Weekly review

Equity view

Victrex said first quarter revenues and sales were slightly ahead of expectations as the polymer maker maintained full year guidance.

Jet2 said on Friday that it has raised around £422m in a placing to help the airline and holiday company to weather the Covid-19 pandemic and related restrictions.

Renewable infrastructure fund Greencoat UK Wind said on Friday that it was launching a placing to raise up to £198m to pay down debt and fund acquisitions.

The battle for London-listed security services firm G4S could be settled via auction if GardaWorld and Allied Universal do not make revised bids by 20 February.

Royal Dutch Shell has outlined how it intends to become a net-zero emissions energy provider, and said shareholders will be able to vote on the strategy.

Real estate investment trust LXI REIT hiked its annual dividend target to 6.0p on Thursday following successive quarters of strong rent collection and rental growth.

Insurance firm Prudential has named a new chief executive for its US business ahead of its planned separation from the group.

Polypipe said on Thursday that it has raised around £96.3m in a placing to help fund the £210m acquisition of magnetic filters maker ADEY.

Persimmon has set aside £75m for the removal of cladding from 26 buildings it constructed ahead of a government announcement about the removal of potentially combustible materials following the Grenfell Tower fire.

Smurfit Kappa posted forecast-beating final earnings on Wednesday, boosted by strong demand in Europe and America.

Grainger said it was performing well though occupancy of private rented homes was taking longer than expected to recover.

Lancashire Holdings posted a slump in full-year profit on Wednesday, but the results were ahead of expectations for a loss as the insurer’s investment portfolio recovered.

Housebuilder Bellway hailed record first-half completions on Tuesday amid "robust" demand.

Safety equipment maker Halma said on Tuesday that it has appointed Dame Louise Makin as its next Chair.

British software firm Micro Focus International has reinstated its dividend, despite a near $3bn impairment charge pushing it deep into the red.

St. Modwen Properties reported an 11.7% fall in its net asset value per share in its annual results on Tuesday, to 427.7p, after it saw 1.1% growth in the second half.

Electrocomponents predicted annual profit in line with expectations as stronger growth offset higher operating costs at the electronic products company.

Credit-checking firm Experian said on Monday that it is carrying out a forensic investigation following recent media reports of a data breach involving its Serasa business in Brazil, but that there is no evidence its technology systems have been compromised.

Rolls-Royce is temporarily closing its jet engine factories for two weeks this summer as it moves to save cash amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Boohoo has agreed to pay £25.2m for the Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis brands from the administration of Philip Green's Arcadia empire to strengthen its menswear offer and reach a wider customer base.

Economic news

Britain's economy shrank by 9.9% in 2020, the worst annual slump on record amid the Covid-19 pandemic, according to official data released on Friday.

The UK housing market slowed in January, a closely-watched survey found on Thursday, with the third national lockdown weighing on demand despite estate agents being allowed to remain open.

Amsterdam ousted London as Europe’s top share trading hub this month as a result of the shift in the location for dealing stocks and derivatives after Brexit.

One in four British adults is living with low financial resilience or other vulnerable characteristics, putting them at greater risk of harm, a survey by the Financial Conduct Authority has found.

Brexit could potentially cost London’s economy £9.5bn a year the latest research from the Mayor of London’s office revealed on Wednesday.

The UK government will provide a further £3.5bn to remove cladding in buildings in the wake of Grenfell Tower fire to "end the scandal".

It remains to be seen whether the world needs new vaccines to fend off the new strains of novel coronavirus, a top researcher said.

British shoppers spent a record £1.4bn buying groceries online last month, industry data showed on Tuesday, following the introduction of the third national lockdown.

Retail footfall is on the rise in the UK, retail data company Springboard revealed on Monday, with footfall across retail destinations up 6.7% week-on-week last week.

Banks expect UK firms to borrow over £60bn by the end of the year as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the economy, revealed a report from EY.

International events

Russia Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov warned in an interview on Friday that his country is ready to sever ties with the European Union if needed.

US consumer confidence weakened a tad towards the beginning of February with the lowest income households the least upbeat, the results of a very closely-followed survey revealed.

US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held their first phone call since the change of administration in Washington on Thursday morning.

Analysts at Citi revised their projections for the price of oil, citing oil producers' success in running down global inventories and improved prospects for demand.

China consumer prices unexpectedly fell in January, reversing an increase the previous month, official figures showed.

German inflation rose sharply in January, official data showed on Wednesday, after the country’s sales tax holiday came to an end, pushing up prices.

German exports nudged higher in December, helped by strong trade with China and the US, official data showed on Tuesday.

World Health Organization scientists who have been studying the origin of the Covid-19 virus in China over the past four weeks concluded that the most likely origin of the illness was in animals.

German industrial production was flat in December as coronavirus restrictions took their toll, according to figures released by Destatis on Monday.

South Africa halted its rollout of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine after a study claimed that it offered "minimal protection" against mild to moderate disease from the local variant of the novel coronavirus.