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Barclays says services are back to normal after technical issue ‘resolved’

February 1, 2025

Barclays has apologised to customers after technical problems caused disruption to services and payments over the weekend. The bank said the issue had been resolved on Sunday morning and delayed payments processed. Barclays had previously said affected customers could see an outdated balance with payments made or received not showing. On Sunday morning, a Barclays [...]

Guinness in focus as Diageo reveals latest trading

February 1, 2025

Diageo is set to reveal how Guinness and its major spirit brands performed over the key Christmas period, after ruling out speculation it could sell the Irish stout brand. The London-based, drinks giant is expected to reveal another bumper performance by Guinness, which has been a key strong performer in recent years, becoming the UK’s [...]

High street sales grow but threat of closures looms

January 31, 2025

High street sales grew in January but the gains failed to offset volume losses last year, leading analysts to warn of closures as costs mount. Total retail sales in discretionary spend categories grew by 7.1 per cent in January, although this comes off the back of a 0.8 per cent drop last January, according to [...]

The Stock of Amazon Resumes Its Breakout. Losing Some Ups Deliveries Won’t Stop It.

January 31, 2025

Amidst AI Mania, Tech Stocks Have Their Worst Week in Months as 'nobody Saw DeepSeek Coming'

January 31, 2025

Stocks Rose in January, Which is Usually a Good Sign for the Year. But New Tariffs Could Change That

January 31, 2025

Stocks That Will Be Hurt the Most From Trump’s New Tariffs

January 31, 2025

Microsoft, Meta, Tesla & Apple: What this week’s tech earnings tell us about the AI boom

January 31, 2025

Microsoft, Meta, Tesla and Apple kicked off the tech earnings season this week, giving us snapshot of how spending on AI is shaping the tech sector. Here’s what we’ve learnt about the AI boom so far. AI spending shapes the tech sector This week started with the rise of Chinese startup DeepSeek causing headwinds on [...]

Government implements alcohol tax reliefs but critics say it’s not enough

January 31, 2025

The government has implemented two tax reliefs aimed at growing the UK’s alcohol sector, although critics have said they won’t be enough to offset other cost hikes this year. Labour will implement a draught relief increase, cutting 1p duty off draft pints, as well as small producer relief, which the government said will help small [...]

John Lewis misses Christmas sales targets as turnaround falters

January 30, 2025

Sales at John Lewis are reported to have fallen short over the key Christmas trading period as middle-class Brits increasingly switch to shops like Marks and Spencer. According to reports from the Daily Telegraph, sales at Waitrose similarly missed targets. The employee-owned John Lewis Partnership (JLP) blamed “lower consumer confidence and weaker than expected market confidence” for [...]

Samsung misses estimates as chip demand dwindles

January 30, 2025

Samsung Electronics missed chip profit estimates in its fourth quarter, falling short of market expectations of 3 trillion won (£1.68bn) as competition heightened and demand plateaued. In Friday’s report, Samsung Electronics announced a 22 per cent year over year increase in net profit for its fourth quarter, reaching 7.754tr won (£4.65bn). However, this represented a [...]

Smiths Group: FTSE 100 giant to be broken up

January 30, 2025

Smiths Group has announced plans to ditch a big chunk of its business amid calls from investors for a major shake-up. The FTSE 100 engineering group said on Friday it intended to sell off Smiths Interconnect and separate Smiths Detection via a demerger or sale. Smiths said the move would enable it to double down [...]

Business confidence dips but the UK ‘has what it takes to deliver growth’

January 30, 2025

Overall business confidence slipped in January, although it was driven down by poorer sentiment about the wider economy rather than about individual businesses. Overall business confidence dipped two points to 37 per cent, with just over half of businesses positive about their own trading prospects and just under a quarter positive about the wider economy. [...]

More than 10,000 millionaires have left Britain in a year – this is where they’re all going

January 30, 2025

More than 10,000 millionaires left Britain last year, partly to avoid higher taxes – with many quitting for more glamorous destinations. In total Britain lost a net 10,800 millionaires in 2024, according to the New World Wealth (NWW) analytics firm, more than any other country except China. That is a rise of 157 per cent [...]

FCA sets out plans to open up bond market to retail investors

January 30, 2025

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out plans to slash “red tape” around the corporate bond market today in a bid to open up the asset class to retail investors and wealth managers. In consultation plans shared with City AM, the watchdog said it would look to coax more listed companies into issuing debt [...]