Business news 12 November 2021
James Salmon, Operations Director.
Don’t forget small businesses in grand climate plans. Poll finds three-quarters braced for taxes and bills to increase . Consultancy ban for MPs ahead. UK economy grew 1.3% in the third quarter. Boris needs to get back on side with business. And more business news.
Don’t forget small businesses in grand climate plans
Writing in City AM, the CEO of the ACCA Helen Brand, appeals to politicians and climate activists to remember small businesses when they think about solutions to the climate crisis. “Smaller enterprises are going to play a pivotal role in enabling the grand scale commitments needed to reach Net Zero in time, because they are about 90% of businesses globally and offer more than 50% of employment worldwide.” Brand goes on to say the aims of “carbon reporting and quantifying climate crisis as a risk” can only be enabled by a “joint effort between larger businesses and the myriad of SMBs that feed into their operations.” I light of this, the ACCA has partnered with cloud business management solutions leader Sage and the International Chamber of Commerce to launch the white paper Think Small First, which seeks to enable effective climate action from SMBs. In the paper, the ACCA recommends standardised information sharing and simplified guidance from governments on climate and ESG disclosures.
Poll finds three-quarters braced for taxes and bills to increase
An Ipsos MORI survey has found 73% of people expect both their taxes and monthly bills to go up and a majority believe economic conditions will worsen. Nine out of 10 people expect their monthly bills and other regular outgoings to rise while 77% believe the taxes they pay will increase. Some 70% think mortgage rates will go up and 82% expect inflation to rise.
Consultancy ban for MPs ahead
MPs could be banned from working as consultants for private firms within weeks, sources have told the Mail. The Commons standards committee was poised to recommend the move which would see MPs such as former Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell, who is paid £180k to advise six firms including EY, forced to adhere to limits on outside work.
UK economy grew 1.3% in the third quarter
Weak consumer spending and supply chain issues drove economic growth down in the third quarter, figures from the ONS show. Growth between July and September came in at just 1.3%, from a 5.5% rise recorded between April and June. This means the economy is 2.1% smaller than in the final three months of 2019. The news sent the pound down to its lowest level of 2021 against the dollar on Thursday. The latest growth figures were weaker than many economists had expected, and Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said the data suggested “the best of the recovery is now behind us”. “We think progress is going to slow over the next six to nine months as shortages remain an issue and the real spending power of businesses and households is reduced by higher taxes and rising utility prices,” he added.
Lord Rose: Boris needs to get back on side with business
Former M&S CEO Lord Rose laments the poor relationship between the Government and business, blaming the ongoing tensions on differences over Brexit. Campaigning against leaving the EU by the CBI particularly “poisoned the well”, says Lord Rose. But he adds that the feeling that ‘business isn’t on our side’ is inaccurate and urges ministers to talk to companies individually rather than going through the CBI. Lord Rose also urges Boris Johnson to restart the business councils that were so effective in the past.
Auto Trader
Auto Trader reported its highest ever six-monthly revenue and profits as car buying activity on its platform soared.For the six months ended 30 September 2021, pre-tax profit rose 127% to £150 million year-on-year and revenue was up 82% to £215.4 million. Cross platform visits increased by 20% to 68.7 million per month on average.
Redrow
Redrow upgraded its forecast on revenue, forecasting that results for fiscal 2022 would approach those achieved in 2019 amid rising house prices and an increase in its order book. ’With the strength of our order book, ongoing sales rates and the increase in private average selling prices, we now expect our turnover for 2022 to be [about] £2.1bn, and our operating margin to be [about] 9%,’ the company said.
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca swung to a third-quarter loss as higher costs dented margins and offset a surge in revenue. For the three months ended 30 September, pre-tax losses were £2.0 billion from a profit of £853 million a year earlier, while revenue jumped 50% to $9.87 billion.Gross profit margin fell to 18% to 61.4%.
The billions in tax waiting to be raised from crypto
Jonny Fry writes in City AM on how governments are eying crypto trading as a potential source of tax revenue but run into a minor problem as tax authorities including HMRC do not recognise cryptocurrencies as “stock or marketable securities” or “chargeable securities”. Legislation requiring all trading carried out by citizens to be liable for stamp duty could prove problematic when exchanges are not regulated and/or not based in the country where the relevant tax authority is located, adds Fry. However, if such digital assets were to be regulated or legally recognised and a 0.5% transaction tax were to be levied on trades, an estimated $600bn a year could be raised from the top 10 cryptocurrencies alone.
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