Pet care business Pets at Home (PETS) has warned that first half pre-tax profit is likely to be sharply lower than last year as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll. Like most businesses, costs for Pets at Home have risen as Covid-19 measures have been enforced, such as introducing in-store social distancing measures. And just like the major supermarkets, the company has also seen a sharp ...

The FTSE 100 got off to a slow start on Thursday, falling 0.7% to 6,022 over concerns about a new spike in coronavirus cases. The World Health Organisation warned yesterday that the pandemic is far from over, as the largest daily rise in global cases was reported in the last 24 hours. Asian stock markets were down, with China’s Shanghai Composite down 0.55%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong ...

Global data and information services company Experian (EXPN) jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 leader board on Wednesday, up 8.4% to £27.34 after it posted strong full year results and said it was positioning itself ‘to emerge strongly’ from the crisis by investing in people and growth initiatives. Turnover for the year to the end of March rose 8% on a like for like basis to ...

Shares in investment trust HICL Infrastructure (HICL) fell 1.2% to 162p as it cut its dividend target, with income more than halving as coronavirus disrupts activity. In results for the year to 31 March, pre-tax profit fell to £50m from £285m the previous year as income slumped to £86.7m, down from £324.1m the year before and earnings per share falling to 2.7p from 15.9p. Carillion ...

FTSE 100 aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce (RR.) has unveiled plans to axe a third of its 52,000 of its global workforce as adapts to the collapse of the airline industry. Rolls-Royce, one Britain’s best known industrial companies, supplies engines for large aircraft such as the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350, said on Wednesday that ‘at least 9,000’ jobs would be cut as it closes some of its ...

Video games developer and publisher Frontier Developments (FDEV:AIM) raised full-year guidance for the second time this month, saying it now expects operating profit to be ‘materially ahead’ of the top of the prior range, pushing the shares up 11.7% to £18.48. The shares have moved ahead by a third over the last month. Chief executive David Braben commented, ‘we continue to be delighted ...

Shares in clothing and food retailer Marks & Spencer (MKS) were marked up 4% to 89.2p on Wednesday as the British high street institution accelerated its ‘Never the Same Again’ turnaround plan to cope with the fallout from the coronavirus crisis. Optimists peered past a 21.2% fall in annual profit, after clothing sales were crimped in the latter part of the financial year to March ...

UK markets managed to nudge modestly into positive territory at midday, but there remains plenty for investors to mull over. US and European indices jumped on Monday in response to hopes that a vaccine might be developed soon, but came off again overnight. Major US markets to snap a three-day winning streak to decline overnight, led by the Dow's 1.6% fall. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq ...

The UK consumer price index fell to 0.8% in April, down from 1.5% in March, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics. This compared with market expectations for a fall to 0.9% and represents the lowest rate since August 2016. The collapse in energy prices associated with global lockdown conditions was a major contributor to the fall. Reduced demand for clothing and ...

Shares in engineering services firm Renew Holdings (RNWH:AIM) leapt 15% to 482p on Tuesday after it posted record first half results thanks to strong demand in its core businesses. With over three quarters of its activities deemed ‘critical’ to the economy, the firm has continued to operate with minimal disruption in key areas such as rail, road, water and energy infrastructure. RECORD ...