Latest Economic and Market News

Budget carrier EasyJet said it expected to have access to cash reserves of around £2.3bn by Thursday to help it ride out the Covid-19 crisis. The company said it had issued £600m of commercial...

Dietary supplements group OptiBiotix Health said it had entered into a contract manufacturing agreement with France's Laboratoire PYC. Laboratoire PYC manufactured and packaged private label food...

Construction services group Mountfield said it expected to post a flat profit performance for 2019 and warned its performance in 2020 would be hurt by contract disruptions owing to the Covid-19...

Bank of Georgia said it had said it had set aside a loan loss provision of GEL 400m (£102m) to cover potential defaults related to the Covid-19 crisis. The provision was made with regard to...

GlaxoSmithKline agreed to buy a stake in Vir Biotechnology for $250m as part of a wider collaboration to development treatments for coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes...

Homebuilder MJ Gleeson said it would furlough the bulk of its workforce as it introduced cost-cutting measures across the company, with senior management and board members agreeing to pay cuts. A...

Investor and asset manager Arrow pulled its dividend to preserve cash and postponed its annual general meeting amid the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. The company said it was no longer recommending...

Pharmaceutical services provider Ergomed said it was providing support for a clinical development programme for an antibody drug to treat patients with rapidly worsening Covid-19. The...

The UK construction purchasing managers' index slumped to 39.3 in March, down from 52.6 in February, according to IHS Markit. The fall was deeper than market expectations for a decrease to 44.0....

Fishing equipment retailer Angling Direct warned on profit after shuttering its stores as a result of government-imposed lockdown measures to combat Covid-19 pandemic. The company said it now...

Investment company City of London Group said it had taken measures, including allowing staff to work from home, following a reduction in business volumes in certain parts of its businesses as the...

Waste management company Biffa said it had started to furlough staff and announced that its board members as well as the executive team had taken pay cuts as the company tightened its belt to cope...

Office space provider IWG said it had decided to defer its first-quarter trading update from the provisional date of 28 April to 28 May, in order to provide investors and analysts with information...

Investment manager Rathbone Brothers said it had completed its planned acquisition of a personal injury and court of protection business from Barclays. Clients representing about £450m of funds...

Copper miner Antofagasta said it had shuttered its Los Pelambres expansion project in Chile for an estimated maximum period of 120 days as a result of the health emergency caused by the...

Gambling company GVC scrapped its dividend and warned revenue had come under pressure since mid-March after it shuttered its retail outlets and cancelled sports events amid the Covid-19 crisis....

Struggling Gulf region focused hospital owner NMC Health said lender Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank had filed an application in a British court to have the company sent into administration. NMC Health...

Thermal processing services provider Bodycote said its proposal to pay a final dividend was under review given the uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the uncertainty, the...

Bus and train companies First Group and Go-Ahead both welcomed a UK government move to provide financial support to regional bus owners. The new funding could total £167m across the industry and...

Mercia Asset Management said three venture capital trust assets had raised a combined £38.2m through share officers launched in January. The three Northern Venture Capital Trusts formed part of...

The US unemployment rate jumped to 4.4% in March, up from 3.5% in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The market had been expecting a more modest increase to 3.8%, indicating...

Tlou Energy said it had agreed to sell gas from coal seams to Botswana Power Corporation from its Lesedi development in Botswana. The interim pilot power purchase agreement was for 2 megawatts and...

Georgian lender TBC Bank said it had put aside additional loan loss provisions to cover potential defaults triggered by the spreading coronavirus. The company said it had agreed with the country's...

Television broadcaster ITV said its executives and directors had taken a 20% pay cut and had their 2020 annual bonuses cancelled as the company conserves cash during the Covid-19 crisis. The pay...

Following the current significant drop in oil prices from recent levels, Lekoil said it had approved the immediate implementation of the company's cost reduction measures targeting an annual...

Oracle Power said it did not expect the Covid-19 crisis to disrupt the development timetable for its Thar coal mine and power plant project in Pakistan. Chief executive Naheed Memon said the past...

The UK manufacturing purchasing managers' index slumped to 34.5 in March, down from 53.2 in February, according to a 'final' reading from IHS Markit. The market had expected a slightly shallower...

Tailoring company Bagir said it had requested to suspend trading as it expected it may run short of cash following a coronavirus-led hit to performance, raising concerns about the company's future....

Hotel owner Minoan said its attempts to find potential partners for a project in Crete had not been unduly effected by the Covid-19 crisis. The company said meetings with potential partners had...

Gold and base metal explorer Rockfire Resources said further technical data analysis at the Plateau prospect in Australia's Queensland state had demonstrated the existence of a significant gold...

Remote locations services provider RA International said it had won a further order, worth up to $15.6m, from IAP Worldwide Services for the provision of supply chain services in an African...

Tanfield said the ongoing contract dispute with its joint venture partner in Snorkel would proceed after a motion by its opponents to stop the trial was dismissed by a judge. A US court had...

Cloud computing company Iomart said it expected to deliver lower profit this year, in line with expectations, following a decline in margins. For the year ended 31 March 2020,, the company...

Fertilizer group Salt Lake Potash said it had completed civil earthworks at a process plant and other infrastructure at its Lake Way project in Western Australia state. Early process plant...

Cell-based therapeutics developer ReNeuron said it had initiated a research programme focused on the potential use of its technology as a delivery vehicle for viral vaccines including for...

Property developer Great Portland Estates said expected leasing activity, particularly in retail, to decline until the Covid-19 crisis passed. The company asaid it was working with its occupiers...

Electrical components supplier TT Electronics said it had appointed Warren Tucker as its new chairman, with immediate effect. The appointment came after the company in December announced the...

Oil company Tullow Oil said $1.9bn of company debt capacity had been approved by its lending syndicate as part of a regular review of its finances. The company said that the redetermination of its...

Primark owner Associated British Foods said its chief executive and finance director had requested to take a temporary 50% pay cut as the company tightens its belt in anticipation of...

Market research agency System1 said long-serving chief financial officer James Geddes was standing down later in April. Chris Willford would replace Geddes, who had been CFO of the company for 17...

Miner Antofagasta said its operations were now operating with about half its workforce as the company aimed to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus, which had already infected four of its...

Infrastructure products supplier Hill & Smith said it had appointed Paul Simmons as chief executive designate to succeed Derek Muir, effective 1 September 2020. Derek Muir would step down from...

Merchant banking company Close Brothers said it had decided to cancel the payment of its 2020 interim dividend, in the wake of 'significant challenges' posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. 'This...

Gold mining company Centamin said it had appointed Martin Horgan as chief executive officer, with effect from 6 April 2020. Horgan, a qualified mining engineer with 25-years' experience in...

Pizza delivery chain Domino's Pizza announced the appointment of Neil Smith as Interim chief financial officer with effect from 15 April 2020. Smith had most recently served as CFO of Ei Group...

The Covid-19 outbreak has forced low-cost airline, Wizz Air to reduce its capacity by 34% year on year for March. Wizz Air operated rescue flights throughout the month of March from Germany to...

Pharma giant AstraZeneca said it had completed the previously agreed sale of its global rights to Movantik, a treatment for opioid-induced constipation, to RedHill Biopharma for at least $52.5m....

Budget airline easyJet said it had received a request from founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, to call a general meeting to remove Andreas Bierwirth as a director of the company. 'The board is...

The US manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 49.1 in March, according to the Institute of Supply Management. The declined wasn't as deep as market expectations for a fall to 44.9, from...