Bentley Motors reported its third best ever year of luxury car sales in 2023, driven by record demand from wealthy consumers splashing out to personalise their models.
https://www.cityam.com/whats-driving-bentley-sales-wealthy-buyers-paying-to-have-their-name-spotlit-on-the-ground/
A ‘technical’ recession is now more than likely to be confirmed when the next official figures arrive.
The UK’s economy shrunk 0.1 per cent in the third quarter of last year, and October and November figures haven’t looked that much prettier.
The question now is whether Brits spent enough in December to keep us out of the red – and perhaps, save much embarrassment for the government .
A technical recession is confirmed when a country records two consecutive quarters of negative growth – so whether or not the UK enters one is on a knife-edge.
https://www.cityam.com/economy-latest-data-makes-a-technical-recession-seem-almost-inevitable/
UK retail sales slump points to new risk of recession
LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - British retailers suffered the biggest drop in sales for almost three years during December, raising the risk that the economy entered recession late last year, official data showed on Friday.
The Office for National Statistics said people doing their Christmas shopping earlier than usual - especially for food - contributed to retail sales volumes shrinking 3.2% between December and November.
It was the biggest drop since January 2021 and it left the level of sales at its lowest ebb since May 2020.
Audioboom's CEO, Stuart Last, commented: "The latest Triton US podcast ranker highlights how Audioboom is continuing to build our position as a leading podcast publisher. The Audioboom Creator Network drives strong distribution for our podcasts with our newest signing, Matt & Shane's Secret Podcast, leading the way. We're focused on growing our network and are on track to move up the rankings in 2024."
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is convening a summit with bosses from the UK’s largest banks to discuss concerns that their poor share performance is preventing more lending to the wider economy.
Senior executives from Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Natwest and Santander have been called to meet with Hunt next Tuesday, City A.M. understands.
The meeting, first reported by Sky News, comes as the UK’s big banks prepare to release their fourth-quarter results in the coming weeks.
https://www.cityam.com/chancellor-to-meet-with-lloyds-barclays-and-natwest-executives-over-share-slumps/
Https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/why-aston-martins-new-investor-is-good-news-for-f1/10566650/
News is emerging that the company could face a £1bn fine as the Financial Conduct Authority investigates practices around motor loan commissions. Should shareholders be worried?
https://www.fool.co.uk/2024/01/16/what-could-a-potential-1bn-fine-mean-for-the-lloyds-share-price/
The US investment bank has also raised IAG, the owner of British Airways, to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ and lifted its price target to 238p from 219p.
Shares in IAG are up 0.2%.
August cut in rates seen more likely after inflation spike
The Bank of England’s most recent economic forecasts, which justified its higher-for-longer narrative on the interest rate, look increasingly out of date after new figures were published on the state of the labour market.
Martin Beck, chief economic adviser to EY Item Club said: “The latest pay numbers make it even more likely that the MPC will move away from ‘high for longer’ rhetoric when it meets next month”.
That’s not to say that it will lower interest rates in February, but it may prepare the ground for such a move. So far, rate-setters have insisted at every turn that it is “too early” to discuss cutting rates.
https://www.cityam.com/how-will-the-bank-of-england-change-its-approach-after-wage-growth-falls-again/
FTSE 100 and European stocks fall as Trump wins landslide in Iowa
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/ftse-100-european-stocks-trump-win-iowa-wall-street-084549091.html