The travel sector has a lot riding on the ‘Summer 2022’ season but it’s shaping up to be more of a damp squib than anything to write home about. With just weeks to go before the crucial school holiday season gets properly underway EasyJet (EZJ) has taken a red pen to its summer schedule, paring back the number of flights it operates in a bid to avoid the kind of chaos endured by ...

While UK consumers grapple with the rising cost of living, the one thing we’re betting they won’t want to give up this year is their summer holiday, even if it means settling for a cheap staycation. As the UK’s largest hospitality business with over 90,000 rooms, and a rapidly expanding presence in Germany where it already has 14,000 rooms, Premier Inn owner Whitbread (WTB) is in a ...

A significant number of FTSE 100 companies could face shareholder rebellion over the coming weeks as investors increasingly put pressure on boards over key issues. There is a long list of topics which could dominate this year’s annual shareholder meeting season, which gets into full swing at the end of April. These include environmental policy and climate change action, boardroom and ...

London’s FTSE 100 traded 0.66% higher at 7,540.92 points by lunchtime on Wednesday amid the release of a slew of positive local earnings updates, including guidance upgrades from retailers Sainsbury’s (SBRY), JD Sports Fashion (JD.) and Dunelm (DNLM), and as investors awaited the release of key US inflation data due later in the day. The global mood already had been lifted by testimony ...

London’s FTSE 100 started 2022 on the front foot, led by travel, leisure and energy stocks as investors attempted to move on from worries about the economic impact of the Omicron variant. Gains for oil firms, airlines and hotel, pub and restaurant plays reflected diminishing concerns over the latest Covid variant amid hopes it is milder, if more transmissible, and therefore may have a limited ...

London’s FTSE 100 edged 0.21% higher to 7,356.94 points on the last full trading day before Christmas, as investors welcomed news that the Omicron variant may not be as severe as previous strains. Citing data from an Oxford University laboratory study, drugs giant AstraZeneca (AZN) said a three dose course of its Covid-19 vaccine is effective against the highly transmissible new ...

In the second part of a two-part series Shares talks to various fund managers about the stocks that didn’t work out as they expected in 2021. They explain what went wrong and why the market reacted in the way it did. The first part of the series can be read here and reveals 12 fund managers’ top stock picks for 2022. Neil Goddin, co-manager, Artemis Positive Future Fund ...

UK stocks rallied on Wednesday, regaining much of the previous day's losses along with European and US markets as fears surrounding the latest Covid strain eased. Travel and leisure stocks International Consolidated Airlines  (IAG) and Whitbread (WTB) traded higher, while energy stocks BP (BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) were also well bid as oil prices rebounded. Telecom firm BT ...

UK stocks rallied on Wednesday despite US stocks falling overnight after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell suggested inflation was no longer transitory and hinted that tapering of financial stimulus would have to go ahead no matter the impact of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Travel and leisure stocks International Consolidated Airlines  (IAG) and Whitbread (WTB) were the top ...

The UK franchise owner of American casual dining brand TGI Fridays, Hostmore (HOST), was spun out from private equity trust Electra (ELTA) on 2 November but its shares have been a flop so far. They’ve fallen by 27% to 108p, possibly caused by Electra shareholders dumping the shares they received as part of the demerger. There is a lot to like about the company’s growth plans, but equally ...

London’s FTSE 100 finished Tuesday’s trading session 0.76% higher at a fresh 20-month high of 7,277.62 points as UK investors reacted to strong corporate results and a recent decline in Covid cases boosted travel and services sector stocks. Meanwhile, US and European markets rose as excitement around the technology sector grew ahead of earnings from the likes of Microsoft, Google-owner ...

London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.6% to trade at 7,267.11 at midday, a new post-pandemic high as investors reacted to a record close on Wall Street overnight and strong corporate results. Equity markets have adopted a more optimistic tone with the Dow Jones Industrial and S&P 500 closing at record highs on Monday. The NASDAQ composite index also performed strongly driven by gains in PayPal ...

Shares in Premier Inn owner Whitbread (WTB) gained 2.6% to £32.36 on Tuesday after the company said the first half recovery to 26 August was ahead of expectations. Recovery in UK demand was stronger than expected resulting in ‘significant’ outperformance, with Premier Inn accommodation sales 12.3% ahead of the mid-scale and economy market in the first half and 13.9% ahead in the second ...

UK equity markets rose for a third consecutive session on Tuesday with the FTSE 100 was 0.39% higher at 7251.1, and the FTSE 250 up by 0.38% to 23,029.07. Equity markets have adopted a more optimistic tone with the Dow Jones Industrial and S&P 500 closing at record highs on Monday. The NASDAQ composite index also performed strongly driven by gains in Pay Pal and Tesla. NASDAQ is within ...

The old adage is that you should never let a good crisis go to waste and this mantra seems to be being taken seriously by activist investors as we emerge from the worst of the pandemic. Several big UK companies have activists either circling them or they are already on the shareholder register making demands of management. In this article we look at eight different activist situations and give ...

The UK’s FTSE 100 fell on Tuesday, dragged down by heavyweight retail, insurance and energy stocks, although employment numbers highlighting a steady UK economic recovery helped limit losses. The UK blue-chip index was affected by worries over the economic slowdown of China, the world’s growth engine, which continued to dog international stock markets on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 drifted ...

Shares in Premier Inn owner Whitbread (WTB) gained 2.8% to £33.81 as occupancy levels surged nearly 50% in the first two weeks following the easing of travel restrictions and limits on overnight stays. In a first quarter trading update, Whitbread said that up until May 17, only essential business travel stays were permitted, with occupancy levels steady at around 35%. But it added that post ...

London’s FTSE 100 opened lower on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve brought forward the timeline to begin tightening interest rates, with two hikes now forecast in 2023. AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson commented: ‘For now investors seem to largely be taking these developments in their stride – perhaps reassured by Fed chair Jay Powell’s comments that the guidance for two ...

London’s FTSE 100 finished Friday’s trading session 1.2% higher at 7,043.6 points after US retail sales came in flat, short of expectations and helping to calm the recent fears over inflation that have spooked global markets. By 4.30pm UK time the S&P 500 index was up 1.2% at 4,163.67. In the UK, the domestically focused FTSE 250 finished up 1.2% at 22,336.1 points. SAGE NUMBERS ADD ...

London’s FTSE 100 built on Friday’s early gains to trade up 0.7% at 7,011.66 by midday, while the domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 edged 0.7% higher to 22,231.2 points. The move higher followed a rally on Wall Street overnight with the latest update on retail sales across the Atlantic likely to be in focus this afternoon. SAGE NUMBERS ADD UP On the market, accounting software ...