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London open: Stocks slide as banks cancel dividends
London stocks slid in early trade on Wednesday amid growing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, with banks under the cosh as they cancelled their dividends to help weather the pandemic.
ContourGlobal announces £30m share buyback
Power generation company ContourGlobal has announced a £30m share buyback programme.
Auto Trader raises funds, cuts board pay in Covid-19 measures
Auto Trader announced a share placing equal to 5% of its share capital and reductions to directors' pay to strengthen its finances during the Covid-19 crisis.
Coats Group CFO Boddie to retire
Industrial thread manufacturer Coats Group said on Wednesday that chief financial officer Simon Boddie plans to retire at the end of March 2021 "to pursue further non-executive opportunities".
Barclays scraps final divi, Taylor Wimpey cancelling bonuses
London open The FTSE 100 is expected to open 211 points lower on Wednesday, having closed up 1. 95% at 5,671. 96 on Tuesday.
Savills pulls dividend payouts
Real estate agent Savills said it was pulling its final and supplemental interim dividends to save cash in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Qinetiq to postpone decision on final dividend due to Covid-19
Defence company Qinetiq said on Wednesday that it will postpone a decision on whether to pay a final full-year dividend until later in the year, when there is greater clarity on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
London pre-open: Stocks to slide again after downbeat US, Asian sessions
London stocks were set for more heavy losses on Wednesday following weak sessions in the US and Asia amid growing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
Taylor Wimpey executives cancel bonuses, take pay cut
Executives at house builder Taylor Wimpey agreed to cancel bonuses and take a 30% base salary cut for the duration of the coronavirus lockdown.
HSBC scraps dividends at BoE's request
HSBC has cancelled its fourth-quarter dividend and agreed not to pay dividends or buy back shares in 2020 after the Bank of England told the bank to conserve capital during the Covid-19 crisis.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Low pay, JD Sports, construction works
The government has been warned it could be forced to abandon targets for ending low pay in Britain by raising the legal minimum wage, as the economic costs of Covid-19 mount. The Low Pay Commission, the independent body which advises ministers on legal wage floors, said the government target to increase the national living wage to two-thirds of average earnings by 2024 could be in danger. – Guardian.
Lloyds scraps dividends in Covid-19 measure
Lloyds Banking Group has scrapped its final 2019 dividend and agreed not to make shareholder payouts or buy back shares in 2020 at the request of the Bank of England to preserve capital in the Covid-19 crisis.
FTSE 250 movers: Moneysupermarket's dividend seen well supported
The second-tier index advanced 3. 26% to 15,101. 13.
US close: Stocks head south to wrap up worst quarter on record
US stocks closed lower on Tuesday, shrugging off some strong manufacturing data out of China to wrap up the worst first quarter on record for the Dow and S&P 500.