10 The Sunday Times April 24, 2022
BUSINESS
I wasn’t surprised by the arrest
warrant, I was surprisedthat I first learnt about it in an
American newspaperFugitive ex-Renault boss Carlos Ghosn
reacts to the Wall Street Journal’s report
that France had issued an arrent warrantYes39%
No61%
Dame Emma Walmsley took
a well-earned break over
Christmas to recharge her
batteries after a bruising
year.
Glaxo Smith Kline’s chief
executive had spent months
trying to keep activist Paul
Singer’s aggressive hedge
fund Elliott sweet after it took
a stake in the
pharmaceuticals giant.
Not only that, but
unbeknownst at the time to
the outside world, she had
also just batted away two
multibillion-pound bids from
Unilever, the Ben & Jerry’s to
Marmite-maker, for Glaxo’s
consumer arm, which she is
splitting off and floating on
the stock market for close to£50 billion. So Walmsley, 52,
can be forgiven for having
decided to put her feet up
over the festive break.
She jetted off to Antigua to
catch some Caribbean winter
sun, hoping to kick back with
a few rum punches and enjoy
a break from work.
No such luck.
Unilever launched a third
bid, worth £50 billion, and
Walmsley had to assemble
the board remotely.
From the sandy white
West Indian beaches on New
Year’s Eve, she rejected the
bid, which was to be
Unilever’s final before it
walked away.
Time at last for a pina
colada or two.BA’s pilot seeks
the golden touch
Talking of jetsetting, British
Airways boss Sean Doyle —
the only Brit apologising
more than Boris Johnson
these days — is a keen reader
of this column. Last week, we
revealed that Turkish Airlines
was quietly trying to pinch
BA’s highest-spending
customers by offering them
coveted gold frequent-flier
status on Turkish without the
need even to book a flight.
Doyle, 50, isn’t giving up
without a fight. Last week, he
wrote to BA’s Gold Card
holders offering to extend
their perks for another year
without the need to fly on
BA. “We’ve been through a
lot together recently and
we’d like to thank you for
your unwavering loyalty and
support during this
challenging time,” he said.
Your move, Istanbul...Nigel’s making
plans for books
To Brooks’s Club in St
James’s, where outgoing
Meggitt chairman Sir Nigel
Rudd threw a party to
celebrate the publication of
his memoirs on Wednesday.
A Chairman’s Tale chartshis journey from Derby
grammar school boy to
chairman of blue-chips
including Pilkington and
Boots — most of which ended
up being flogged to foreign
buyers, hence the Daily Mail
moniker ‘Sir Sell-out’. He is
donating the proceeds to
victims of the Ukraine war.
The room was packed with
grandees, including Glaxo
senior independent director
Vindi Banga, headhunter Jan
Hall and former M&S
chairman Robert Swannell.
Rudd did an interview with
Dominic O’Connell, formerly
of this parish, now business
presenter at Times Radio.Rudd raised a laugh when
asked why he hadn’t gone to
university. “My mother
thought when people went to
university they all became
communists,” he said. “And
actually, in the Sixties, she
probably wasn’t far off.”
The 75-year-old also
recalled how the board of
Barclays avoided confusion
when he joined in 1996.
There was already Nigel
Lawson, the former
chancellor, and Sir Nigel
Mobbs of Slough Estates: “So
I was Young Nigel.”Energy chief ’s
own goal on gas
Ministers looking for ways to
tackle the energy crisis
should look no further than
the boss of Avro Energy. Jake
Brown, the footballer-turned-
failed energy entrepreneur,
gave an illuminating
performance in front of MPs
on Tuesday when grilled
about Avro’s collapse.
Brown, 28 this month, said
he did not buy energy in
advance as he should have
done because he feared the
Nord Stream 2 pipeline
would cause gas prices to
crash. Instead, it was Avro
that crashed, leaving
taxpayers with a £700 million
bill. Smart thinking, Jake.Dame Emma Walmsley rejected Unilever from AntiguaBritish Airways boss DoyleHow Glaxo boss gave
sandy snub to Unilever
6 Kyle Whitehill breathed a sigh of relief this month as his
company Avanti Communications completed a restructuring
that slashed debts to $260 million (£203 million). What wasn’t
mentioned in the satellite company’s statement was that its
parent company was put into administration along with its
main subsidiary to get the deal through.
If ministers face more trouble at OneWeb, the rival bailed
out by taxpayers in 2020, they should ask Grant Shapps for
advice. The transport secretary was an adviser to Avanti from
October 2017 to April 2019, earning £2,000 a month for 7
hours’ work on “corporate responsibility”. When Prufrock
asked Whitehill how he’d fared, he said he didn’t even know
Shapps had worked there. Must have made a real impact.LUKE MACGREGOR/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGESJamie Nimmo
JUST SAYING...
FUNNY BUSINESS
TWITTER POLL
Was Boris Johnson right to
rule out axing green levies
from energy bills to help
consumers with the cost-
of-living crisis?
@ST_Business56 Rolls-Royce 91.6 -1.9 147.5 87.0 0.0 62.4 7.7
152 Rotork 308.4 +2.8 373.4 285.2 2.1 33.5 2.7
117 Royal Mail 353.6+24.5 606.4 324.3 4.7 4.1 3.4
189 S4 Capital 333.2 +21.2 870.0 289.0 0.0 N.A 1.9
144 Safestore 1307.0 -37.0 1418.0 837.0 1.5 7.4 2.8
62 Sage 724.6 +1.2 853.8 622.4 2.4 27.6 7.4
53 Schroders 3012.0 -136.03871.0 2817.0 4.1 13.6 7.9
39 Scottish Mortgage IT 908.0-48.01543.5 834.6 0.4 2.4 13.1
30 Segro 1375.5 +17.01436.5 989.4 1.5 4.1 16.5
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57 Severn Trent 3048.0-22.0 3211.0 2406.0 3.3 N.A 7.6
163 Shaftesbury 605.5 -1.5 662.0 547.5 0.9 N.A 2.3
1 Shell 2188.0 -4.0 2228.0 1339.0 3.1 11.0 164.6
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78 Smiths 1466.0 +32.0 1661.0 1355.5 2.6 23.3 5.6
147 Smithson Investment Trust 1520.0 -69.0 2025.0 1398.0 0.0 4.9 2.7
132 Softcat 1493.0 -7.0 2240.0 1445.0 1.5 29.2 3.0
131 Spectris 2720.0 +205.0 4083.0 2458.0 2.6 8.9 3.0
48 Spirax-Sarco Engineering 12385.0-225.0 17135.0 10985.0 1.1 39.0 9.1
28 SSE 1828.0 +35.51828.0 1434.5 4.5 7.3 19.5
187 SSP 235.4 -9.2 345.3 214.3 0.0 N.A 1.9
64 St James's Place 1345.0 -27.0 1731.5 1180.0 3.9 25.6 7.3
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108 Tate & Lyle 768.0 -3.6 815.8 629.4 4.0 88.0 3.6
90 Taylor Wimpey 131.7 -0.3 187.4 127.9 6.5 8.6 4.7
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143 Travis Perkins 1310.5 +50.0 1830.0 1219.0 2.9 12.7 2.8
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5 Unilever 3541.0 +112.0 4360.0 3328.0 4.0 18.4 90.6
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104 Weir 1628.5 +96.5 2005.0 1429.0 1.5 27.5 4.2
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178 ITM Power 327.3 -28.3 536.0 228.0 0.0 N.A 2.0
129 ITV 75.5 -1.5 132.5 72.6 4.4 8.1 3.0
146 IWG 270.1 +1.4 380.0 232.4 0.0 N.A 2.7
76 J Sainsbury 240.7 -1.1 340.0 235.0 4.4 20.3 5.6
60 JD Sports Fashion 144.8 -2.7 1170.0 131.6 0.2 174.9 7.5
145 Jet2 1280.0 -20.01564.5 938.6 0.0 N.A 2.7
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124 Man 238.2 +0.2 243.6 159.5 4.5 9.2 3.2
133 Marks and Spencer 151.9 +2.8 256.9 131.6 0.0 120.0 3.0
141 Mediclinic International 376.8 -9.6 386.6 275.8 0.0 23.5 2.8
68 Meggitt 772.4 +4.4 839.2 397.0 0.0 193.2 6.0
81 Melrose Industries 123.6 +0.6 190.8 109.4 1.4 N.A 5.4
63 Mondi 1508.5 +73.0 2068.0 1309.0 3.6 11.6 7.3
159 Monks Investment Trust 1044.0-22.0 1472.0980.0 0.2 3.2 2.4
15 National Grid 1172.5 -11.01226.0 884.6 4.2 29.5 42.7
192 Nationwide Building Society 172.5 -3.0 191.0 164.0 0.0 N.A 1.8
23 Natwest 222.7 +3.7 253.5 189.3 4.7 9.7 23.6
52 Next 6240.0 +50.0 8426.0 5770.0 2.0 11.9 8.2
161 Ninety One 261.4 -1.2 277.4 219.2 5.2 13.0 2.4
54 Ocado 1042.0-96.5 2236.0 1042.0 0.0 N.A 7.8
153 OSB 572.0 -12.0 599.0 418.8 4.5 7.6 2.6
138 Oxford Nanopore Tech 349.0 -5.0 716.0 343.5 0.0 N.A 2.9
72 Pearson 782.8 +10.8 869.4 571.8 2.6 37.5 5.9
140 Pennon 1066.0 +8.0 1321.0 992.0 3.2 86.7 2.8
65 Persimmon 2215.0 +45.0 3238.0 2093.0 10.6 9.0 7.1
191 Personal Assets Trust 49650.0-200.050900.046400.0 1.1 8.9 1.8
122 Petershill Partners 285.0 +22.0 352.0 194.8 N.A N.A 3.3
198 Pets at Home 302.8 -11.2 519.0 302.4 3.2 12.4 1.5
67 Phoenix 618.8 +4.6 752.0 581.8 7.9 N.A 6.2
197 Playtech 547.0-56.0 770.0 351.0 0.0 3.0 1.7
149 Polar Capital Tech Trust 2020.0 -125.0 2750.0 2010.0 0.0 3.5 2.7
183 Primary Health Properties 147.8 -3.3 169.6 131.1 3.4 15.0 2.0
19 Prudential 1044.0-25.0 1585.5 1000.0 1.3 16.2 28.7
180 QinetiQ 343.4+15.0 356.0 243.0 2.0 26.8 2.0
168 Quilter 135.6 -12.0 168.9 114.6 4.1 100.1 2.2
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185 Redrow 545.0 +10.0 718.8 517.0 5.2 6.8 1.9
12 Relx 2395.0 -44.0 2449.01813.0 2.1 31.6 46.2
120 Renewables Infrastructure 134.2 -4.0 139.4 121.6 5.0 13.8 3.3
136 Renishaw 4012.0 +8.0 6565.0 3704.0 1.7 22.9 2.9
45 Rentokil Initial 534.4 +5.6 636.2 444.5 1.2 37.9 10.0
83 Rightmove 621.0 -16.2 800.4 569.2 1.3 29.2 5.2
4 Rio Tinto 5664.0 -548.0 6658.0 4375.5 10.7 5.7 95.0
107 RIT Capital Partners 2525.0-55.0 2765.0 2330.0 1.4 4.6 4.0110 Diploma 2856.0 +8.0 3460.0 2420.0 1.5 50.9 3.6
116 Direct Line Insurance 259.2 +0.2 316.4 250.9 8.8 10.8 3.4
162 Dr Martens 236.8 +2.4 503.5 217.6 0.5 43.3 2.4
127 Drax 781.5 -16.5 831.5 393.8 2.4 60.5 3.1
99 DS Smith 326.7 +10.9 462.3 295.7 3.9 18.5 4.5
173 Dunelm 1020.0-45.0 1551.0 1019.0 2.3 13.7 2.1
103 Easyjet 568.4 -5.8 1095.0 439.5 0.0 N.A 4.3
86 Electrocomponents 1049.0 -2.01255.0 868.0 1.5 26.7 4.9
170 Energean 1179.0-58.0 1276.0620.0 0.0 N.A 2.1
49 Entain 1497.0 -54.5 2377.0 1392.5 0.0 33.5 8.8
20 Experian 2751.0+12.0 3667.0 2580.0 1.4 34.1 25.4
101 F&C Investment Trust 834.0 -7.0 946.0 779.0 1.5 4.8 4.4
25 Ferguson 10540.0+520.0 13305.0 9090.0 1.9 15.3 22.8
174 Fevertree Drinks 1767.0 -11.02812.0 1513.0 0.946.3 2.1
190 Finsbury Growth & Income Trust 825.0 -4.0 930.0 756.0 2.1 9.4 1.8
37 Flutter Entertainment 8266.0 -360.0 15890.0 8000.0 0.0 N.A 14.5
118 Frasers 690.0 -8.5 813.5 502.0 0.0 N.A 3.4
75 Fresnillo 770.0-34.0 986.8 622.4 3.4 17.5 5.7
139 Future 2376.0-62.0 3910.0 2268.0 0.1 39.7 2.9
157 Games Workshop 7485.0 -155.0 12220.0 6365.0 2.720.6 2.5
195 Genus 2658.0 +4.0 6070.0 2638.0 1.2 49.0 1.7
7 GlaxoSmithKline 1742.0 -31.0 1783.8 1329.6 4.6 20.1 88.6
10 Glencore 476.2 -50.6 535.6 292.5 4.2 16.6 62.7
158 Grafton 1017.6+16.6 1412.0 965.0 3.0 11.8 2.4
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109 Greencoat UK Wind 153.8 -3.3 157.6 126.6 4.7 8.5 3.6
160 Greggs 2348.0 +16.03416.0 2206.0 2.4 20.5 2.4
46 Halma 2501.0 -20.03216.0 2217.0 0.7 36.2 9.5
91 Harbour Energy 507.0 -12.4 530.0 18.2 1.7 54.3 4.7
176 HarbourVest Global PE 2555.0-20.0 2940.0 2015.0 0.0 2.1 2.0
95 Hargreaves Lansdown 966.8 -1.2 1772.0 959.2 4.0 17.2 4.6
172 Hays 125.1 +4.1 176.7 112.9 1.7 18.1 2.1
175 HgCapital Trust 449.0 +10.0 454.0 320.0 1.6 3.3 2.1
119 HICL Infrastructure 174.4 -8.6 183.0 161.0 4.7 18.0 3.4
97 Hikma Pharmaceuticals 2012.0 -58.0 2690.0 1825.0 2.1 14.5 4.6
200 Hilton Food 1206.0 -4.01250.0 1004.0 2.5 27.2 1.1
126 Hiscox 914.6 -28.2 990.2 770.0 2.9 21.8 3.2
121 HomeServe 980.5 +125.5 1150.0 608.5 2.7 88.1 3.3
98 Howden Joinery 775.0 +17.0 975.6 730.8 2.5 14.6 4.5
3 HSBC 523.3 +0.9 567.2 359.8 3.8 11.0 105.3
167 Hutchmed (China) 260.3 -6.0 624.0 232.0 0.0 N.A 2.2
112 IG 818.0 -15.0 945.0 717.0 5.3 8.4 3.5
115 IMI 1319.0 +42.0 1838.0 1273.0 1.8 18.0 3.4
33 Imperial Brands 1689.5 +29.0 1818.5 1470.0 8.2 5.6 16.1
154 Inchcape 668.5 +13.5 933.0 647.0 3.4 22.7 2.5
166 Indivior 319.6 -8.2 336.8 142.4 0.0 15.7 2.3
50 Informa 584.6-33.6 624.0 464.4 0.0 115.7 8.6
47 InterContinental Hotels 5136.0 -56.0 5338.0 4399.0 1.3 46.3 9.5
89 Intermediate Capital 1632.0 -59.5 2379.0 1385.0 3.5 9.4 4.7
61 International Airlines Group 149.3 +3.8 213.2 116.2 0.0 N.A 7.4
134 International Public Part 160.8 -3.0 174.8 156.0 4.6 49.8 3.0
51 Intertek 5130.0 +48.06198.0 4735.0 2.1 28.8 8.338 3i Group 1354.0 +21.51503.5 1138.5 3.0 4.7 13.2
125 3I Infrastructure 358.0 -8.5 366.5 293.5 2.8 8.6 3.2
130 Abcam 1320.0 -72.01750.0 1171.0 0.0 774.6 3.0
105 Abrdn 193.3 -4.3 299.0 179.0 7.6 4.2 4.2
59 Admiral 2529.0 +36.0 3688.0 2439.0 5.1 12.9 7.6
80 Airtel Africa 145.9 -2.6 160.0 73.5 2.4 12.5 5.5
137 Alliance Trust 965.0 -13.01078.0 901.0 2.0 5.7 2.9
11 Anglo American 3460.5 -708.04170.5 2470.5 6.4 6.6 46.3
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26 Ashtead 4639.0+61.0 6450.0 4548.0 1.0 22.9 20.6
199 Asos 1405.0-60.0 5354.0 1405.0 0.0 43.6 1.4
40 Associated British Foods 1633.5 +2.0 2369.0 1603.0 1.6 27.0 12.9
182 Assura 66.9 -1.8 79.8 59.6 3.9 13.3 2.0
2 AstraZeneca 10280.0-256.0 10930.0 7398.0 2.1 491.3 159.3
69 Auto Trader 633.8 -11.0 741.8 543.6 1.2 31.3 6.0
73 Avast 556.8 +8.8 645.4 434.5 2.2 21.6 5.9
58 Aveva 2519.0 +103.0 4220.0 2365.0 1.4 N.A 7.6
32 Aviva 437.8 +3.5 458.2 370.9 5.0 69.2 16.1
85 B&M European Value Retail 516.6 -21.0 644.0 516.6 3.5 12.0 5.2
24 BAE Systems 745.0-20.4 771.6 494.5 3.4 13.6 23.5
22 Barclays 146.7 +0.8 217.1 140.6 4.1 4.0 24.6
82 Barratt Developments 518.4 +9.8 782.4 502.6 6.4 8.1 5.3
156 Beazley 406.0 +2.0 504.0 294.4 3.3 10.6 2.5
128 Bellway 2530.0 -5.0 3689.0 2432.0 5.0 7.6 3.1
96 Berkeley 4090.0 +122.0 4943.0 3670.0 0.0 9.8 4.6
142 Big Yellow 1508.0 -9.0 1724.01187.0 1.9 5.8 2.8
8 BP 393.2 -6.3 417.2 278.5 4.2 13.8 76.2
151 Bridgepoint 325.0 -3.4 569.0 266.5 1.1 20.0 2.7
9 British American Tobacco 3339.5+77.5 3439.0 2512.5 6.5 11.5 76.1
88 British Land Company 516.6 -4.4 556.4 463.1 2.6 70.6 4.8
165 Britvic 846.5 +17.0 1006.0 741.0 2.9 21.9 2.3
29 BT 186.4 -0.7 205.6 135.2 1.2 18.1 18.5
44 Bunzl 3082.0 +17.03163.0 2251.0 1.8 23.4 10.4
66 Burberry 1634.5+19.0 2264.0 1551.5 3.3 14.1 6.5
177 Caledonia Investments 3715.0 +60.0 4100.0 2930.0 1.7 3.3 2.0
31 Carnival 1348.5 -23.51865.4 1092.2 0.0 N.A 16.3
92 Centrica 79.2 +0.6 84.5 45.5 0.0 7.9 4.7
186 City of London IT 417.0 -5.5 425.0 377.0 4.6 6.4 1.9
194 Close Brothers 1170.0 -21.0 1645.0 1072.0 5.5 8.7 1.8
70 Coca Cola HBC 1624.5 +41.5 2784.0 1460.5 3.6 13.1 5.9
18 Compass 1702.5+25.51820.5 1407.5 0.8 85.1 30.4
113 Computacenter 2876.0 +42.0 3030.0 2404.0 2.3 17.9 3.5
100 ConvaTec 221.2 +4.2 262.6 166.9 2.1 49.6 4.5
188 Cranswick 3522.0-94.0 4148.0 3182.0 2.0 18.6 1.9
21 CRH 3219.5 +199.5 4002.0 2910.5 2.9 12.9 24.7
43 Croda International 7650.0 +56.0 10410.0 6490.0 1.3 33.3 10.7
135 Darktrace 424.4 +59.5 985.0 315.0 0.0 N.A 3.0
71 DCC 5986.0 +130.0 6486.0 5500.0 2.7 19.8 5.9
106 Dechra Pharmaceuticals 3720.0 -102.0 5405.0 3720.0 1.1 55.5 4.0
184 Deliveroo 110.5 -3.2 395.0 106.5 0.0 N.A 1.9
111 Derwent London 3148.0 -106.0 3802.0 2883.0 2.1 14.0 3.5
6 Diageo 3897.0 -66.5 4103.5 3190.0 1.9 30.0 89.7TOP 200 COMPANIES
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V3.06% L:14,783.9Are we all going on a summer
holiday? I ask this not to leave
you with a mental image of
Cliff Richard (sorry), but
because some travel stocks
seem to have a spectacular
recovery priced into them.
While it’s true that the
Covid years have created
pent-up demand for foreign
holidays, the share price of
the Crowne Plaza owner
InterContinental Hotels
Group (IHG) is, at £51, now
trading at about the same
level as it did pre-pandemic.
That’s despite the cost-of-
living crisis, the bleak
geopolitical outlook, and the
fact that Covid is still raging
worldwide and other leaders
are not as anti-lockdown as
Boris Johnson.
IHG does have some fluffy
extras: its fee-based franchise
operating model meant it
avoided burning through
running costs duringFTSE 100Source: Thomson Reuters Eikon8,0007, 5 0 07,0006,500
2021 2022THE WEEK IN THE MARKETS
lockdown; free cashflow
stayed positive; and it now
has more than $2 billion
(£1.5 billion) in cash and credit
facilities to spend as our
travel love affair is rekindled.
The investment bank Peel
Hunt reckons that IHG’s
underlying earnings could
come close to $914 million —
its analysts’ current 2023
target — as soon as this year.
That would give a price to
earnings ratio of 23 — decent,
but not far off what it has been
for the past two decades or so.
IHG is expensive. Stay in
the stock if its shareholder
hotel room discount will cut
the cost of your summer
holiday — otherwise, sell.
There are more interesting
investment journeys
elsewhere. Jet2 Holidays had
a fairly good pandemic, if not
financially: its shares crashed
72 per cent as the extent ofCovid emerged, and the
Leeds-based airline is set to
post a loss of at least
£378 million for last year. But
it was repeatedly singled out
for treating customers well —
the consumer group
MoneySavingExpert praised
Jet2’s efficient pandemic
refund policy — and
customers haven’t forgotten.
Jet2’s load factor — how
many bottoms are squashed
into its seats — for this
summer is only 2.5 per cent
behind the same period in
2019, and that’s on 14 per cent
more seat capacity.
The airline stands apart
from its budget rivals with
north of £1 billion cash on its
balance sheet and, unlike
IHG, Jet2 shares are still well
below their £19 pre-Covid
peak — now at £12.71. Jet2’s
shares are changing hands at
about 12 times the earnings
expected for the next year
financial year. Yet it’s set to
profit as the escalating cost of
living sees a trading down:
after two years off, few are
keen to cancel them entirely if
they can avoid it. But a budget
airline with a deserved
reputation for treating
customers better than some of
its bigger-brand rivals is well
positioned to soar. Buy Jet2.Should you
invest in
sun, sea
and shares?
IHGSource: Thomson Reuters Eikon£604020
2019 20 21 22variation 12 months
high low
UK 1.55 V0.34 2.01 0.51US 1.93 V0.90 2.94 1.17JAPAN -0.01 V0.17 0.25 0.00GERMANY 0.29 V0.55 0.96 -0.5010-YEAR BOND YIELDS %
DOLLAR
USD > GBP$1.28
V0.02
12-month high: $1.42
low: $1.28EURO
EUR > GBP€1.19
V0.02
12-month high: €1.21
low: €1.15
YEN
YEN > USD¥128.56
U2.70
12-month high: ¥128.90
low: ¥107.91
OIL
DOLLARS/BARREL$106.20
V5.50
12-month high: $127.98
low: $65.11
GOLD
DOLLARS/TROY OZ$1,929.73
V43.79
12-month high: $2,052.41
low: $1,726.11BITCOIN
DOLLARS$39,620.88
V292.87
12-month high: $68,789.62
low: $28,893.62
Price at 10pm FridayFTSE 100
7,521.68
V94.70 H: 7,672.4
V1.24% L: 6,844.4FTSE 250
20,881.80
V239.81 H: 24,250.8
V1.14% L: 19,169.8RISERS
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sale of division Petershill Partners:
285p, U 8.4% on shareholder payout
Source: AJ Bell/SharepadFALLERS
Anglo American: £34.60, V 16.6% on
fall in production Trustpilot: 122.4p,
V 15.9% on volatility Hochchild Mining:
127.1p, V 13.7% on profit taking
Rank: 113.2p, V 12.5% on profit
downgradeLUCY TOBIN THE ECONOMY
Consumer prices index current rate prev. month
7% 6.2%
CPI including housing current rate prev. month
6.2% 5.5%
Retail prices index current rate prev. month
9% 8.2%
Average weekly earnings on prev. monthon last year
£598 U 0.3%U5.4%
Unemployment current rate prev. month
1.3m 3.8% 3.9%
Manufacturing output on the year on last month
U3.6% V 0.4%
Retail sales on the year on last month
U 0.9%V 1.4%
UK trade
balance (£bn)latest 3 mths prev. 3 mths latest 12 mths
-26.16 -8.47 -45.94
Gross domestic
productlatest quarter prev. quarterannual change
U1.3% U0.9% U6.6%
Budget deficit
(PSNB) in £bnlast month prev. month year to date
V 13.1 U 7.1 V138.4