A slice of happiness for pizza fans today as Domino’s reveals a hike in its annual dividend by 21.3 per cent to 11.75p per share. Despite making an underlying operating loss of £1.3 million, the takeaway chain confirmed it had opened 61 new stores across the country in 2015. The company also reported an increased pre-tax profit of £73.2 million due to a rise in customers ordering online.
And a modicum of good news for homeowners following the publication of Nationwide’s February House Price Index. According to Britain’s biggest building society, UK house price growth remained ‘steady’ in February, with prices up 0.3 per cent from January. And a 3.2. per cent rise in like-for-like sales at Whitbread will give investors something to cheer about, including the news that like-for-like sales at Costa Coffee rose 3 per cent.
People concerned about rising domestic costs will be disappointed to learn that changes in government energy policy since the last election have chased off investors and may have added £120 a year to household bills, according to a parliamentary report from the energy and climate change committee.
A report from the Pensions Institute at Cass Business School suggests that millions of savers are confused by new pension freedoms and need to be shepherded towards new simple and low-cost retirement income plans,
Meanwhile, The Times reports that the energy regulator Ofgem is to be handed sweeping new powers to manage the country’s electricity supplies, switch off factories and request emergency back-up generation. The newspaper also says that Rolls-Royce could face a shareholder rebellion at its annual meeting later this year after it caved into pressure from an American activist demanding a place on the board. Flying high is Ryanair which said this morning that customer numbers increased 28 per cent to 7.4 million in February. The British Chambers of Commerce is holding its annual conference in central London today where speakers will include Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and business secretary Sajid Javid. Also on Thursday’s agenda is an update from the Bank of England on the funding for lending scheme. Looking ahead to tomorrow, analysis and diagnosis of the nation’s economic health and business mood will take place at The Great Manchester Business Conference. If you missed it yesterday, then the latest Knight Frank Wealth Report makes for interesting reading. Now an annual staple, this detailed analysis of the interaction between and the world’s prime property markets revealed that succession and inheritance are the biggest risks to creating and preserving money over the next 10 years. Nevertheless, the super-rich continue to invest in classic cars and jewellery even as their wealth keeps shrinking.
Comments