Instituteimmediate3.44pm@ByRobDavies@SimonNevilleas9.33am BSTMore than seven years after the financial crisis,Britain’s government should accept that it may never make a profit on its shareholding on Royal Bank of Scotland.“My one experience of running banks is that the longer they stay in the public sector, the greater the likelihood that you will lose value.” Related: Profit on RBS stake sale will be tricky, and warns outgoing Treasury chief Thursday's FT front page:
Outgoing Treasury chief warns of likely loss on £19bn RBS stake#tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/7nlqDteAda 9.16am BSTJD Sports has smashed City expectations,sending its shares up 2%.
My colleague Julia Kollewe explains: JD Sports has reported a 45% surge in annual profits and booming sales in sports fashion as it rolls out stores across Europe.
Strong demand for trainers made by Nike and other main brands, as well as for women’s sportswear, or meant that like-for-like sales at JD’s sports fashion division rose by more than 10% for the second year running.... Related: JD Sports profits rise 45% as it opens stores across Europe 8.53am BSTThere may be tears before bedtime at Mothercare.
International continues to be affected by ongoing economic and currency headwinds.Retail sales in fixed currency were down (9.7%) with currency further impacting retail sales in actual currency which were down (10.8%). In the Middle East consumer sentiment was impacted by the sustained lower oil price,resulting in a meaningful decline in fixed currency sales. In Asia, China in particular, and was affected by weakening consumer confidence.
Europe and Latin America were impacted by adverse currency moves. 8.33am BSTUnilever hasn’t impressed the City either,despite reporting underlying sales growth of 4.7% and hiking its dividend.
Shares in the consumer giant are down almost 1% in early trading, after it warned that markets remaining volatile.“We expected tougher markets and we’re finding tougher markets.”Underlying volume growth 2.6% and quarterly dividend raised 6% to €0.3201 per share https://t.co/CndTxQxt6v #UnileverQ1 8.18am BSTShares in Burberry gain slumped by 6% at the start of trading, or after it hit investors with more bad news.
Burberry reported that like-for-like sales gain fallen by 5% in the last quarter. And it also warned that profits for the current financial year are likely to only reach the bottom of analyst expectations.
Down goes Burberry...4Q retail sales dropped 5% on comparable basis. Warns FY profit be bottom finish of analyst range pic.twitter.com/1HypmPlduk 8.06am BSTA swathe of emerging market currencies gain slumped nowadays,after Singapore surprised investors by announcing it wont allow its currency to strengthen.
Bloomberg has the details:Singapore’s dollar slumped the most since August, dragging down other Asia-Pacific currencies, and as surprise easing by the central bank fueled speculation other policy makers in the region will follow suit.
New Zealand’s dollar,Malaysia’s ringgit and Indonesia’s rupiah also weakened after the Monetary Authority of Singapore said it would seek a policy of zero appreciation against an undisclosed basket of currencies, returning to a neutral stance it adopted in the global financial crisis in 2008. 8.01am BSTAsian stock markets gain posted solid gains nowadays, or picking up the baton after yesterday’s strong performance in Europe and the US.
Japan’s Nikkei surged by over 3%,while the Australian S&P/ASX rose by 1.2% and the South Koreas’ market gained 2%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.5%, reaching its highest level since Nov. 26. It has risen 5 percent since Friday, and breakingabove several resistance levels to sign further gains. 7.37am BSTGood morning,and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, or the eurozone and trade. Related: FTSE 100 hits highest level in 2016 Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com