25/02/2016
Home Retail is currently trading up 13.02 percent at 173.60 pence per share.
22/02/2016
Artisan La Gelatiera exceeds crowdfunding target to scale up expansion in London
The 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, has raised £50,000 through issuing an innovative revenue loan product via Crowd2Fund.com.
The gelateria was co-founded by Antonia Parisi and Stephene Leyvraz, who grew bored of working in the corporate world, and is based on creations by Parisi’s Italian grandfather who made gelato in his home country. All ice creams are produced daily, using 100% natural ingredients, including un-homogenised organic Jersey Cow milk from dairies in Somerset. The campaign started a few months ago, with the aim of raising £40,000 to launch a second shop in London – and was met with enormous enthusiasm from investors, successfully hitting the target and even going beyond.
The funds raised will be used to launch and market the second London based shop, as well as increasing the size of the kitchen, and helping to scale up the business to serve growing demand business customers.
The company chose to seek financing through the crowd as it provided an opportunity to reach and engage with their enthusiastic customer base. Parisi says, “Raising the funds we needed to grow our business through Crowd2Fund was a fantastic experience. It allowed us to reach out to both our existing, and a new customer base. We now have a small army of brand advocates who have a vested interest in the success of La Gelatiera. They have been incredibly supportive on social media. Our initial plans post funding will now be to speed up our search for a second retail site within the Olympic Village area.”
La Gelatiera gelato is priced at £3.30 for a small cone, or £5.00 for a large. Alternatively, if you would like to take away more than just a delicious dessert, you can invest by visiting crowd2fund.com or calling 02037 355 690.
McBride sees shares rise 10 percent on positive 2015
Household product manufacturer McBride (LON:MCB) saw shares jump over 10 percent on Wednesday after a stronger-than-expected half yearly report.
Adjusted profit before tax rose 78.1 percent in the six months to December, reaching £13 million, with adjusted earnings per share up 52.9 percent to 5.2 pence. The company did see a 5.6 percent decrease in revenue from £364.7 million in the same period last year to £344.1 this, citing the impact of the euro on the translated results as a reason for this.
CEO Rik De Vos commented: “We are pleased with our progress in the first half and the improved profitability following the launch of our strategic transformation plan. The commitment and focus of the McBride team on the execution and delivery of our objectives is very encouraging and a critical aspect for future success. The ongoing actions of our “Repair” phase, which in part will result in lower second half revenues, are nevertheless expected to provide further progress in profitability. As a consequence, the Board is now expecting full year results to be modestly ahead of its previous expectations.”
The company, who are one of the UK’s largest manufacturers of private label household products, saw weak growth in the UK offset by increasing demand in Easter Europe and Asia. Shares in the company are currently up 9.22 percent at 168.75 (1254GMT).
24/02/2016
Weir Group profits halve as oil market hits
Scottish engineering company Weir Group (LON:WEIR) have taken a significant hit to profits, as the weak oil and gas market continues to bite.
The company said in a statement released on Wednesday that pretax profit for the year nearly halved to a loss of £200 million, compared to a profit of £149 million the year before. Revenue fell 21 percent to £1.92 billion.
Chief executive Keith Cochrane warned of the significant “market challenges” facing the sector, and said:
“Given ongoing market conditions, 2016 will be another challenging year. As a result, we are planning for a further reduction in constant currency Group operating profits, driven primarily by lower activity levels in upstream oil and gas markets.”
Rock bottom oil prices have hit all major companies within the industry and beyond, as many firms scrap projects and slash investment. Weir Group warned of the possible need to cut jobs in the future, saying that:
“Power, oil and gas, and industrial markets are expected to remain subdued in 2016, with uncertainty across most process industries leading to customers delaying new investment decisions. Mid and downstream oil and gas markets will be affected the most, with existing projects subject to delays.”
However, investors have reacted relatively well to the news, sending the Group’s share price up 6.82 percent at 963 pence per share (0818GMT).
24/02/2016
Is now the right time to make your fortune on the currency markets?
When economies are teetering on potential disaster, there are opportunities for investors betting that these economies will tank as well as their currencies. Several high-profile investors have made their fortune in this way – could recent economic volatility make this the right time for you?
On September 16th, 1992 which was also known in England as Black Wednesday, George Soros did the improbable and broke the British pound. The British government lifted the pound from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). In the process, George Soros on Black Wednesday made over a billion dollars by constructing a bet against the British pound.
After the Second World War, European countries wanted to integrate their economies to prevent war and create a market place that could compete with the United States. The European nations began operating under the ‘European Exchange Rate mechanism’ (ERM), created in 1979. Many of the European countries were not ready to extinguish their nation’s currencies; however, they did agree to fix their exchange rates by letting markets set the rates.
In 1990 England joined the ERM which was driven by the prodding of John Major, despite Margaret Thatcher’s opposition. Between 1990 and 1992, England repaed the benefits; inflation decreased considerably, interest rates eased and unemployment dropped below historical standards. However, in 1992 England was dragged into a massive global recession – and, in reaction, the British government wanted to cut interest rates. But by doing so the British government would have to push the pound below the agreed upon amount with the ERM, so they were trapped – and had no choice but to watch the recession continue until during the spring of 1992, only a year and one half prior to joining the ERM, England’s Treasury department realised that the pound was mispriced relative to the Deutschemark, posing a serious problem to England – and leading to the British pound tanking.
George Soros led the Quantum Fund in 1992 which at the time was primarily involved in betting on macroeconomic trends. He realised that the markets no longer believed that England would be able to maintain at the time its exchange rate and during the summer of 1992, began building a $1.5 billion position to wager that the price of the pound would fall. Soros believed that the fall of the pound was inevitable and instead of taking a gradual approach of shorting the pound, thought that the Quantum Fund should go all in at once.
When the Pound did inevitably fall, going all in netted Soros and the Quantum Fund over one billion dollars – and crashed the Bank of England.
For experts in the markets, there are events taking place allowing the opportunity to take advantage of forex trading opportunities. More recently, Switzerland’s central bank incurred massive losses after the bank decided to get rid of the cap on the strength of the Swiss Franc. These actions caused the currency to appreciate dramatically which destroyed the value of the banks euro reserves. Investor Jim Rogers saw this opportunity before it happened – and in a similar way to George Soros, won a goldmine on the Bank’s decision. Clearly, there economic events that transpire from time to time that, if investors are able to see the ramifications before they take place, could reap substantial profits. In the current economic climate, this could be the right time.
24/02/2016This post is sponsored by trading platform easyMarkets.com. 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).
Mark Carney in Parliament: “Will not make judgments on EU referendum”
Bank of England governor Mark Carney spoke in front of the Treasury Select Committee today on Tuesday, saying that the central bank would not make judgments on the outcome of Britain’s referendum on EU membership and will “assume the status quo continues.”
On the subject of the sterlings recent plummet against other currencies, Carney drew a comparison with the Scottish referendum held last year, when the same thing happened.
Carney also spoke for the first time about further steps to stimulate Britain’s economy, should the referendum jitters have an increasingly negative effect. He said:
“If we were in a position where the economy needed additional stimulus … we could cut interest rates towards zero. We could engage in additional asset purchases, including a variety of assets. We could also provide a perspective where we could adjust our policy horizon – in other words we could shorten our policy horizon over which we wanted to return inflation to target.”
Carney and several other Bank of England policymakers are answering questions from Parliament today on their projections for the future of the UK economy.
23/02/2016
BHP Billiton cuts dividend for first time since 1988 on severe profit drop
BHP Billiton has become the latest mining company to suffer at the hands of the global commodity rout, seeing shares fall over 3 percent after disclosing a huge net loss for the last half year.
The mining giant posted a loss of $5.67 billion, compared to a profit of $5.35 billion the year before. The company also cut its dividend by 75 percent, the first reduction since 1988, and saw revenue tumble by 37 percent.
BHP’s Chairman Jac Nasser said in a statement that he believed the company would be going through a period of prolonged volatility, and said the decision to cut its dividend had not been made lightly, but was “a determined response to changing markets”.
Seeing the world’s biggest mining company being so severely affected by recent events does not bode well for the industry as a whole. BHP’s shares have fallen over 47 percent so far this year on Australian markets, but rose 2.7 percent after an initial fall this morning. In London (LON:BLT), shares are currently trading down 3.08 percent at 770.50 (1222GMT).
23/02/2016
Home Retail shares jump after bid from Harveys owner Steinhoff
Home Retail Group (LON:HOME) shares jumped this morning as a rival offer was launched for the Argos owner by South African company Steinhoff.
Steinhoff’s offer of 175 pence per share, offered late on Friday, is well above the Sainsbury’s offer that was rejected by Home Retail last month. Sainsbury’s is now expected to ask for an extension of the Tuesday deadline in order to consider launching a competing offer against Steinhoff – a tough competitior who owns both Bensons for Beds and Harveys. The rise in share price has been seen by analysts as a positive market reaction to the offer.
Sainsbury’s were hoping to acquire Argos in an attempt to widen the supermarket’s market share by including Argos’s home retail selection, creating the UK’s largest general merchandise retail business. Whether Sainsbury’s will make another bid remains to be seen.Sterling falls as EU exit threats take their toll
Sterling sunk against the dollar again on Monday to its biggest loss in nearly six years, as fears heighten that Britain may vote to leave the EU in June’s referendum.
The Pound dropped 2.1 percent at its lowest point this morning to $1.41020, the largest one-day fall since March 2009. The figure comes as two senior Conservative politicians, London mayor Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, came out in support of a ‘Brexit’. Before this, the Exit campaign lacked the credibility of senior ruling figures – causing volatility in the Pound to shoot up as investors consider the possibility that Britain may be on its own from next year.
Ratings agency Moody’s said that it would consider shifting the outlook on Britain’s credit rating to negative after David Cameron announced that the date of the referendum would be the 23rd June. Until then, the uncertainty is likely to continue, ensuring that the exchange rate for the Pound is likely to remain volatile.
22/02/2016
HSBC shares drop as profits fall on economic slowdown
Shares in HSBC (LON:HSBA) dropped over 4 percent this morning after the bank reported an expectedly fall in pre-tax profit.
Profit before tax came in at $18.87 billion for 2015, a fall of $0.2 billion on the year before and well below the average analysts’ estimate of $21.8 billion. For the last quarter, the bank reported a pre-tax loss of $858 million. The bank cited volatility in China and the costs of its current restructuring programme as reasons for the figures, as well as legal costs and the disposal of its business in Brazil.
Chairman Douglas Flint said the economic environment as “challenging”, adding that “China’s slower economic growth will undoubtedly contribute to a bumpier financial environment, but it is still expected to be the largest contributor to global growth as its economy transitions to higher added value manufacturing and services and becomes more consumer driven.”
22/02/2016
Public borrowing falls, retail sales rise in January
UK government borrowing fell in January after recording the largest public finances surplus since 2008, according to figures released today from the Office for National Statistics.
Government borrowing for the 2015 tax year, which ends in April, was at £66.5 billion – a decrease of over £10 billion on the same period last year. The January surplus, excluding banks, came in at £11.2 billion compared, an increase of £1 billion, and the monthly borrowing figure, although the highest for eight years, still came in below the £12.6 billion forecast by analysts.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who has controversially remained committed to austerity measures designed to reign in public spending, tweeted today: “With warnings of weaker economic outlook & challenges for future tax receipts this could bring, we can’t be complacent & think job is done.”
He is due to publish his annual budget plan on March 16.
Strong retail sales
Retail sales volumes also rose in January, showing more consumer confidence, rising The 2.3 percent according to the ONS. This is compared with December when they fell 1.4 percent.
The British Retail Consortium also reported strong consumer sentiment today, with some of the UK’s largest high street chains seeing retail spending growth hit a four-month high in January.
19/02/2016