British Gas profits and Heathrow’s growth keeps FTSE 100 stable May 10, 2022 A strong April for Heathrow and British Gas’s owner Centrica expecting higher profits has helped the FTSE 100 remain steady, up 0.8 per cent at the open this morning. London rose 63 points despite fears about rising inflation, as the UK’s biggest airport lifted its forecast for passenger growth after a spike in travel over [...]
British Gas owner enjoys boost from soaring oil and gas prices amid growing windfall tax calls May 10, 2022 British Gas owner Centrica has said it expects to post annual earnings at the top of its targets amid intensifying calls for a windfall tax on energy firms.
Brits cut back on pints and petrol amid tightening cost of living grip May 10, 2022 Brits are cutting back on pints and are driving less in response to the tightening cost of living grip, reveals fresh figures published today. Purchases in pubs, bars and clubs slowed last month, but were still nearly 40 per cent higher last month compared to April 2019, according to Barclaycard, which oversees around half of [...]
Concoction of risks trigger global sell off to kick start week May 9, 2022 A ratcheting up in anxieties over the possibility of the global economy hurtling toward a sharp slowdown wiped billions off the value of the world’s top companies today. London’s FTSE 100 index plunged 2.32 per cent to points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index tumbled 2.59 per cent. Investors ditched London stocks on the [...]
Jacob Rees-Mogg: Sure, the cost of living crisis is ‘difficult’ but the government cannot just spend its way out it May 9, 2022 Senior Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg said hard-pressed households are facing a “difficult” future as inflation rises but he warned the Government cannot spend its way out of the problem. The Brexit Opportunities Minister said increasing public spending to mitigate the impacts of the rising cost of living risked adding to inflation, pushing prices higher. The squeeze [...]
Wings over the world as Blackbird flies high with unique technology May 9, 2022 | Sponsored It might be said that it was only a matter of time before London-based Blackbird plc won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise. Afterall it is a company that the world seems increasingly to need and as a consequence is growing rapidly, especially overseas, particularly in America. In the last year Blackbird has won a raft [...]
Inflation could surge beyond our bleakest forecast, BoE rate setter warns May 9, 2022 A member of the Bank of England’s group of rate setters has today warned inflation could surge above its own worst expectations. Michael Saunders, an external member of the monetary policy committee (MPC), said unless interest rates keep rising, “inflation pressures [will] probably be greater and more persistent” than the Bank expects. The alert chimes [...]
‘Hard’ assets in demand: Deals by City’s distressed private equity funds treble to £1.8bn in just one year May 9, 2022 The leading mid-tier distressed asset private equity and debt funds in the UK made a total of £1.8bn of acquisitions of businesses last year, almost treble the £670m registered in 2020 and the highest figure for five years. The 12 specialist funds acquired 26 UK businesses in 2021, up from 19 the previous year. There [...]
An A-Z of sustainability terms for investors May 9, 2022 | City Talk Sustainability, once a fringe consideration, has become core for many investors. Impacts on the planet – such as climate change and biodiversity loss – and on people – for example through the treatment of workers – are in the news every day. We believe companies and countries that adapt to such issues and challenges should thrive. [...]
Could UK economy be more fragile than BoE believes? May 9, 2022 | City Talk At its May meeting, the Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee decided to raise interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) to a 13-year high of 1.00%. All nine members considered policy tightening to be appropriate given the strength of the labour market and persistence of domestic inflationary pressures. However, three policymakers went one [...]