Continental Europe drives profits at Burberry as shoppers flock to Paris over London
Continental Europe has been profitable for Burberry in the year to the end of April, the latest sign that foreign tourists are ditching London for Paris and Rome as the “tourist tax” continues to hit the capital. .
Profits hit £634 million, up 21% as revenue rose above £3 billion.
Much of the growth was driven by Burberry’s Europe, Central, East, Asia and Africa divisions. This includes the UK, where sales amounted to £257m, but the fashion house says the main performer is mainland Europe.
Burberry’s chairman, Gerry Murphy, is one of the business leaders who warned that ending VAT-free shopping for tourists in the UK would cause shoppers to choose cities in mainland Europe over mainland Europe. London.
Royal Mail loses 1 billion pounds after cutting thousands of jobs
Royal Mail lost £1 billion in the year to March 2023 after the postal service was hit by a wave of strikes and reduced demand for parcel deliveries.
The company that owns Royal Mail’s International Delivery Service said the loss was “due to industrial activity, which failed to deliver the benefits of the year of planned productivity improvements, lower test suite volumes”. and the online retail market is weaker.”
The company said it finished cutting 10,000 employees at the end of March and last month reached an agreement with the Union of Communications Workers for a 10% pay increase and profit sharing for the remaining employees. .
IDS President Keith Williams said: “I have previously said that we have reached a crossroads at Royal Mail. Now that we have a negotiated agreement with CWU, it will be up for a vote soon and thanks to good progress on our five-point plan to stabilize Royal Mail, our destination is come close.”
“If ratified, the CWU agreement will secure better jobs and increase rewards – through both pay and profit sharing – for our employees. The successful implementation of the agreement will be key.”
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US debt ceiling optimism boosts Wall Street, FTSE 100 seen higher
The FTSE 100 index is set for a stronger session after Wall Street rallied on optimism that the United States can avoid default.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all ended 1.2% higher after President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made encouraging comments about the debt ceiling overnight. via.
The buying momentum means that the top 100 tech-focused Nasdaq stocks have now recaptured 50% of their decline from their November 2021 record high.
CMC Markets expects London’s FTSE 100 index to end this week’s losing streak by rising 26 points to 7749.
Meanwhile, sterling stood slightly lower at just under $1.25 as attention turned to Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey’s appearance before the Treasury Select Committee this morning.
