BUSINESS LIVE: Burberry profit warning; Robert Walters fees sink; House prices fall

Today marks the crossover date when a petrol driver will have spent more on fuel than the average EV driver will for the entire year, data claims.

Dubbed ‘Electric Car Day’, it’s been suggested that EV owners now have the rest of the year with ‘free’ running costs compared to those who drive combustion-engine models.

For many young people, heading to university at 18 is a rite of passage. It can prepare you for your dream career, allow you to fulfil your passion for your chosen subject, and give you valuable life experience and independence.

But for most, it also means taking on tens of thousands of pounds worth of debt, which they will be repaying for a large chunk of their working life.

Property asking prices fell in the last month, according to Rightmove, as new sellers attempted to entice buyers by listing lower.

The average newly-listed home for sale fell by 0.4 per cent, the equivalent of £1,617.

Robert Walters has revealed a drop in quarterly net fees, as the recruitment firm continues to suffer a ‘rebasing in market conditions relative to the post-pandemic peak’.

The London-listed firm posted a 12 per cent fall in net fees on a constant currency basis to £84.8million for the three months ended 30 June, with revenues down 18 per cent in June alone as new job flow proved ‘weaker than expected’.

Burberry shares plummeted on Monday morning after the luxury retailer revealed the replacement of its chief executive and warned annual profits would come in below forecasts.

The group told investors its retail revenues slumped by 22 per cent to £458million in the 13 weeks ending 29 June, with Burberry reporting weak performances across all major regions.

More Britons are choosing to invest in gold as the price soars – even if that means buying in tiny amounts, research shows.

Gold prices are at near-record highs of around £1,850 an ounce, due to global tensions and high demand.

London-listed stocks are trading lower this morning as lower commodity prices and political uncertainty in the US weighs on risk appetite, while Burberry has tanked to a 14-year low after scrapping its dividend payment.

Shares of Burberry have tanked 10.7 per cent after the company axed CEO Jonathan Akeroyd and warned on profit. The British retailer named former Michael Kors boss Joshua Schulman as its new chief executive.

The downbeat performance weighed on the personal goods sector, which has hit its lowest levels since June 2010, leading to broader declines in the benchmark index.

Industrial metal miners have dropped 1.3 per cent, even though copper prices held their ground and countered pressure from a firmer dollar.

Political uncertainty in the US sent jitters across global markets after an assassination attempt at presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday solidified the Republican’s winning bets.

Data for UK consumer prices and producer prices will be in the limelight this week, as the Bank of England’s next monetary policy decision inches closer.

Investors are pricing in just over 50 per cent chances of a rate cut at the August meeting.

Among other individual stocks, shares of Robert Walters has slumped 6 per cent after the recruiter reported a fall in quarterly net fees amid macroeconomic and political uncertainties.

The biggest oil producer in the North Sea has ditched plans to sell its Vietnamese arm to a local company for £65million.

Harbour Energy announced the deal with Vietnamese group Big Energy last year and expected to complete it by this summer.

A top tech investor has said chipmaker Nvidia could reach a nearly £40trillion valuation within a decade.

That would make it worth more than the combined market value of the S&P 500, an index of the biggest US-listed firms.

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown:

‘Burberry announced a change at the top by appointing Joshua Shulman as Chief Executive Officer, who has experience at Kors, Coach and Jimmy Choo. Former boss Jonathan Akeroyd has stepped down with immediate effect.

‘The change comes alongside a first-quarter trading update which makes tough reading for investors. Weaknesses that were already highlighted by the group coming into the financial year have worsened, with first-quarter revenue falling by an eye-watering 20%, ignoring the impact of exchange rates.

‘If current trends continue, operating profits look set to fall short of market expectations and the group expects to make a loss over the first half.

‘All of this led Burberry to suspend dividend payments, which is a desperate measure to preserve cash and fortify the balance sheet, indicating that fortunes aren’t expected to pick up in the near term.

‘Brand weakness extends beyond China, with Europe and the Americas also seeing double-digit revenue declines. There’s a lot of work to be done to make up for years of underinvestment in the brand. Unsurprisingly, the shares have taken a big hit in early trading. The new boss has a lot of work to do to steady the ship and prove to investors that calmer seas lie ahead.’

House prices dipped by more than usual in July, according to a property website, as new sellers tried to cut through the distractions of the General Election, sporting events and the summer holiday season.

Across Britain, the typical new seller asking price fell by 0.4% or £1,617 month-on-month in July to £373,493, down from £375,110 in June, Rightmove said.

This was a bigger drop than the typical fall seen in July, according to the website.

The average price drop in the month of July over the past 20 years has been 0.2 per cent.

The number of sales being agreed and new sellers coming to market is higher than a year ago, Rightmove said.

Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove added: ‘Three major uncertainties hanging over the property market at the start of the year were when the first interest rate cut would be, and the timing and the result of the General Election.

‘We’ve now got the political certainty of a new Government with a large majority, which we expect will help home mover confidence.

‘It’s very early days, but the new Chancellor’s immediate announcements on housebuilding targets and planning reform are positive signs that the Government is keen to get going with its manifesto pledges.’

Royal Mail is facing a mounting backlash over its plan to stop transporting post by rail.

This newspaper revealed last week the postal service will sell its last freight trains after nearly 200 years of delivering mail on the railways.

The move sparked fierce opposition from unions, politicians and freight industry leaders over concerns about jobs.

Robert Walters has reported a fall in quarterly net fees, as macroeconomic and political uncertainties weakened employee and employer confidence.

Global recruiters have been struggling to find momentum as clients delay hiring and candidates are reluctant to change jobs in the current uncertain economic climate, with elections in some countries further weighing on the market.

‘Our near-term planning now assumes that any material improvement in confidence levels will be gradual, and likely not occur before 2025,’ Robert Walters CEO Toby Fowlston said in a statement.

Burberry has named former Michael Kors boss Joshua Schulman as its new chief executive, as the British luxury brand warned on profit and scrapped its dividend payment for this year.

A slow down in the luxury sector has hit Burberry hard over the last year, derailing the 168 year-old British brand as it tried to move upmarket.

The company said weakness in its market had deepened, pushing underlying sales down 21 per cent in the 13 weeks to 29 June, and as such it would switch back its offer to be ‘more familiar’ to its ‘core customers’.

That decline prompted the board to say CEO Jonathan Akeroyd would leave with immediate effect by mutual agreement on Monday, just over two years after he took over.