Donald Trump claims to have seen evidence coronavirus started in Wuhan lab May 1, 2020 President Donald Trump has claimed to see evidence coronavirus originated in a Wuhan laboratory, and said the outbreak could have been contained “relatively easily” by China. At Thursday’s White House press briefing, the US President was asked if he had seen “anything that gives you a high degree of confidence” the Wuhan Institute of Virology [...]
UK tech firms suffer worst quarter since financial crisis May 1, 2020 British tech firms have posted their worst quarterly performance since the global financial crisis as the Covid-19 crisis stunts growth, new figures have revealed. Business activity across the tech sector declined for the first time in almost eight years, according to the latest KPMG UK Tech Monitor index. The headline index dropped to 47.1 from [...]
First-hand account: my observations on China’s return to work May 1, 2020 | City Talk Emerging markets analyst Shuyu Gao provides a personal account of virus containment measures on her return to China, and reviews the recovery in activity. Amid the global spread of Covid-19, with lockdowns necessitating working from home more broadly, I decided to return to China and work from my family home in Nanjing. At the time, [...]
FCA goes to court over coronavirus business interruption insurance May 1, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seeking legal clarity on the inability of some insurance customers to obtain compensation for disruption amid the coronavirus crisis. Businesses were forced to close their doors and furlough staff after the lockdown measures were introduced in March. The vast majority of businesses did not purchase business interruption insurance and [...]
The CEO Perspective: How is COVID-19 defining business purpose? May 1, 2020 | City Talk When the dust settles, will business emerge having played its part and who will have stayed true to their purpose? As leaders strive to steer their corporate ships through unimaginably stormy waters, there’s an understandable need to focus solely on the management of immediate, operational and financial issues. But in the midst of uncertainty, companies [...]
Amazon and Apple earnings: Covid-19 crashes the tech titan party May 1, 2020 It’s been a busy week for Silicon Valley as the major US tech firms lined up to report earnings for the first quarter. Google, Facebook and Twitter all delivered upbeat figures, proving that social media services are well-placed to weather the Covid-19 storm. But the mood was dampened somewhat last night as coronavirus costs weighed [...]
UK house prices: Experts predict sharp recovery after coronavirus lockdown May 1, 2020 UK house prices could rebound after the coronavirus lockdown eases, after they grew at the fastest pace since 2017 before the crisis, Nationwide said today. The value of British homes grew at their fastest rate since February 2017 before the coronavirus lockdown brought the market crashing to a halt, Nationwide data released today showed. UK [...]
Is your business model fit for purpose to support critical scenario planning during COVID-19? May 1, 2020 | City Talk The deep and broad implications of COVID-19 are forcing businesses to make significant decisions under extreme time pressure and substantial uncertainty. With so much unknown, are those businesses confident that they have sufficient and reliable information to support their judgements? If not, what can be done to help businesses to make more informed decisions? In [...]
Treasury fast tracks VAT cut for e-books and digital newspapers April 30, 2020 Plans to scrap VAT on e-books and digital newspapers have been fast tracked in an effort to support the publishing industry during the Covid-19 crisis, the chancellor said today. In his Budget speech in March Rishi Sunak said all digital publications, including books, newspapers, magazines and academic journals, would be exempt from the tax from [...]
Twitter posts rise in revenue despite Covid-19 advertising hit April 30, 2020 Twitter today posted a rise in revenue for the first quarter despite the lingering threat of a slowdown in advertising caused by the coronavirus crisis. The social media platform reported revenue of $808m (£646m) in the first three months of the year, up three per cent on the same period in 2019 and ahead of [...]