Afternoon all,
Poundland is on course to post an £18m profit despite its owner pushing for the “challenged and vulnerable” retailer to be sold, City AM can reveal. This would mark a significant turnaround for Poundland and undermine claims made by its owner, US investment firm Gordon Brothers, that it is still in an uncertain financial position.
Meanwhile, US tech stocks have been showing tentative signs of partial recovery since markets opened stateside. It remains to be seen whether the mild bounce-back is a blip, and
PLUS: More tube strikes are set for the end of the month, as the RMT union continues to push back against Transport For London plans for a four-day week.
We’ll be back in your inboxes at 8am on Monday. In the meantime, have a great weekend!
Matt
EXCL: Poundland on course for £18m profit despite owner pushing for collapse
The retailer’s unaudited profit for the year to September stands at £18m, sources close to the company said. Following the audit, this figure is projected to rise above £20m, they said.
Gordon Brothers, which is nearing a break-up of the retailer despite receiving a number of solvent offers for the firm, said earlier this week that it remains in a difficult position.
FTSE 100 Live: City stocks sink as Nasdaq rebounds after tech rout
London’s blue-chip index is suffering another big loss after the tech rout deepened on global markets overnight. The FTSE 100 was down 1.6 per cent in afternoon trading to 10,616p.
The Nasdaq was reversing some losses and gained 1.6 per cent at open on Wall Street. It follows it dropping more than five per cent led by major sell-offs in AI-related stocks and chipmakers in the aftermath of the US midterms.
Fresh tube strikes planned over four months
The RMT union has announced that tube drivers will launch industrial action for a total of eight days, starting on Thursday 26 November.
The rolling 24-hour tube strikes are the latest industrial action to stem from opposition to four-day work weeks set out by Transport for London.
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UK’s wealthiest financier Michael Platt sues own lawyer for professional negligence
The claim was filed in September last year against Malcolm Gammie KC, a barrister at One Essex Court, following the billionaire and his firm being in a long-running dispute with HMRC over the tax treatment of earnings on senior traders and partners at Bluecrest under a so-called partner incentivisation plan (PIP).
Anthropic’s $1.5 trillion IPO in doubt as AI sell-off spooks investors
The ChatGPT rival is facing growing pressure to lower its valuation as a rout in tech stocks threaten to derail what could become the largest initial public offering in history.
The Nasdaq plunged around six per cent on Thursday, wiping roughly $2.5 trillion from US tech stocks as investors fled AI-related firms following the US midterm elections.
The City is starved of cool spots. This restaurant changes that
The first thing you notice about Wild Izakaya is that this restaurant definitely used to be an office. Just what you want if you’ve just spent all day in yours. Dinner’s served with an evening dose of industrial-chic and polished concrete flooring!
Warming the space is a busy, open, central kitchen, from which steam billows high into those corporate rafters. Weirdly, my first thought is that Wild Izakaya reminds me of Scott’s, its frontage refusing to give away any of the restaurant’s secrets. An unassuming doorway leads to a dining room that manages to be simultaneously cosy, chaotic and theatrical. On a Monday evening, it was heaving.
English rugby exploring request for Welsh teams to join Prem, says RFU
The Prem is due to expand from 10 teams to 12 in 2029, with those added to the league hand-picked according to commercial appeal rather than promoted via on-field results.
Welsh rugby is in flux, with its four regional teams set to be reduced to three and uncertainty over their future in the cross-border United Rugby Championship.
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney said Prem expansion was conceived for English teams but did not rule out accepting the request from the Welsh Rugby Union.
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