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Coty: Rimmel and Max Factor owner slumps to £53m loss

January 6, 2025

The UK and Ireland arm of Coty, the global beauty and cosmetics giant behind the likes of Rimmel and Max Factor, slumped to a loss of more than £50m during its latest financial year. The Kent-headquartered division has posted a pre-tax loss of £53.4m for the 12 months to 30 June, 2024, according to newly-filed [...]

Nvidia neck and neck with Apple as world’s most valuable firm as stock rises

January 6, 2025

Nvidia‘s stock rose by 3.4 per cent on Tuesday to $149.43 (£118.95) per share bringing it neck-and-neck with Apple, following various launches for the tech giant at the CES in Las Vegas on Monday. At the annual conference, the firm revealed a host of new products from new gaming chips, a personal AI supercomputer and [...]

The private health companies set to profit from Labour’s NHS plans

January 6, 2025

A City broker has said Feedback and One Health Group are expected to be the main beneficiaries of the government’s plans to reform the NHS in the UK. The Elective Reform Plan, published yesterday by NHS England, set out a range of reforms to enable the government to hit the 18-week target for referral to [...]

Rolls-Royce shares worth 820p says City broker

January 6, 2025

Despite the strong performance of Rolls-Royce’s stock price over the last two years, a City broker is expecting the aerospace company to keep leading the FTSE 100 in share price growth. In a note published today by Panmure Liberum, analyst Nick Cunningham argued that Rolls-Royce’s shares could still increase by more than 40 per cent [...]

Grocery spending hit record high at Christmas as Brits favour food over gifts

January 6, 2025

Grocery spending hit a record high this Christmas as Brits dined out on premium goods and fizz, in a marked contrast to the anaemic growth in retail spending. Overall take-home sales at the grocers rose by 2.1 per cent over the four weeks to 29 December compared with last year. Brits splashed out on premium [...]

Johnson Matthey: US investor ramps up activist campaign

January 6, 2025

Johnson Matthey’s largest shareholder has piled pressure on the FTSE 250 chemicals group, calling its response to a demanded strategic review “wholly insufficient”. In an open letter to Johnson Matthey chair Patrick Thomas, today, US industrials investor Standard Investments slammed the group’s “destruction of shareholder value” as part of its activist campaign. Last month, Standard [...]

Bacardi: Martini maker shaken as UK drinkers move away from spirits

January 6, 2025

UK drinkers ditching spirits in favour of wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks has hit the sales of Bacardi, it has been revealed. The division of the Bermuda-headquartered drinks giant has said its performance has also been impacted by “a combination of post-Covid challenges, ongoing global conflicts and a tough economic environment marked by rising living [...]

A ‘painful sequel’ to the Budget may be coming, Deutsche Bank warns

January 6, 2025

Businesses should brace for a “painful sequel to the autumn Budget” this year as lacklustre growth raises the threat of further tax hikes from Rachel Reeves, Deutsche Bank has warned. In a note to investors, the investment bank warned that growth was likely to slide below the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) projections in October [...]

WPP staff made to work from the office four days a week

January 6, 2025

Staff at FTSE 100 ad giant WPP will be made to come into the office four days a week under a new policy announced to staff just weeks before it is set to lose its crown as the world’s largest advertising firm to Publicis. Boss Mark Read confirmed the policy change at the London-listed media [...]

‘Horrified’: Shein lambasted by MPs as fast fashion firm dodges questions

January 6, 2025

Fast fashion retailer Shein was lambasted by MPs and accused of behaviour that “bordered on contempt” today after a representative of the firm repeatedly refused to answer questions over its supply chain practices and upcoming IPO. The Chinese-founded retailer, which is reportedly gearing up to list on the London Stock Exchange this year, has faced [...]

Seasalt: Cornish clothing brand bucks retail gloom over festive season

January 6, 2025

Cornish retailer Seasalt has defied the despondent British high street and reported a significant uptick in sales over the Christmas season despite significant cost pressures. Total sales across online, stores, and marketplace partners like M&S increased by 10 per cent compared to last year in the last five weeks of the year, with every channel [...]

Getty Images and Shutterstock announce merger

January 6, 2025

Getty Images and Shutterstock have agreed to merge in a $3.7bn (£2.9bn) deal, forming a combined entity under the name Getty Images Holdings, geared to monopolise the stock image market for creative, media, and advertising industries. The merger was announced on Tuesday, and is expected to close following regulatory and shareholder approvals. The merger is [...]

Time to address the elephant in the room: AI’s impact on legal fees

January 6, 2025

Last year, the legal sector saw record-level salaries and large mergers, all while rolling out every AI policy under the sun. So what does 2025 look like?

With expectations so low, Starmer might just carve out a win

January 6, 2025

From a news perspective, the Christmas break was more Deck the Halls than Silent Night. Keir Starmer ended last year with approval ratings so low that critics were never going to call off the dogs in the spirit of good will to all men. The PM couldn’t even enjoy a toboggan run in Madeira without [...]

Retail gloom as festive season fails to save 2024 trading

January 6, 2025

High street stores showed anaemic growth in the 2024 festive season, despite hopes that Christmas trading would inject some cheer into the sector. Sales grew just 0.3 per cent overall in the ‘golden quarter’, which includes Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Online sales continued to beat in-store, [...]