Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is to become chairman of the Royal Mail, it was confirmed on Friday, a month after taking parent International Distribution Services private in a £3.6bn deal. The tycoon is joining the IDS board as a non-executive, along with three other directors, becoming chair of both. He …
Read More »US consumer confidence slips in April, inflation expectations highest since 1981
Consumer confidence in the US worsened again as short-term inflation expectations hit their highest level in nearly half a century, the results of a closely followed survey revealed. The University of Michigan‘s consumer confidence index slipped from a reading of 57.0 at the end of March to 50.8. That missed …
Read More »Royal Mail fined £10.5m for missing delivery targets
Royal Mail has been fined £10.5m by the communications regulator Ofcom for failing to meet delivery targets for first and second-class mail in the 2023-2024 financial year. The penalty was nearly double last year’s fine of £5.6m for failing to meet obligations under the Universal Service Obligation. Under Ofcom’s standards, …
Read More »IDS subsidiary GLS to buy 20% stake in Greek courier firm ACS
International Distribution Services – the parent company of Royal Mail – said on Monday that subsidiary GLS has agreed to buy a 20% stake in Greek courier firm ACS Postal Services from Quest Holdings for €74m (£62m). ACS is the largest parcel carrier in the domestic Greek parcels market and …
Read More »US open: Stocks lower as traders look ahead to key inflation data
Wall Street stocks were in the red early on Monday as market participants looked ahead to key inflation data due out later in the week. As of 1450 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.33% at 39,367.84, while the S&P 500 lost 0.16% to 5,355.70 and the Nasdaq …
Read More »Marshalls still confident despite tough first half
Landscaping and building products and supplier Marshalls reported a 13% decline in revenue for the first half on Monday, amounting to £306.7m. The FTSE 250 company said adjusted EBITDA fell 14% to £50.6m, and adjusted operating profit dropped 19% to £34m. Its adjusted profit before tax was down 20% to …
Read More »Royal Mail parent IDS to offload US freight divisions
Royal Mail parent International Distribution Services (IDS) announced on Monday that its parcel services subsidiary, GLS, would sell its US freight divisions to California-based DC Logistics. The move was part of GLS’ strategic focus on enhancing its core parcel services. According to Reuters, the divestment would include GLS US Freight …
Read More »Fonix Mobile ends year ahead of market expectations
Mobile payments and messaging technology provider Fonix Mobile reported a strong full-year financial performance in a trading update on Monday. The AIM-traded company said it exceeded market expectations, with an 18.5% increase in gross profit to £17.9m, compared to £15.1m in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA also saw an 18.1% …
Read More »Tuesday preview: Alphabet, Tesla, US existing home sales in focus
Investors’ focus on Tuesday will be on the corporate space as US tech giant Alphabet and carmaker Tesla release their latest quarterly results. In the case of the former, the spotlight will be on the whether Google’s parent company’s results live up to the recent mania around artificial intelligence or …
Read More »Ceres Power inks global licence agreement, raises FY revenue guidance
Clean energy technology business Ceres Power said on Monday that it has inked a global long-term licence agreement for the manufacture of its proprietary solid oxide electrolyser cell technology with an original equipment manufacturer based in the Asia-Pacific region. Ceres said the agreement meant it had secured another partner with …
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