Weekly review

Equity view

HomeServe said it expected a solid performance in the current financial year as the home repair company indicated trading was picking up well after Covid-19 lockdowns.

Rio Tinto on Friday reported a 1.5% rise in second quarter iron ore shipments on the back of stronger Chinese demand, but warned a second wave of the coronavirus presented a threat to key economies.

DCC said trading in the first quarter was better than it expected but down on the year before because of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Essentra had agreed a settlement with the US Department of Justice and will pay a $666,543 cash penalty in relation to unauthorised transactions dating back to 2018 by two employees of its subsidiary, Essentra FZE.

Experian's constant currency revenue fell 1% in the first quarter as growth in North America helped offset sharp falls in the UK and other markets but the credit-check company said the outlook was too uncertain to give guidance.

Hays said annual profit would almost halve after recruitment fees fell by a third in the fourth quarter with the UK and Ireland the worst-hit.

Royal Bank of Scotland will attempt to leave its troubled past behind next week when the lender changes its name to NatWest, the bank it bought 20 years ago to launch an expansion spree that led to its near-collapse.

Energy company SSE said it still intended to declare a dividend in November as the impact of Covid-19 on the business remained in line with expectations during the first three months of the fiscal year.

Severn Trent said the first quarter was in line with its expectations and predicted annual performance would be in line with guidance.

Luxury fashion brand Burberry said it expected first half revenue to fall by up to 50% and would restructure further as the coronavirus pandemic continued to have a material impact on sales.

Homeware retailer Dunelm warned on Wednesday that annual profit was set to fall after stores were shut during the coronavirus lockdown, as it reported a decline in fourth-quarter sales despite "significant" online growth.

GlaxoSmithKline announced on Wednesday that the oncologic drugs advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has voted in favour of “the demonstrated benefit” of monotherapy treatment with ‘belantamab mafodotin’.

AO World said it experienced strong demand during the Covid-19 crisis but was cautious about the outlook as it reported a smaller annual loss.

Vertu Motors said on Tuesday that it swung to a profit in June amid better-than-expected trading, but announced plans to cut around 345 jobs due to automation and as it looks to cut costs.

QinetiQ said orders were strong in the first quarter as it announced the £25m of Naimuri, a software and analytics provider for the UK's intelligence and law enforcement services.

DFS said it would cut jobs as the sofa retailer predicted an annual loss of up to £58m caused by the suspension of deliveries during the Covid-19 shutdown.

G4S said first-half profit would be well ahead of expectations and that it would bring forward its results announcement to the week beginning 20 July.

Self-storage company Big Yellow has exchanged contracts to buy a site in Wapping, London, for £18.6m.

Wizz Air said its Abu Dhabi joint venture would start operations on October 1 with six new routes connecting the UAE capital with Europe and Egypt.

Quiz said it was investigating a report that workers in Leicester were offered illegally low wages to make its clothes and said one of its suppliers appeared to have used a subcontractor against the company's instructions.

Economic news

UK lenders have granted more than 1m payment holidays to credit card customers during the Covid-19 crisis, industry figures showed.

Startup firm Britishvolt is planning on opening a 30GWh battery plant at Bro Tathan in Wales.

Britain said it would seek to raise £110bn from the government bond market between September and November, taking total issuance for the first eight months of the financial year to a record £385bn.

UK banks and other lenders expect to make fewer loans at higher rates and for defaults to increase as the Covid-19 crisis damages the economy, a Bank of England survey showed.

Inflation rose for the first time this year to but the pickup was caused mainly by volatile computer game prices and economists said the trend was still downwards.

The UK has sold a three-year government bond at its lowest negative interest rate with investors paying to lend money to the Treasury.

Britain's economy grew by a lower-than-forecast 1.8% in May as businesses started to emerge from the coronavirus lockdown, official data revealed, dampening hopes of a sharp rebound.

Retail sales rebounded sharply in June, industry research showed on Tuesday, supported by the easing of lockdown measures and booming online sales.

The UK economy rebounded in June, industry research showed on Monday, as lockdown measures started to ease and the services sector enjoyed a surge in activity.

BT boss Philip Jansen said on Monday that the UK government should not rush the ban on China’s tech giant Huawei from developing the country's 5G network, warning of potential outages and security issues.

International events

US housing starts rose 17.3% on the month in June, according to figures released by the Commerce Department on Friday.

Consumer sentiment in the US deteriorated in July amid a rise in new coronavirus cases, according to preliminary data released on Friday.

China’s economy bounced back in the second quarter after taking a hit from the coronavirus pandemic, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

The White House is mulling a ban on Chinese Communist Party members travelling to the US, it was reported on Thursday, the latest salvo in the escalating hostilities between the two countries.

Some 160,000 people in the Spanish region of Catalonia returned to lockdown on Wednesday as authorities attempt to control a new wave of coronavirus infections in the area.

US President Donald Trump said he had signed an order ending preferential economic treatment for Hong Kong, after China imposed a controversial security law in the territory.

German economic sentiment dipped in July and the assessment of the current situation came in below expectations, the monthly ZEW survey of investors showed.

China is to impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin after the US government gave the green light to a sale of missile parts to Taiwan.

German officials have confirmed that the country’s economic recovery is underway after industrial production passed its lowest point.

Libya is set to resume crude oil exports in the wake of successful talks between the country's two warring factions following talks led by the United Nations and the United States.