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Shaftesbury, one of the biggest landlords in central London, has said struggling high street businesses had paid less than half of the rent due since March, while a flight from the capital had left it with a glut of empty flats.

The property firm, which owns swathes of fashionable districts including Soho and Covent Garden, said it had received only 41% of the rent for the six months to 30 September.

It is also struggling to relet flats, which were once sought-after bases for international students and young professionals, with a fifth of its 662 apartments currently lying empty.

The lockdown restrictions meant many tenants chose to return to their country of origin, leaving flats unoccupied, the company said. “With the continuing uncertainty, many of these overseas tenants have chosen not to return to the UK for the time being and have vacated permanently.”

Shaftesbury said across the West End, … Read the rest

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Monday

U.S.

Featured Earnings

Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE: THO) (Q4) EPS estimates of $1.39, compared to $1.70 in the prior-year quarter.

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI) (Q4) EPS estimates of 65 cents, compared to 44 cents in the prior-year quarter.

Canada

Featured Earnings

Medmen Enterprises (C.MMEN) (Q4) EPS estimates for loss of six cents, compared to loss of 33 cents in the prior-year quarter.

UrtheCast Corp. (T.UR) (Q2) EPS estimates for loss of four cents, compared to loss of two cents in the prior-year quarter.

Tuesday

U.S.

Economic lookahead

Advance Trade in Goods (Aug,)

Case-Shiller National Home Price Index (July)

Consumer Confidence Index (Sept.)

Featured Earnings

AngioDynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGO) (Q1) EPS estimates for loss of six cents, compared to a gain of eight cents in the prior-year quarter.

IHS Markit Ltd. (NYSE:INFO) (Q3) EPS estimates of 60 cents, compared to loss of 54 cents in the prior-year quarter.

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No force in financial markets is as powerful and predictable as “mean reversion,” the tendency of stock and bond prices that are extraordinarily high or low versus history to return to their long-term norms. The big drop we’re now seeing in tech shares looks like a classic case in point, as economic gravity takes charge, pulling high-flying prices closer to where they’ve traditionally hovered relative to earnings. We’re hearing sundry explanations for the fall—”a second lockdown is on the way,” “chances for new stimulus are fading,” or “the trade war with China is endangering Big Tech”—but the one that makes the most sense is most basic: mean reversion that comes and goes, but always comes again.

In a previous story, this reporter studied the amazing trajectory of … Read the rest

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(Bloomberg) — American Airlines Group Inc. closed a $5.48 billion loan with the U.S. Treasury, increasing its pool of cash to help fund operations until travel demand begins to return.The credit facility, backed by American’s loyalty program, increased from an original $4.75 billion target after rivals such as Delta Air Lines Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. opted out of the funds and the remaining money was reallocated. American could receive as much as $2 billion more when the funds are adjusted a second time next month, according to a regulatory filing Friday.The deal makes American the first major carrier to tap U.S. loans that were included in the $2 trillion Cares Act for economic relief from the coronavirus pandemic. As part of the federal rescue, U.S. airlines earlier got $25 billion in payroll support, largely in grants, with American receiving $5.8 billion. Congress is debating whether to extend the payroll … Read the rest

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Business Matters speaks to hundreds of SME’s each week and there’s not been one that hasn’t had to pivot and alter their offering product online in some way.

With the lockdown restrictions lasting another six months and Christmas fast approaching, now is the key time to understand why sales of your product aren’t converting and the best thing to do to alter it so that they are.

One bonus of covid cancelling physical events is that a number of them have pivot very quickly and gone online. Europe’s fastest growing product conference is one that’s gone virtual, it’s happening in early October and it’s speaker’s can’t be ignored. Business Matters is talking to Parul Goel, Head of Product at Paypal next week ahead of the conference, however we thought it only fair to alert you now of its presence so you can register.

Watch, learn and apply. Just in time

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Mexico’s leftist populist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Thursday that he might reverse the energy reform from 2013 if he can’t save state oil firm Pemex with existing laws, Reuters quoted the president as saying at a news conference.

López Obrador has repeatedly criticized the energy reform of his predecessor Enrique Peña Nieto, who opened in 2013 Mexico’s oil and gas sector to private investment for the first time in seven decades.

López Obrador plans to make heavily-indebted state oil firm Pemex the pillar of turnaround for the country’s declining oil production, but the oil price crash earlier this year further deteriorated the finances and the debt of the Mexican oil company.

The president seeks a greater role for Pemex in reversing the downward trend in Mexican oil production and is criticizing the energy reform and the foreign oil firms for failing to do so.

Earlier this week, … Read the rest

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One of Europe’s highest courts may have cancelled the $15 billion back-tax bill she forced on Apple, but Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is not giving up.

There’s too much at stake, not just in this specific case, but also in the European Commission’s wider quest to stop multinationals from enjoying specially advantageous tax deals—such as the one it claims was struck between Apple and Ireland, the base for Apple’s international operations outside of the Americas.

So, on Friday, Vestager announced her antitrust department’s appeal against the July ruling by the EU’s General Court, which said the Commission had failed to sufficiently demonstrate Ireland had given Apple special treatment—an action that would have meant Ireland had effectively granted Apple illegal state aid.

“The General Court judgment raises … Read the rest

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(Bloomberg) — Just a week after revealing its plan to turn itself into a clean-energy giant, BP Plc watched its share price drop to a 25-year low.Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney and his new management team gave more than 10 hours of presentations over three days last week, in a bid to show the world that the oil and gas giant could adapt to a low-carbon future without sacrificing returns.The company’s shares closed in London on Thursday at 232.4 pence, the lowest level since October 1995. While falling crude prices and fears of the second wave of the coronavirus haven’t help BP, the slide suggests shareholders weren’t convinced by Looney’s pitch.“Investors remain skeptical,” said Mirza Baig, Global Head of Governance at Aviva Investors. “Particularly as this move is being forced on the company by climate change.”Looney took over as CEO in February, but the so-called “BP Week” this month was … Read the rest