BUSINESS CLOSE: Taylor Wimpey Buoyed By Strong Demand
The FTSE 100 closed up 0.62 per cent or 42.95 points to 6,938.24 this afternoon.
Taylor Wimpey's order book stood at £2.8billion last week as the housebuilder said demand for new homes has remained strong due to benefits from lower interest rates and government measures for first time buyers.
Takeaway giant Domino's Pizza saw its sales in the British Isles surge by nearly a fifth over the first quarter as demand for takeaways continued after an impressive Covid-19 lockdown expansion.
Energy firm E.ON has agreed to pay £650,000 for charging more than a million customers on 24 December, 11 days earlier than their direct debit had agreed - leaving them out of pocket over Christmas.
The Competition and Markets Authority called on Taylor Wimpey and Countryside to formally agree to remove the ground rent terms that it considers unfair from their leasehold contracts
website Wimpey's order book stood at £2.8billion last week as the housebuilder said demand for new homes has remained strong due to benefits from lower interest rates and government measures for first time buyers. Takeaway giant Domino's Pizza saw its sales in the British Isles surge by nearly a fifth over the first quarter as demand for takeaways continued their impressive Covid-19 lockdown expansion.","headline":"BUSINESS LIVE: Taylor Wimpey buoyed by strong demand; Domino's Pizza sales jump; E.ON to pay out website website Group's venue sales plunged 98 PER CENT last website Rank Group experienced a troubling start to the year as the compulsory closure of its casinos and bingo halls caused revenues at its venues to be virtually wiped out during the first quarter.
Net gaming revenues (NGR) at the Mecca Bingo owner's sites sank 98 per cent in the three months to the end of March when all its UK venues remained shut, whereas sales on its online platforms declined just 3 per cent.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website 100 closed up 0.62% or 42.95 points to 6,938.website website Footsie closes website before close, the FTSE 100 was up 0.64% to 6,939.21.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was up by 1.20% to 22,350.49.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website skills shortage in creative industries, says BBC website BBC's director general plans to create new apprenticeship programmes to tackle what he described as 'profound skills shortages' in the UK's creative industries.
Speaking at the Creative Cities Convention, Tim Davie said he would 'like to do more' in creating apprenticeship programmes to ensure people have the skills to work in the sector.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website offers free 24-hour suit hire to help those with job website has been praised online for offering free 24-hour suit hire to help those with job interviews.
The high street retailer, which has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, has launched the new initiative in the UK, and will also soon be running it in America.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website jobless claims fall to 547,000, another pandemic website number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits has dropped to a one year low, a promising sign that layoffs are slowing as the job market strengthens.
The Labor Department said on Thursday that unemployment aid applications dropped to 547,000 last week, which is a drop of 39,000 compared to the week prior. ","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website Super League debacle is going to make the City wary of website 'Super League' lasted barely three days. Well, three days as a publicly declared proposal.
The doomed project had in fact been years in the making, but despite the slow build up it seems spectacularly ill-conceived. Yes hindsight is always perfect, but it's hard to argue that the people behind this couldn't have seen the disaster coming.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website hits another record website Peters of investment platform eToro, comments on Ethereum:
Ethereum has shot back up to record levels, setting a new all-time high today above $2,550, as it shows signs of de-coupling from bitcoin.
While the two have traded in tandem for much of the last three years, as the cryptoasset market starts to mature, investors will be looking across the broader spectrum of assets and assessing which has the best long-term potential.
Bitcoin has captured the attention of millions of investors, but ethereum offers an alternative. With ether’s dollar valuation significantly lower than bitcoin, it also appeals to investors who want to own whole coins, something which is now far more expensive to achieve with bitcoin.
With the widespread usage of ethereum's network following its latest upgrade, the cryptoasset continues to offer a lot of opportunities to developers and investors.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website Super League games could have been forced onto free-to-air website drew up radical plans to slash the cash the European Super League could earn from broadcast rights in Britain by forcing the ill-conceived project to be shown free-to-air, Sportsmail can reveal.
The extraordinary proposal was part of the 'legislative bomb' that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden were preparing to drop on the Big Six rebel clubs after they announced they were joining the breakaway league.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website Express is hiring 1,000 new staff months after closures and job website Express is hiring 1,000 new staff as its gears up to reopen fully across the country amid the easing of lockdown restrictions.
The new jobs come six months after the pizza chain said it would axe 1,300 jobs across its 360 UK restaurants as part of a restructuring.
This itself was only announced shortly after it unveiled a company voluntary arrangement deal which saw the closure of 73 restaurants and loss of 1,100 jobs. ","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Jane website Wimpey reports higher order book on back of rising website Wimpey has hailed the continued strength of the UK housing market as it revealed its order book is over £100million bigger than at the same point last year.
The housebuilder said it is trading in line with full-year expectations thanks to a combination of significant consumer demand, government support schemes and decent mortgage availability.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website Land Rover suspends work over computer chip website Land Rover has announced that production at two of its manufacturing plants is to be suspended due to supply chain disruption caused by the pandemic.
Output at the Castle Bromwich and Halewood factories will be temporarily halted from Monday, amid a worldwide shortage of semi-conductors caused by US-China trade tensions and supply disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website confirms final closing date for 27 website has today confirmed the closing date for 27 of its stores as the stalwart gets set to disappear from the High Street for good.
The department store had launched a post-lockdown fire sale before the collapsed chain shutters its stores, marking the end of a 243-year presence in Britain's towns and cities.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website chief says David Cameron called and texted him for website Treasury's top civil servant today revealed that David Cameron called and texted him on behalf of Greensill at the height of the pandemic.
Sir Tom Scholar said the former PM contacted him repeatedly in March and April last year as the financial firm pushed to be part of a government loan scheme.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website faces £650,000 bill after taking payments up to TWO WEEKS website has been forced to pay back £650,000 after it took 1.6 million customers' direct debits for January up to two weeks early on Christmas Eve due to a technical glitch.
The error left households across the country out of pocket over the festive period, with one claiming the nightmare left her 'pennyless'. ","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website Majority of Brits want FANS to own top football website majority of Brits believe professional football clubs in England should be owned by their fans, according to a new poll in the wake of the European Super League debacle.
An exclusive survey conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for MailOnline found 55 per cent of people believe it would be better if teams were owned by their fans, even if that meant clubs having less money to spend on players. ","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website your pension run dry? Two-thirds are warned their pension pots could run website of people retiring now are at risk of running their pension pots dry as they grow older, new research claims.
On average, retirees aim to spend around £21,000 a year in their retirement, which is nearly £10,000 less than the average household annual income across the country.
Investment firm Standard Life Aberdeen says a retiree would need a pension pot of around £390,000 on top of their state pension income to cover a £21,000 a year spend over the course of a 30-year period.
But it said that the average value of a Class of 2021 pension pot is lower than that at £366,000 – and a third admit to having less than £100,000 saved.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Jane website suffers huge annual loss after being hammered by website and conference group Informa saw its adjusted operating profit plummet by 71 per cent to £267.8million last year as the pandemic hammered its operations.
With global lockdowns in force for much of the year, the company saw its revenues drop 43 per cent to £1.66billion.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website is down 2.8% in the last 24 hours to $54,111.website Ethereum is up by 7.84% to $2,484.30.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website of England heads to Leeds: Old Lady unveils plan for northern website Bank of England has unveiled plans to open a new hub in the North.
Parts of the Bank will quit its historic home on Threadneedle Street in the heart of the City and relocate to Leeds.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website 'has sucked cash from ads that fund website Facebook have 'sucked all the money' out of the advertising which funds news, a senior executive at the Daily Mail has said, as the newspaper's owner takes legal action against the search engine giant.
Peter Wright, editor emeritus of DMG Media, which publishes the newspaper, speaking yesterday said 'it's time to call this company out' when asked about the anti-trust lawsuit which has been filed against Google in the US.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website Mining is the top faller on the FTSE 350 so far website website Sindall is the top rising FTSE 350 firm so far website website Pizza's UK sales pushed higher amid website Pizza Group saw sales jump by nearly a fifth in its first quarter as lockdown restrictions rolled on and people's desire for home delivered food continued.
Like-for-like sales across the group's UK and Ireland operations swelled by 18.5 per cent, excluding certain stores, in the three months to 28 March.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website sales rose 7.7% in the last website Lund-Yates, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, comments on Nestle:
Nestle is doing what it says on the tin – despite the pandemic, Nestle is still Nestle – the same consumer staple. It has of course had to grapple with changing spending habits, as out-of-home consumption dried up. But the group’s still leading with an aggressive increase in volume, which is something we liked about Nestle before Covid, and that hasn’t changed. This time around, volume increases have been achieved in part thanks to lockdown trends like home baking.
Nestle’s been buoyed by demand for coffee, as it appears that despite commutes being cancelled, we still want that takeaway coffee experience, just at home with retail Starbucks items. Sales of Nespresso products have been particularly impressive too, and is an example of Nestle’s exposure to more discretionary spending. As locked-down nations realised they were saving money while cafes, bars and restaurants were shuttered, it looks like some of those pennies were splurged on Nestle’s coffee machines and associated products.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website 100 up 0.32% or 21.84 points to 6,917.website the FTSE 250 is up 0.59 per cent or 129.38 points to 22,215.11.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Jane website Wimpey's order book at £2.website Hunter, Head of Markets at interactive investor, comments on Taylor Wimpey:
The stars are aligned for the housebuilding sector at present and Taylor Wimpey continues to reap the benefit.
Historically low interest rates, government schemes and the stamp duty holiday would be sufficient tailwinds for the sector to thrive in normal circumstances. In addition, however, the availability of mortgages, an ongoing demand/supply imbalance and loosening lockdown restrictions add further fuel to the fire and for the moment prospects are bright.
Taylor Wimpey has also taken the opportunity to go on something of a land buying spree with the future in mind. In the meantime, the forward order book remains strong at £2.8 billion, up 5% from the previous year, with net private sales also in the ascendancy and an ambitious operating profit margin target of 21-22% doubling last year’s number if achieved.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website buzzes onto London stock website has become the latest British tech company to begin trading on the London Stock Exchange, dodging the scepticism which has dogged Deliveroo’s float.
The savings firm launched at 165p a share, giving the seven-year-old firm a value of £365million and valuing founder Romi Savova’s stake at £132million.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website Shepherd Neame pubs toast best week website Neame said some pubs posted record sales last week, despite only opening their gardens.
Drinkers rushing back for their first pint pushed sales at the majority of the pub company’s 200 venues that reopened on April 12 in line with, or above, 2019 levels.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website FTSE 100 index opened at 6895.website pound at 8am was 1.3942 dollars compared to 1.3938 dollars at the previous close.","author":"@type":"Person","name":"Harry website
Jane Denton
Host commentator
Harry Wise
Host commentator
[javascript:void(0) ]
Auto-update
16:55
Rank Group's venue sales plunged 98 PER CENT last quarter
The Rank Group experienced a troubling start to the year as the compulsory closure of its casinos and bingo halls caused revenues at its venues to be virtually wiped out during the first quarter.
Net gaming revenues (NGR) at the Mecca Bingo owner's sites sank 98 per cent in the three months to the end of March when all its UK venues remained shut, whereas sales on its online platforms dec[ Rank Group's venue sales plunged 98 PER CENT last quarter][
Rank Group's venue sales plunged 98 PER CENT last quarter
]
Net gaming revenue (NGR) at the Mecca Bingo owner's sites sank 98 per cent in the three months to the end of March when all its UK venues rema[
<a website target="_blank">
This is Money
][
This is Money
]
16:52
FTSE 100 closed up 0.62% or 42.95 points to 6,938.24
16:25
The Footsie closes soon
Just before close, the FTSE 100 was up 0.64% to 6,939.21.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was up by 1.20% to 22,350.49.
16:18
Profound skills shortage in creative industries, says BBC boss
The [../../../news/bbc/index.html BBC]'s director general plans to create new apprenticeship programmes to tackle what he described as 'profound skills shortages' in the UK's creative industries.
Speaking at the Creative Cities Convention, Tim Davie said he would 'like to do more' in creating apprenticeship programmes to ensure people have the sk[ Profound skills shortage in creative industries, says BBC boss][
Profound skills shortage in creative industries, says BBC boss
]
Tim Davie said there is 'no doubt' about the skills shortage in sectors the BBC relies on to get production under way and said it needs to have its own training to ensure the workforce meets it[
<a website target="_blank">
Mail Online
][
Mail Online
]
15:49
H&M offers free 24-hour suit hire to help those with job interviews
H&M has been praised online for offering free 24-hour suit hire to help those with job interviews.
The high street retailer, which has its headquarters in Stockholm, [../../../news/sweden/index.html Sweden], has launched the new initiative in the UK, and will als[ H&M offers free 24-hour suit hire to help those with job interviews][
H&M offers free 24-hour suit hire to help those with job interviews
]
The high street retailer, which has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, daftar link pkv games has launched the new initiative in both the UK and [
<a website target="_blank">
Mail Online
][
Mail Online
]
15:21
US jobless claims fall to 547,000, another pandemic low
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits has dropped to a one year low, a promising sign that layoffs are slowing as the job market strengthens.
The Labor Department said on Thursday that unemployment aid applications dropped to 547,000 last week, which is a drop of 39,000 compared to the wee[ US jobless claims fall to 547,000, another pandemic low][
US jobless claims fall to 547,000, another pandemic low
]
The Labor Department said on Thursday that unemployment aid applications dropped to 547,000 last week, which is a drop of 39,000 compared to the wee[
<a website target="_blank">
Mail Online
][
Mail Online
]
14:54
The Super League debacle is going to make the City wary of football
The 'Super League' lasted barely three days. Well, three days as a publicly declared proposal.
The doomed project had in fact been years in the making, but despite the slow build up it seems spectacularly ill-conceived. Yes hindsight is always perfect, but it's hard to argue that the people behind this couldn'[ The Super League debacle is going to make the City wary of football][
The Super League debacle is going to make the City wary of football
]
Among the qualified and smart people behind the ultimately farcical effort to launch the breakaway league were investment bankers at JP Morgan, who were reportedly bankrolling[
<a website target="_blank">
This is Money
][
This is Money
]
14:39
Ethereum hits another record high
Simon Peters of investment platform eToro, comments on Ethereum:
Ethereum has shot back up to record levels, setting a new all-time high today above $2,550, as it shows signs of de-coupling from bitcoin.
While the two have traded in tandem for much of the last three years, as the cryptoasset market starts to mature, investors will be looking across the broader spectrum of assets and assessing which has the best long-term potential.
Bitcoin has captured the attention of millions of investors, but ethereum offers an alternative. With ether’s dollar valuation significantly lower than bitcoin, it also appeals to investors who want to own whole coins, something which is now far more expensive to achieve with bitcoin.
With the widespread usage of ethereum's network following its latest upgrade, the cryptoasset continues to offer a lot of opportunities to developers and investors.
14:20
European Super League daftar link pkv games could have been forced onto free-to-air TV
Ministers drew up radical plans to slash the cash the [../../../sport/european-super-league/index.html European Super League] could earn from broadcast rights in Britain by forcing the ill-conceived project to be shown free-to-air, Sportsmail can reveal.
The extraordinary proposal was part of the 'legislative bomb' that Prime Minister [../../../news/boris_johnson/index.html Boris Johnson] and [../../../news/oliver-dowden/index.html Culture Secretary] Oliver Dowden were preparing to drop on the Big Six rebel clubs after they announced they[ European Super League games could have been forced onto free-to-air TV][
European Super League games could have been forced onto free-to-air TV
]
Ministers drew up radical plans to slash the cash the European Super League could earn from broadcast rights in Britain by forcing the ill-conceived project to be shown free-to-air, Sports mail can[
<a website target="_blank">
Mail Online
][
Mail Online
]
13:45
Pizza Express is hiring 1,000 new staff months after closures and job cuts
Pizza Express is hiring 1,000 new staff as its gears up to reopen fully across the country amid the easing of lockdown restrictions.
The new jobs come six months after the pizza chain said it would axe 1,300 jobs across its 360 UK restaurants as part of a restructuring.
This itself was only announced shortly after it unveiled a company voluntary arrangement deal which saw the [ ]and l[ Pizza Express to recruit 1,000 workers months after mass closures][
Pizza Express to recruit 1,000 workers months after mass closures
]
The new jobs come six months after the pizza chain said it would axe 1,300 jobs across its 360 UK restaurants as part of a rest[
<a website target="_blank">
This is Money
][
This is Money
]
13:39
Taylor Wimpey reports higher order book on back of rising demand
Taylor Wimpey has hailed the continued strength of the UK housing market as it revealed its order book is over £100million bigger than at the same point last year.
The housebuilder said it is trading in line with full-year expectations thanks to a combination of significant consumer demand, government support schemes and [ Taylor Wimpey reports higher order book on back of rising demand][
Taylor Wimpey reports higher order book on back of rising demand
]
Its forward order book at the end of last month totalled £2.81billion and represented nearly 11,000 homes compared to £2.67billion and just over 10,850 homes in M[
<a website target="_blank">
This is Money
][
This is Money
]
13:14
Jaguar Land Rover suspends work over computer chip shortage
Jaguar Land Rover has announced that production at two of its manufacturing plants is to be suspended due to supply chain disruption caused by the pandemic.
Output at the Castle Bromwich and Halewood factories will be temporarily halted from Monday, amid a worldwide shortage of semi-conductors caused by US-China trade tensions and supply disruptions caused by [ Jaguar Land Rover suspends work over computer chip shortage][
Jaguar Land Rover suspends work over computer chip shortage
]
Jaguar Land Rover has announced that production at two of its UK manufacturing plants is to be suspended due to supply chain disruption caused by the p[
<a website target="_blank">
Mail Online
][
Mail Online
]
12:57
Debenhams confirms final closing date for 27 stores
Debenhams has today confirmed the closing date for 27 of its stores as the stalwart gets set to disappear from the High Street for good.
The department store had launched a post-lockdown fire sale before the collapsed chain shutters its stores, marking the end of a 243-year presence in Britain's towns and agen resmi pk[ Debenhams confirms final closing date for 27 stores[
Debenhams confirms final closing date for 27 stores
]
The collapsed chain has confirmed the dates when it will shutter shops up and down the country for good. The website is expected to re-launch by May after the High Street stalwart was bought by[
<a website target="_blank">
Mail Online
][
Mail Online
]
12:44
Treasury chief says David Cameron called and texted him for Greensill
The Treasury's top civil servant today revealed that [ ] called and texted him on behalf of Greensill at the height of the pandemic.
Sir Tom Scholar said the former PM contacted him repeatedly in March and April last year as the financial firm pushed to be[ Treasury chief says David Cameron called and texted him for Greensill][
Treasury chief says David Cameron called and texted him for Greensill
]
Sir Tom Scholar said the former PM contacted him repeatedly in March and April last year as the financial firm pushed to be part of a government loan[
<a website target="_blank">
Mail Online
][
Mail Online
[
The error left households across the country out of pocket over the festive period, with one claiming the nightmare left her 'pennyless'.
<a website target="_blank" style="background-image: website
[ E.On faces £650,000 bill after taking payments up to TWO WEEKS early][
E.On faces £650,000 bill after taking payments up to TWO WEEKS early
]
The error left households across the country out of pocket over the festive period, with one claiming the nightmare left her 'pen[
<a website target="_blank">
Mail Online
][
Mail Online
]
12:03
Poll: Majority of Brits want FANS to own top football clubs
A majority of Brits believe professional football clubs in England should be owned by their fans, according to a new poll in the wake of the [../../../sport/european-super-league/index.html European Super League] debacle.
An exclusive survey conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for MailOnline found 55 per cent of people believe it would be better if teams were owned by their fans, even if that meant clubs having less money to[ Poll: Majority of Brits want FANS to own top football clubs][
Poll: Majority of Brits want FANS to own top football clubs
]
A majority of Brits believe professional football clubs in England should be owned by their fans, according to a new poll in the wake of the European Super League [
<a website target="_blank">
Mail Online
][
Mail Online
]
11:48
Could your pension run dry? Two-thirds are warned their pension pots could run out
Two-thirds of people retiring now are at risk of running their pension pots dry as they grow older, new research claims.
On average, retirees aim to spend around £21,000 a year in their retirement, which is nearly £10,000 less than the average household annual income across the country.
Investment firm Standard Life Aberdeen says a retiree would need a pension pot of around £390,000 on top of their state pension income to cover a £21,000 a year spend over the course of a 30-year period.
But it said that the average value of a Class of 2021 pension pot is lower than that at £366,000 – and a third admit to havi[ Retirees want £21,000-a-year but two-thirds may see pensions run out][
Retirees want £21,000-a-year but two-thirds may see pensions run out
]
Standard Life Aberdeen says a retiree would need a pension pot of around £390,000 on top of their state pension income to cover the £21,000 spend over[
<a website target="_blank">
This is Money
][
This is Money
]
11:30
Informa suffers huge annual loss after being hammered by pandemic
Exhibition and conference group [ Informa] saw its adjusted operating profit plummet by 71 per cent to £267.8million last year as the pandemic hammered its operations.
With global lockdowns in force for much of the year, the company saw its revenues drop 43 p[ Informa suffers huge annual loss after being hammered by pandemic][
Informa suffers huge annual loss after being hammered by pandemic
]
With global lockdowns in force for much of the year, the company saw its revenues drop 43 per cent to £1.66billion, fresh results published today[
<a website target="_blank">
This is Money
][
This is Money
]
10:44
Bitcoin is down 2.8% in the last 24 hours to $54,111.62
Meanwhile, Ethereum is up by 7.84% to $2,484.30.
09:56
Bank of England heads to Leeds: Old Lady unveils plan for northern hub
The Bank of England has unveiled plans to open a new hub in the North.
Parts of the Bank will quit its historic home on Threadneedle Street in the hear[ Bank of England heads to Leeds: Old Lady unveils plan for northern hub][
Bank of England heads to Leeds: Old Lady unveils plan for northern hub
]
The decision to move parts of the Bank to Leeds comes after the Government last month announced plans to open an UK infrastructure bank in the city and a Treasury outpost in D[
<a website target="_blank">
This is Money
[
<a website target="_blank" style="background-image: website
[ Google 'has sucked cash from ads that fund news'][
Google 'has sucked cash from ads that fund news'
]
Peter Wright, editor emeritus of DMG Media, said 'it's time to call this company out' when asked about the anti-trust lawsuit which has been filed against Google in[
<a website target="_blank">
Mail Online
][
Mail Online
]
09:10
Hochschild Mining is the top faller on the FTSE 350 so far today
09:09
Morgan Sindall is the top rising FTSE 350 firm so far today
08:57
Domino Pizza's UK sales pushed higher amid lockdown
[ Domino's Pizza Group] saw sales jump by nearly a fifth in its first quarter as lockdown restrictions rolled on and people's desire for home delivered food continued.
Like-for-like sales across the group's UK and Ireland operations swelled by 18.5 per cent, excluding certain stores, in the three mon[ Domino Pizza's UK sales pushed higher amid lockdown][
Domino Pizza's UK sales pushed higher amid lockdown
]
Like-for-like sales across the group's UK and Ireland operations swelled by 18.5 per cent, excluding certain stores, in the three months to[
<a website target="_blank">
This is Money
][
This is Money
]
08:42
Nestle sales rose 7.7% in the last quarter
Sophie Lund-Yates, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, comments on Nestle:
Nestle is doing what it says on the tin – despite the pandemic, Nestle is still Nestle – the same consumer staple. It has of course had to grapple with changing spending habits, as out-of-home consumption dried up. But the group’s still leading with an aggressive increase in volume, which is something we liked about Nestle before Covid, and that hasn’t changed. This time around, volume increases have been achieved in part thanks to lockdown trends like home baking.
Nestle’s been buoyed by demand for coffee, as it appears that despite commutes being cancelled, we still want that takeaway coffee experience, just at home with retail Starbucks items. Sales of Nespresso products have been particularly impressive too, and is an example of Nestle’s exposure to more discretionary spending. As locked-down nations realised they were saving money while cafes, bars and restaurants were shuttered, it looks like some of those pennies were splurged on Nestle’s coffee machines and associated products.
08:30
FTSE 100 up 0.32% or 21.84 points to 6,917.13
And the FTSE 250 is up 0.59 per cent or 129.38 points to 22,215.11.
08:25
Taylor Wimpey's order book at £2.8billion
Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at interactive investor, comments on Taylor Wimpey:
The stars are aligned for the housebuilding sector at present and Taylor Wimpey continues to reap the benefit.
Historically low interest rates, government schemes and the stamp duty holiday would be sufficient tailwinds for the sector to thrive in normal circumstances. In addition, however, the availability of mortgages, an ongoing demand/supply imbalance and loosening lockdown restrictions add further fuel to the fire and for the moment prospects are bright.
Taylor Wimpey has also taken the opportunity to go on something of a land buying spree with the future in mind. In the meantime, the forward order book remains strong at £2.8 billion, up 5% from the previous year, with net private sales also in the ascendancy and an ambitious operating profit margin target of 21-22% doubling last year’s number if achieved.
08:19
Pensionbee buzzes onto London stock exchange
Pensionbee has become the latest British tech company to begin trading on the London Stock Exchange, dodging the scepticism which has dogged Deliveroo’s float.
The savings firm launched at 165p a share, giving the seven-year-old firm a value of £365million and valuing founder Romi Savova’s stake at £13[ Pensionbee buzzes onto London stock exchange][
Pensionbee buzzes onto London stock exchange
]
The savings firm launched at 165p a share, giving the seven-year-old firm a value of £365m and valuing founder Romi Savova's (pictured with co-founder Jonathan Lister Parsons) stake [
<a website target="_blank">
This is Money
][
This is Money
]
08:14
Cheers! Shepherd Neame pubs toast best week ever
Shepherd Neame said some pubs posted record sales last week, despite only opening their gardens.
Drinkers rushing back for their first pint pushed sales at the majority of the pub company’s 200 venues that reopened on April 12 in line with, or above,[ Cheers! Shepherd Neame pubs toast best week ever][
Cheers! Shepherd Neame pubs toast best week ever
]
Drinkers rushing back for their first pint after lockdown eased pushed sales at the majority of the pub company's 200 venues that reopened on April 12 in line with, or above, 20[
<a website target="_blank">
This is Money
][
This is Money
]
08:14
The FTSE 100 index opened at 6895.29
The pound at 8am was 1.3942 dollars compared to 1.3938 dollars at the previous close.
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