FTSE 100 Live Monday
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Vodafone revenue considering cloud lift
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CMC Markets announces layoffs
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The beauty of revolution in legal solutions
‘Dichotomy’ in the UK job market
08:06 , Daniel O’Boyle
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said the latest ONS Labor Force Survey data showed a “dichotomy” in the UK jobs market.
“Although the unemployment rate has been revised downward, the economic inactivity rate is higher than the previous estimate, and the average working hours have also been revised downward from 31.7 to 31.6 hours per week.
“This highlights the dichotomy in the post-pandemic labor market: fewer people are working, and those who are working are working fewer hours, yet there is huge demand for labor. The revised survey suggests that wage pressures may remain high for some time, confirming that the BOE is cautious about rate cuts and is instead focused on inflation risks. ing.”
Naked Wines promotes British executive Maza to group CEO
07:47 , michael hunter
Naked Wines has promoted the executive who runs its UK operations to group CEO.
Rodrigo Maza, who has been serving as UK managing director since September, will assume the top position. The company announced today that it will be “working in partnership” with Naked founder and chairman Rowan Gormley.
The struggling subscription business was in the red, sales were plummeting and it warned in September that it could even go bankrupt. Peak sales during the Christmas period, revealed in mid-January, also fell, but were in line with expectations.
Following a transition period, Mr. Gormley will “return to his previous role as non-executive chairman,” the company announced today.
“I look forward to working with the entire Naked team to help this great company realize its full potential,” said Mazza.
CMC cuts 200 jobs amid growing concerns about job cuts
07:45 , Simon English
Concerns about large-scale job cuts in the city were heightened today when spread betting company CMC Markets announced it would cut 200 jobs, or 17% of its workforce. When replicated across square miles, it creates tens of thousands of jobs.
A statement to the stock market today said:
“In its interim results announcement on November 16, 2023, CMC said the business has reached the peak of its investment cycle and a cost review is planned for the second half of the year with a focus on driving efficiencies across its global operations. The review has been successfully completed and as a result the Group will reduce its workforce by approximately 200 people worldwide, equivalent to approximately 17% of its existing workforce.”
The CMC, set up by Sir Peter Cruddas, a Tory donor and supporter of Boris Johnson, says the cuts are expected to save £21m.
Major banks, including Deutsche Bank, have already announced similar cuts.
Banks and trading companies have been hit by a lack of trading and fewer transactions by investors.
CMC said: “Cost reductions were primarily achieved through the consolidation of support functions across multiple business lines, streamlining reporting lines and automating processes. The Group continues to invest in growth opportunities and secure returns. “We continue to seek opportunities to improve efficiency and control costs.” Technology still leads the market. ”
Today, all eyes will be on the stock prices of companies in the city.
07:42 , Daniel O’Boyle
The Hypnosis Songs Fund (HSF) is seeking compensation from founder Merc Mercuriadis for stealing the idea from the Music Copyright Fund.
Mercuriadis is accused of “unlawfully diverting business opportunities” from a failed business called Hypnosis Music Limited (HML) and transferring the business to another company.
Mr. Mercuriadis on Friday resigned as chairman of Hypnosis Songs Management (HSM), HSF’s investment advisor.
The foundation has now appointed its own lawyers to consider the claim, and is seeking compensation “for any liability that we may incur as a result of the actions of Mr. Mercuriadis or Hypnosis Songs Management.” It has said.
Asian stocks recover from early slump, growth in Chinese services slows
07:41 , graham evans
Volatility in the Chinese stock market continued today, with the Shanghai Composite Index briefly falling 3.5%, but has since recovered to a 1% drop.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also rebounded after opening 1.5% lower.
It has so far been revealed that the expansion of China’s services activity slowed slightly in January, with the Caixin Services PMI at 52.7, compared to a five-month high of 52.9 in December due to a decline in new orders. became.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.5% as figures showed the pace of business activity was accelerating.
Vodafone hails cloud and Internet of Things growth as third quarter revenue rises
07:36 , michael hunter
Thanks to connected devices in the Internet of Things, Vodafone’s cloud services business saw revenue rise by a fifth in the third quarter.
This has resulted in an overall increase in organic revenue of approximately 5% for the Newbury-based multinational company. Total revenue fell by around 2% to €11.4bn (£9.7bn).
Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle said:
“We continued our strong service revenue momentum in the third quarter in both Europe and Africa, with our cloud and Internet of Things services growing more than 20%, supported by further acceleration in our Vodafone business.”
ONS survey suggests unemployment rate may be lower than expected
07:22 , Daniel O’Boyle
The ONS has reinstated unemployment statistics from the Labor Force Survey, suggesting the unemployment rate could be significantly lower than previously thought at just 3.9%.
However, this decline in the proportion is mainly due to an increase in economic inactivity rather than an increase in the number of people working.
Figures for September to November show the unemployment rate is 3.9%, compared to 4.2% published by the ONS using PAYE data.
The ONS said: “The reweighted estimates suggest that over the past five months, the employment rate has remained roughly flat, but the unemployment rate may have declined, offset by an increase in economic inactivity. , some uncertainty remains in these estimates.”
Revolution Beauty reaches £3m legal settlement with founder
07:22 , Simon Hunt
Revolution Beauty has reached a £3 million legal settlement with founder Adam Minto after a protracted dispute over his control of the company.
Under the terms of the deal, Mint will pay just under £500,000 a year for the next six years, with interest of up to 8% on late payments.
“The complaint alleges that Mr. Minto breached his fiduciary, statutory, contractual, and/or tortious duties to the Company,” the complaint sent to Mr. Minto states.
“The company seeks to recover significant amounts related to extraordinary costs incurred by the company as a result of the matters alleged.” Mr. Minto will retire from the company in 2022.
FTSE 100 rises on strong US employment and struggling Asian markets
07:13 , graham evans
European markets are expected to get off to a solid start to the week after Wall Street closed sharply higher on Friday on positive jobs data.
Non-farm payrolls increased by 353,000 in January, up from December’s upwardly revised 333,000, indicating further strengthening of the U.S. economy’s resilience.
Even though the numbers ended hopes of a March interest rate cut, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.7% and the S&P 500 Index closed up 1.1%. Metaplatforms rose 20% after announcing its first-ever dividend.
Asian markets traded mixed this morning, with the Shanghai Composite Index down 1.1% and the Hang Seng Index slightly lower, due to slowing growth in China’s services sector after January’s PMI index edged down to 52.7.
The FTSE 100 index closed 6.6 points lower on Friday, but CMC Markets expects it to open 11 points higher at 7,626 today.
Summary: Friday’s top news
06:36 , Simon Hunt
Good morning from Standard City Desk.
It’s no wonder that London’s lackluster stock market performance is a sign that little new business is being created to stimulate investor appetite.
The reality is never like that. A quick peek into the development of the fintech industry shows that this capital is brimming with innovation.
Talk to the founders of tech startups in London and they’ll tell you there’s plenty of early-stage funding for their ideas. However, raising funds to scale up (so-called Series B and C rounds) is much more difficult in the UK, and this is when the UK calls US investors, relocating the business in the process. Sometimes I do.
That’s a gap that the public markets can and should fill, but neither of these companies seem keen to emerge. A boss at one of the companies told me that they don’t want their valuations to suffer too much, which is what joining the LSE entails. Small investors continue to siphon money out of UK shares at a record pace, and this is likely to continue, and we are all suffering as a result.
Here’s a summary of Friday’s other top stories:
And in City Spy…