BUSINESS LIVE: Games Workshop agrees Amazon deal

The FTSE 100 is down 0.2 per cent in early buying and selling. Among the businesses with experiences and buying and selling updates right this moment are Games Workshop, Hollywood Bowl Group, Keywords Studios, The Multiplayer, Amigo Holdings and CRH. Read the Monday 18 December Business Live weblog under.

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‘Era defining second’ for UK spaceport at SaxaVord

Industry regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), stated it was an ‘period defining second’ for the £17.5bn UK house sector.

SaxaVord can be the primary totally licensed spaceport in Western Europe to have the ability to launch vertically into orbit. The website – a former RAF radar station – can be permitted to launch 30 rockets per yr to take satellites into house.

60/40 investing failed in 2022 – however this yr is way brighter

Much has been fabricated from the failure of 60/40 in 2022. And rightly so.

Many traders have put religion within the technique. It follows a standard philosophy in finance, diversifying your property by placing 60 per cent in equities and the rest in bonds.

National Grid cuts ties with China provider

National Grid has dropped a Beijing-backed provider as issues mount over China’s involvement in essential infrastructure.

The FTSE 100 agency that runs Britain’s energy community took recommendation from the National Cyber Security Centre – a department of GCHQ – on the choice.

It terminated contracts with the UK arm of Nari Technology, backed by the Chinese authorities, in April, and has begun eradicating its parts.

Hollywood Bowl strikes document yr

Hollywood Bowl Group loved document revenues of £215.1million, with the agency crediting ‘important buyer demand’ and ‘the success of our buyer targeted technique’.

Revenue development of 16.2 per cent gelped to drive earnings earlier than nasties of £64.9million, up from £60.6million final yr.

Boss Stephen Burns stated:

‘This is one other glorious efficiency for the Group, achieved in opposition to an exceptionally robust prior yr. It displays important buyer demand, in addition to the success of our buyer targeted technique.

‘Innovation of our supply has led to development throughout all our income strains whereas holding our costs low, with a household of 4 in a position to bowl for £25. We have continued to put money into and develop our property, opening new centres within the UK and Canada the place we see important potential.

‘The energy of our stability sheet and our extremely money generative enterprise mannequin helps our worthwhile development technique within the UK and Canada. This consists of continued funding in our property, expertise and enhancing our buyer proposition, and the Board’s choice to extend the pay-out ratio for our strange dividend to 55% from 50% of adjusted revenue after tax. Longer time period, we see the chance to develop our property to no less than 130 centres.

‘We have had an encouraging begin to the yr with folks in search of methods to get pleasure from actions with households, associates and colleagues demonstrating the continued robust demand for top of the range, nice worth leisure experiences.’

Cost-of-living squeeze hits high unicorn corporations with £8bn droop

The world’s largest unicorn corporations have suffered an £8billion droop in worth this yr, with retailers seeing the most important drops as households struggled with the cost-of-living disaster.

Research confirmed the full worth of the highest 100 unicorn corporations – that are non-public corporations with a valuation of no less than $1billion (£800m) – dropped 1 per cent within the 12 months to September 2023. There was a 30 per cent enhance in worth within the earlier yr.

Games Workshop agrees Amazon deal

Games Workshop will work with Amazon to develop movies and TV sequence set throughout the UK’s agency’s Warhammer 40,000 universe, as a part of a 12-month deal agreed with the tech big.

The settlement additionally consists of an choice for Amazon to license equal rights within the Warhammer Fantasy universe following the discharge of the preliminary Warhammer 40,000 manufacturing.

‘The settlement will solely proceed as soon as the artistic tips are mutually agreed between Games Workshop and Amazon.’ the group stated.