Marston’s slumps to £105.5m pre-tax loss as restrictions hit business May 19, 2021 Marston’s fell to a £105.5m pre-tax loss in the 26 weeks to April 3, as coronavirus-led lockdown restrictions over the winter hit the pub group hard. Revenues during the six month period to April 3 dropped £343.3m to just £55.1m, although the balance sheet was boosted by £291 million from the sale of Marston’s brewing [...]
City regulator aims to shut down scam sites in first 24 hours online May 18, 2021 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is beefing up its monitoring of financial scams on the internet by making use of a “dragnet” approach to capture suspicious advertising in the first 24 hours it is online. The watchdog is also now updating its ‘warning list’ on a daily basis, which is designed to persuade consumers not [...]
Brexit post-mortem for the City: London’s ‘Golden Age’ is over, warns NatWest chair Howard Davies May 18, 2021 The City of London’s will remain a global financial centre but may not see the ‘golden age’ again, according to NatWest bank chairman Howard Davies. “Almost five years after the Brexit referendum, and five months after Britain’s exit from the European Union, the future of London as a global financial centre seems secure,” the City [...]
Snoop Dogg-backed company making painkillers from cannabis to list in London May 18, 2021 A pharmaceutical company that develops cannabinoid-based prescription medicine and is backed by Snoop Dogg will list on London’s main market later this week. The listing is expected to take place on Friday 21 and will value the company at around £48m. The public offering has been heavily oversubscribed. Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies (OCT) aims to develop [...]
Topps Tiles reports mixed six months after lockdown closed stores May 18, 2021 In the six months to 27 March, Topps Tiles produced a profit before tax of £4m, after lockdown restrictions in the first three months of the calendar year heavily impacted the group’s performance. The retailer reported a half year of contrast this morning, with retail like-for-like sales up nearly 20 per cent in the first [...]
Robinsons owner Britvic reinstates dividend after tough but resilient six months May 18, 2021 Britvic’s revenue and profit slipped in the six months to 31 March, however the soft drinks retailer has decided to reinstate its dividend after a resilient performance despite Covid restrictions. Revenue at the company fell to £617.1m from £698.8m during the same period last year, and profit after tax slipped to £33.2m from £38.9m. Nevertheless, [...]
Medicago and GSK vaccine trial sees impressive Covid antibody response May 18, 2021 The vaccine being developed by Medicago in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has reported positive results in its Phase 2 clinical trial, with volunteers displaying antibody responses 10 times higher than people recovering from Covid-19. Biopharmaceutical company Medicago developed the plant-derived Covid-19 vaccine, which has been tested in combination with GSK’s pandemic adjuvant. The results of [...]
Footwear retailer Shoe Zone could close more stores after revenue takes a kicking May 18, 2021 Shoe Zone saw overall revenue drop to £40.4m in the six months to 3 April, down from £68.9m in the corresponding period a year earlier after lockdown measures saw revenue from physical stores plummet. In the first half of its financial year store revenue at the shoe retailer stood at just £22.8m, down from £63.3m [...]
Phoenix confirms talks ‘ongoing’ to sell European business in £550m deal May 18, 2021 Life insurance consolidator Phoenix Group has confirmed it is in discussions to sell its European businesses, in a deal reportedly worth £550m. The group – which bought out the majority of Standard Life Aberdeen’s insurance business in 2018 – said that talks were ongoing and there was no certainty a deal will be struck. In [...]
‘Ferocious’ row blazing in Whitehall over Australia trade deal May 18, 2021 Ministers are divided over whether to sign off a trade deal with Australia after the department of agriculture and the department of internal trade could not come to an agreement on the terms. Ministers were battling over whether to grant tariff-free access to Australian farmers, the Financial Times reported, a move that could spark backlash [...]
