National Express share price soars as rail strikes help boost annual profits March 2, 2023 The recent wave of train strikes helped National Express more than triple annual profits as passengers switched to buses and coaches to avoid rail disruption. Shares in National Express soared 13 per cent on Thursday as the group reported underlying pre-tax profits of £145.9m, up from £39.7m in 2021, with annual revenues surpassing pre-pandemic levels [...]
London Stock Exchange Group profits jump as it hails Refinitiv deal a success March 2, 2023 The London Stock Exchange Group said its “strategy is working” today as it posted a jump in pre-tax profits and claimed its acquisition of data firm Refintiv had delivered a boost to to the bottom line. The parent company of London’s bourse said pre-tax profits had jumped 38.8 per cent to £1.24bn last year, up [...]
London must be given power to direct its economy to arrest historic productivity decline, study urges March 2, 2023 London must be given greater power to direct its economy by central government to arrest a historic productivity decline, a new report out today has urged. Handing the capital more sway over tax and spending decisions, peeling back onerous planning rules and boosting graduate migration would help London return to being an economic growth engine [...]
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warns interest rates may have to rise again to tackle inflation March 1, 2023 Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey has today warned interest rates may need to rise even higher to tame inflation, signalling yet more pain is in store for families and businesses. Speaking at a conference on the cost of living crisis in London, Bailey, 63, said if the Bank does “too little with [...]
FTSE 100 close: Anglo American and Antofagasta receive China boost but Barratt drops after house price slide March 1, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 sprung higher today, propelled by investors piling into commodity giants after a batch of better than expected data indicated the Chinese economy is on the mend. The capital’s premier index flung 0.49 per cent higher to back above the 7,900 point mark, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more [...]
British factories on the mend as recession u-turn gathers pace March 1, 2023 British factories are performing better than expected in another sign the economy is on course to perform a screeching u-turn and avoid a recession, a closely watched survey has shown. S&P Global and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply’s (CIPS) final purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the UK manufacturing sector nudged higher from an [...]
Cost of living crisis has forced families to take on £1.1bn debt and dig into savings, says Bank of England March 1, 2023 Families are saving far less than they did over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic and maxing on credit cards to maintain spending amid the cost of living crisis, official figures have revealed. Brits set aside £3.5bn in January in savings accounts, a slight increase from December, but below the pre-pandemic monthly average increase of [...]
More data points to UK economy avoiding recession but experts urge Hunt to prevent investment cliff edge at March budget March 1, 2023 The prospect of the UK avoiding a recession after a batch of better than expected recent data has propelled business confidence higher, a closely watched survey out today shows. Optimism among company leaders jumped 11 points to minus 17 this month, shifting it back to levels seen when the government launched Plan B measures to [...]
Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt must help families with soaring childcare bills to strengthen UK economy, CBI urges March 1, 2023 Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt should help young families with the cost of childcare to tackle worker shortages that are holding back the UK economy, the country’s largest business lobby group has urged today. British households have been spiked by a 60 per cent cash terms rise in childcare bills over the last decade, far [...]
Looney no muppet as he hits truth on work needed to go green March 1, 2023 It ain’t easy being green, sang Kermit the Frog once upon a time. The puppet-frog was right; moving towards net zero will require an extraordinary amount of hard work. So three cheers to Bernard Looney, the BP boss, for saying what so few are willing to say: the road to a greener future runs straight [...]
