City Voices: M&S’ Oxford Street proposal is just a generic office block masquerading as a department store
MThe Secretary of State, Michael Gove, has pushed his decision on &S Oxford Street back to July. This will give him more time to reflect on the huge benefits of refurbishment over M&S’s plan for demolition.
M&S have denigrated the existing group of buildings at Marble Arch because they want to demolish their flagship store and replace it with a new “white box” office building. M&S like to present themselves as the voice of Oxford Street retail, yet are actually planning to shrink their shop from 34,837 sq m to 13,653 sq m.
Their proposal is essentially a generic office block masquerading as a department store. And they’ve threatened to leave if they don’t get their way.
FTSE closes at 7754
The FTSE 100 closed at 7754 today, for its strongest day in an otherwise tough week.
Shares closed up 0.3%, led by Beazley, JD Sports and Airtel Africa.
The rise came despite weaker-than-expected GDP figures, as the UK economy shrank by 0.3% in March. Q1 GDP was still positive, though, at 0.1%.
However, it remained down for the week.
City Comment: The economy might be stalling, but be thankful for our strong job market
I have seen the future — and it’s flat.
In contrast to the extraordinary gyrations in output during the deep recessions of the financial crisis and the pandemic the GDP graph is now barely flickering.
Over the winter half of the year output has hardly moved, better perhaps than the long recession forecasters were gloomily predicting last autumn, but still fairly grim. Output is yet to limp over the pre-Covid Plimsoll Line and the outlook for the next two to three years looks little different.
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Bank of England economist: Inflation at a “turning point”
Bank of England chief economist Huw Pill said today that inflation is at a “turning point”, in what may be a sign that the Bank is considering a pause to its rate hikes.
The Bank raised interest rates to 4.5% yesterday, and many investors believed it signalled plans to raise rates further. But Pill’s comments may suggest the Bank believes the effects of its 12 recent rate hikes will become much more noticable soon.
While the Bank was optimistic about inflation in the short term, its projections were less positive further out, with inflation remaining above the 2% target until 2025.
Burberry investors hopeful of China luxury shopping rebound
Luxury retailer Burberry could prove its buyers have been sheltered from cost-of-living pressures when it unveils its full-year financial results on Thursday.
The historic British brand, which has benefitted from the reopening of the Chinese economy this year, is expected to show a jump in profits and sales for the year ending in March.
City voices: Are we now in the era of the sabbatical?
Earlier this week, Wise CEO Kristo Kaarman said he would be taking three months off work to spend more time with his growing family.
How much have the tech and the wider business worlds really changed in recent years? And how much further do we have to go? Some are arguing that the tide has turned and that people are starting to make up for lost time – but is this really the case?
Royal mail boss to quit
Royal Mail boss Simon Thompson has announced plans to quit, weeks after the postal delivery firm agreed a new pay deal with striking staff.
Thompson will leave the role on 31 October. The board of Royal Mail, which was privatised in 2013, is “in advanced stages of appointing a new CEO”.
Elon Musk steps down as CEO of Twitter as new female boss announced
Elon Musk has announced that he is stepping down as chief executive of Twitter to make way for a new female boss.
Mr Musk said on Thursday that he has found a new CEO for the social media platform and that she will be starting in about six weeks.
“My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops,” he wrote in a tweet.
GSK shares rally in robust FTSE 100 session
GSK shares today lifted 21.4p to 1466.2p as the drugs giant banked £800 million from the sale of a 2.5% Haleon stake and it welcomed a court ruling relating to heartburn drug Zantac.
The biggest boost came from British Columbia as a court dismissed a proposed class action brought against a Canadian company, saying there was no evidence that ranitidine increased the risk for any type of cancer.
The ruling was highlighted in a statement by GSK as it continues to defend itself in Canada and the United States against litigation concerning Zantac.
The cases have overshadowed the company’s attempts to convince the City of its standalone potential after the demerger of consumer healthcare business Haleon last July.
In today’s other development, GSK said it had raised £804 million by selling a 2.5% stake in the Sensodyne-to-Voltaren business at a price of 335p. GSK still holds a 10.3% stake in Haleon, alongside former partner Pfizer with a 32% holding. Both have pledged not to sell more shares in the next 60 days.
GSK’s share price improvement came during a robust session for FTSE 100 index, which rose 33.36 points to 7763.94 to end the week broadly unchanged.
Banking stocks featured heavily on the risers board, with Barclays up 1.1p to 154.6p after RBC analysts upped their price target by 15p to 230p.
It was also a better session for Rolls-Royce shareholders after yesterday’s AGM trading update led to a 7% fall. The stock, which is up by more 50% this year, recovered 2% or 2.6p to 148.5p in today’s session.
The FTSE 250 index fell 7.57 points to 19,258.73, although ASOS shares rose 7.4p to 507.4p at the end of a week in which its half-year results sent shares sharply lower.
