BUSINESS LIVE: Shell margins squeezed; YouGov buys US information agency

Susannah Streeter, head of cash and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown:

‘Wariness has returned at the start of the week, as investors assess the risks of geo-political conflict, amid fresh signs of global economic slowdown and uncertainty about the trajectory of inflation.

‘Such are the risks of the Israel-Gaza conflict widening, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has embarked on a whistlestop diplomatic tour, in an attempt to calm inflamed tensions. It comes after Israel’s defence minister described the hostilities the nation is dealing with as an axis somewhat than a single enemy.

‘Concerns are rising that this might result in recent violence, significantly in Lebanon.’

Almost 120,000 retail staff misplaced their jobs final 12 months because the High Street was hit by collapses of shops together with Wilko.

The Centre for Retail Research revealed {that a} complete 119,405 jobs had been misplaced throughout the sector in 2023.

Their evaluation additionally discovered that 10,494 shops shuttered. Wilko’s demise noticed round 400 shut.

YouGov has acquired US-based survey information administration options agency KnowledgeHound for an undisclosed charge.

The transfer that additional extends the capabilities of the YouGov Crunch survey analytics platform to deal with the wants of huge manufacturers, the group mentioned.

Alex McIntosh, YouGov’s chief monetary officer, added:

‘YouGov’s acquisition of KnowledgeHound represents a big shift in what the trade ought to count on from information analytics platforms.

‘By including KnowledgeHound – a number one search-based survey information evaluation resolution – to YouGov Crunch – the last word instrument for granular information evaluation – we’ll make it simpler than ever earlier than to get quick, actionable, dependable insights multi function place.’

CMC Markets has raised its full-year working revenue forecast, with the buying and selling platform citing a robust third quarter pushed by improved market situations.

The firm, which offers buying and selling in additional than 12,000 monetary devices, together with shares, indexes, foreign currency echange, commodities and treasuries, attributed the robust quarterly efficiency to resilient business-to-business and institutional investor demand.

It now expects web working revenue between £290million and £310million for fiscal 12 months 2024, up from its earlier forecast of £250million to £280million.

Separately, rival Plus500 mentioned it generated income of about $725million and core revenue of round $340million for the 12 months ended31 December, citing growth into totally different areas similar to Japan and the UAE.

High Street winners and losers will emerge this week as a few of Britain’s largest shops publish festive buying and selling figures.

M&S is tipped to have had a stellar Christmas, as revealed by The Mail on Sunday, and can replace buyers on Thursday.

The grocery store giants are additionally anticipated to have carried out strongly with Sainsbury’s and Tesco as a result of launch figures on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

Energy large Shell expects refining income to be squeezed within the fourth quarter, with margins falling from $16 per barrel to $10/bbl.

It has additionally flagged impairment fees of about $2.5billion to $4.5 billion for the fourth quarter, primarily associated to the Singapore refining and chemical compounds hub the oil main is seeking to promote.