Source: Sharecast
STOCKS TO WATCH
Shipping broker Clarkson said on Monday that it expected annual earnings to be H2 weighted as an uncertain economic environment and US tariffs led to a fall in freight rates, hitting half-year profits. Pre-tax profits for the six months ended 30 June fell to £37.5m from £50m a year earlier, while revenues declined to £298m from £310m.
Convatec's chief executive Karim Bitar will take a medical leave of absence, the medical products and technologies group announced on Monday. Chief financial officer Jonny Mason will step in to become interim CEO, and be replaced by group financial controller Fiona Ryder, while the company waits for Bitar's return.
Online marketplace operator Auction Technology Group said on Monday that it has acquired Chairish, a US-based marketplace for vintage furniture and art. The $85m acquisition, which was expected to broaden ATG's reach in the Arts & Antiques segment, adds 1.3m curated items and 12,000 sellers to its network, significantly expanding its inventory and buyer traffic.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
High street banks across the UK have lost the equivalent of £100bn in savings as more customers turned from traditional lenders towards online banks and building societies, figures show. Experts at KPMG said rival banks – including new challenger banks, specialist lenders and building societies – had lured customers away from incumbent banking groups with higher savings rates. The traditional banks' market share in deposits dropped from 84% in 2019 to 80% in 2024, it added. – Guardian
Margaret Thatcher's right-to-buy scheme has cost UK taxpayers almost £200bn, according to a report into the policy's contribution to Britain's housing crisis. In its report into the sale of millions of council homes to their tenants at steep discounts since 1980, the Common Wealth thinktank said the policy had fuelled vast shortages in social housing and turbocharged inequality. – Guardian
One in 10 graduates have already changed their career plans over fears that artificial intelligence will upend their job prospects. University leavers seeking a career in industries such as graphic design, coding, film and art are particularly concerned about the impact of AI on their prospects, fearing the rapidly developing technology will render their jobs obsolete. – Telegraph
John Lewis may slash the number of affordable flats at its new rental home scheme in Reading if the project faces hold-ups, local councillors have been told. Advisers for John Lewis Partnership warned that any planning delays and further demands on funding provided to local services risked making the scheme unviable. - Telegraph
The chancellor's decision to exempt wealthy private equity executives from a tax increase if they leave the country this year has created "real problems" by damaging tax revenues and encouraging business leaders to quit the UK, an expert has warned. Fresh scrutiny of Rachel Reeves's U-turn on a manifesto pledge to eradicate a tax "loophole" used by private equity came as it emerged that industry executives received a tax break worth nearly £700m in the most recent year for which official figures are available. – The Times
US CLOSE
A barrage of weak economic data and the announcement of a whole new set of US import tariffs weighed heavily on Wall Street on Friday, with stocks finishing the week with heavy losses.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.23% at 43,588.58, while the S&P 500 had shed 1.60% to 6,238.01 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.24% weaker at 20,650.13.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com