, superb salads and proper food for kids. We love coffee, craft beers and killer cocktails – however, there are no £10 cocktails or long table waits. You’ll be greeted with an old school smile and you might even get to choose the vinyl that’s playing. I think that’s why we’ve seen the Meatcure name grow. We do what we love and we love what we do. We can’t wait for others to be a part of it.”
Meatcure’s campaign will be run through equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs, and is inviting backers to help them raise the £350,000 needed to take the vast choice and dynamics of the street food generation to market towns across the UK.
Meatcure’s campaign will be run through equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs, and is inviting backers to help them raise the £350,000 needed to take the vast choice and dynamics of the street food generation to market towns across the UK.
Ekaterina Steube, Campaigns Success Manager at Seedrs said: “We are excited to welcome Meatcure on to Seedrs. The brand is all about great food, world class customer experience and supporting local suppliers, and their campaign reflects that. The team is exceptionally focused with highly experienced founders and we look forward to seeing the business scale.”
Meatcure are crowdfunding with Seedrs from Monday 13 June and you can find out more on for to be a part of it by visiting www.seedrs.com/meatcure.
Morning Round-Up: FTSE up, oil down, Rolls-Royce for Remain, UK inflation at 0.3%
FTSE up, oil down as Brexit weighs
The FTSE rose again this morning after falling 2 percent on Tuesday over fears that the UK is swinging towards a Brexit.
The index is up 0.90 percent in early trade, with the pound – which also dropped dramatically yesterday – following suit, up half a cent at $1.4167.
However, oil has hit its lowest price in three weeks, as Brexit worries and a surprise build in U.S. inventories pushed prices down.
U.S. crude CLc1 fell to $47.55, with Brent LCOc1 hitting its lowest price in two weeks, at $49.29 a barrel.
Roll-Royce CEO urges a “Remain’ vote
The CEO of British engineering company Rolls-Royce has urged its staff to vote to Stay in the EU, saying that a Brexit would “limit any company’s ability to plan and budget for the future.”
“We have taken the public position that as a company Rolls-Royce believes our customers, suppliers and employees benefit from the UK’s membership of the European Union and that it is in the company’s interests to remain a member,” East said.
He continued, “We have a very interconnected operation around Europe… We’re making investment decisions all the time about where to place various parts of our operation… and uncertainty created by Brexit puts a lot of those decisions on hold, and that pause is something that our US competitors don’t have to cope with.”
Rolls-Royce is Britain’s premier engineering company and employs 37,000 people.
UK inflation sticks at 0.3 percent
The UK’s inflation rate remained unchanged in May at 0.3%, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
A fall in the price of clothing offset rising transport costs, keeping inflation well below the 2 percent target set by the Bank of England. The continued low inflation makes it unlikely that rates will be raised in the near future.15/06/2016
Higher cost of living spells trouble for the pub sector
A higher cost of living, combined with more expensive student loans and cultural changes, are expected to impact on the profitability of the UK pub sector in the short term, according to the latest report by Fitch Ratings.
The report sees Fitch’s outlook for the UK pub sector remaining negative, driven by ongoing structural decline. Financially pressed 18-35 year olds may continue to curtail UK pubs’ revenues over the medium term, with factors such as rising student loans and higher rent making drinking out less affordable. The rise of craft beer companies have also led to a decrease in the quantities consumed in mainstream pubs, especially by millennials.
Internal aspects, including the rise of the Living Wage, are expected to put pressure on pubs’ profitability, possibly leading to job losses as companies try to limit their expenditure. Similarly, the recent overall decline of on-trade sales and total alcohol consumption over the longer term, as well as the the MRO announced in March 2015 and the EU referendum in June 2016, are likely to make an impact.
14/06/2016
Morning Round-Up: Ted Baker results strong, gun company shares jump, oil set to balance
Ted Baker beats competition with impressive results
Shares in British clothing company Ted Baker (LON:TED) have risen over 2 percent this morning after disclosing strong earnings for the 19 weeks to June 11.
Revenue rose by 11.3 percent and sales were up 12.7 percent, with demand strong both online and in stores; several new store openings led store space to increase by 9.7 percent, with online trading jumping by 32.3 percent.
According to analysts, this set of figures puts Ted Baker well above competitors and paves the way for the company to meet full-year expectations of 12 percent to 15 percent profit growth.
Shares in gun companies jump on US shooting
Shares in US gun companies rose on Monday after an attack on a gay nightclub in Florida, killing 49 people and becoming the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
Smith & Wesson shares rose 6.9 percent, with Sturm, Ruger and Company finishing up 8.5 percent. Shares are wont to rise after a mass-shooting, with worries over impending gun law changes increasing the sales of weapons. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in the US, gunman Omar Mateen legally obtained both a 9mm semiautomatic handgun and a .223 caliber AR rifle in Florida within the last 10 days. Oil supply and demand set to balance in second half of 2016 Oil supply and demand is set to balance in the second half of 2016, according to the International Energy Agency on Tuesday. After a series of unplanned production outages surplus will fall, but may rise again in the first half of next year with demand growth remaining largely flat at 1.3 million barrels per day. In its monthly report, the IEA said: “We expect to see global oil stocks build slightly in the first half of 2017 before falling slightly more in the second half of 2017. For the year as a whole, there will be a very small stock draw of 0.1 million bpd. “At halfway in 2016, the oil market looks to be balancing; but we must not forget that there are large volumes of shut-in production, mainly in Nigeria and Libya, that could return to the market, and the strong start for oil demand growth seen this year might not be maintained.”14/06/2016
Microsoft buys LinkedIn for $26.2bn
In a surprise deal, Microsoft has agreed to buy LinkedIn, the world’s biggest professional networking site for $26.2bn (£18.5bn) in cash.
The tech giant has agreed to pay $196 (£139) per share for the company, announcing the deal before the market opened on Wall Street and sending LinkedIn’s shares up 49% to $194.55 PMT. Microsoft’s shares fell by 4.2% to $51.48.
LinkedIn, which has over 430 million users worldwide, is a networking site that is designed for people to connect with other professionals and gain access to a range of job opportunities. Microsoft are hoping that the move will expand its reach into the professional networking area.
The deal is Microsoft’s biggest acquisition to date, beating the $8.5 billion Skype deal in 2011 look small in comparison. Microsoft have made clear that LinkedIn will “retain its distinct brand, culture and independence”; Jess Weiner, who will remain as LinkedIn’s chief executive, said the deal “gives us a chance to change the way the world works”
13/06/2016
FitBug Holdings sees revenue fall in 2015
FitBug Holdings PLC today announced that revenues for 2015 fell to to £1.259 million, with pre-tax loss doubling from its previous year to £6.303 million.
The digital ‘health and well-being’ company unveiled a turnaround strategy to its ‘business-to-business’ (B2B) market after a failed buyer-to-consumer (B2C) strategy caused ‘unsustainable’ losses. The company was also hit by high legal costs, totalling £594,000.
However, trading in the first quarter of 2016 was encouraging, with sales in the Corporate Wellness sector increasing‘significantly’ over like-for-like sales in Q1 2015.
Anna Gudmundson, the group’s new chief executive appointed to address the ‘unsustainable situation’, commented:
“Recognising that the previous direct consumer retail focus failed to deliver the commercial results anticipated, we have identified an attractive opportunity within the growing B2B corporate wellness market.”
Gudmundson’s appointment sparked a move away from the company’s familiar strategy towards a move into the corporate sector – Fitbit has seen significant interest from organisations hoping to use the technology to engage their employees in a healthier, fitter lifestyle”
“On a corporate level we have strengthened our board and management team to ensure we have the requisite skill set for growth, implemented a number of cost saving initiatives, and undertaken a thorough review of our operations to ensure we are maximising efficiencies,” Gudmundson continued.
FitBug (LON:FITB) was trading at 0.510 – 24.44% at 11.29am BST.
13/06/16