Business news 28 July 2023
James Salmon, Operations Director.
The business news that we thought would interest our members.
US GDP
The US Economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter as labor market resilience supported consumer spending, while businesses boosted investment in equipment, potentially keeping a much-feared recession at bay. US GDP increased at a 2.4% annualized rate last quarter. The economy grew at a 2.0% pace in the January-March quarter. Economists had forecast GDP rising at a 1.8% rate in the April-June period.
On Wednesday Jerome Powell, chair of America’s central bank, said that he no longer expects the country to fall into a recession this year.
The US Dollar is making a robust comeback, triggered by stronger than expected GDP data, among other positive economic indicators. Cable is at $1.279. However, US stocks ran out of steam Thursday as investors cashed in following an historic streak of 13 straight gains. Overnight, the DOW dropped -0.67%, the S&P 500 dropped -0.64% and the NASDAQ dropped -0.55%.
House prices grow further out of reach
Only the top 10% of London earners can afford ‘median-priced’ homes within 5.5 years of income, according to the Office of National Statistics, with the average London home now costing 13.9 times the typical household income – £510,000 versus £36,800. Median-price London homes cost the equivalent of 37.5 years of annual income for the lowest-earning households in the capital. Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown said hasn’t been affordable since 2017, adding: “Now people are facing remortgaging at much higher rates, it’s going to be incredibly painful.” Across England, the average house price of £275,000 in 2022 equated to 8.4 years of the typical income (£32,600). Only the top 10% of households in England could typically afford a home with fewer than five years of income in the financial year ending in 2022.
Britain’s car production improves as supply chain issues fade
New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show car production in Britain rose 11.7% in the first half of the year as supply chain issues continued to fade, helping June’s output grow by more than a quarter. The SMMT said 450,168 new cars came off British factory assembly lines between January and June, compared with 403,131 during the same period last year, however, it warned that UK production is unlikely to exceed the one million mark for another five years. Richard Peberdy, the UK head of automotive at KPMG, said the sector’s ability to clear the huge backlog of orders built up over recent years is positive news, but warned it could face difficulties further into the future due to a difficult economic climate.
ECB rates
The European Central Bank increased the key interest rate in the eurozone by 0.25 percentage points to 4.25%. The decision to hike rates for a ninth straight time is part of an ongoing campaign to bring down inflation. The Frankfurt-based bank said in a statement that while inflation is slowing, it’s still expected to be “too high for too long.”
Google Bard
Google have recommended users should use its search engine to check whether information provided by its chatbot, Bard, is actually accurate. It had been thought that chatbots like Bard and ChatGPT would “kill” off traditional search but some of the responses are so called hallucinations, which are detached from reality.
Google’s UK boss Debbie Weinstein said Bard was “not really the place that you go to search for specific information”. Rather, she said Bard should be considered an “experiment” best suited for “collaboration around problem solving” and “creating new ideas”. “We’re encouraging people to actually use Google as the search engine to actually reference information they found,” she said.
Natwest
Following a week of bad press and high profile departures, Natwest reported its interim results, touting its “robust balance sheet, with a high-quality deposit base, high levels of liquidity and a well-diversified loan book”. In the first half of 2023, total income rose to £7.73 billion from £6.22 billion a year before, as net interest income came in at £5.73 billion from £4.33 billion. Operating pretax profit climbed to £3.59 billion from £2.62 billion.
Rightmove
Rightmove, the UK’s largest property portal, reported a strong financial performance in its earnings report for the six months ending June 30, 2023, with revenues increasing 10% to £179.5mln. This marks the highest revenue growth in a first half period since 2018.
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Why should you become a CPA member!
The Credit Protection Association (CPA) has been assisting thousands of UK businesses to get paid, since 1914. We have seen many financial crises, this one will be particularly deadly for suppliers for some time to come.
CPA eases cash from tardy debtors – Efficiently, Effectively, Economically and Ethically. And we provide credit information so you can monitor and assess your key customers.
Unlike other credit management companies, we offer our members a fixed annual subscription regardless of how high the debt value maybe!
No face-to-face meeting required – just call Peter Uwins, CPA’s National Sales Manager, on 020 8846 0000 (business hours) or email nsm@cpa.co.uk today.
When you see your money come in, you will be so glad you used CPA.
The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections
Do you have a commercial late payer that is causing you grief? Use CPA’s no-win, no-fee, commercial debt recovery service!
If you have a particular business customer who is late paying and causing you sleepless nights, why not offer it to CPA for purchase on recourse?
CPA’s collection department will then pursue the debt. We will be liable for any costs incurred and then when we have recovered the debt, we will pay you the net principle debt recovered less our percentage.
Once you have enjoyed that success then you can consider the more cost effective membership which includes our Overdue Account Recovery service and Status/Credit reports as well as a range of other complimentary services.
Just call 020 8846 0000 and ask for Godfrey Nelson or Cris Shirley (business hours) or email debtpurchase@cpa.co.uk today.
The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections.
Get compensated for previous late payments
Have you been paid late by business customers in the last six years?
Maybe you no longer work with them. Under legislation, you are entitled to compensation you for those late payments you have suffered.
You put up with the PAIN – now claim the GAIN!
Claim late payment compensation (LPC) from former business customers who paid you late in the last six years!
CPA (LPC) Recoveries is using our bespoke software and decades of experience to do just that for our clients
Check our compensation calculator to see how much your business could be owed!
Discover NOW the potential value of late payment compensation hidden in your sales ledger!
The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections.