Themes from October
Global equities endured a torrid October with the MSCI World Index down by 9.6%
Italy and EU remained deadlocked after the EU rejected the Italian budget as breaching conditions.
UK Budget brought forward a rise in the personal tax allowance in the higher rate threshold to April 2019 as well as injecting £1bn into the MoD to fight cyber threats.
GE reported a $22.8bn Q3 loss and plans to split its power division. The dividend was cut to 1 cent per quarter.
UK defence companies fell sharply on concerns over possible embargoes / sanctions on Saudi Arabia as a result of Mr Khashoggi’s murder.
HSBC reported Q3 profits of $5.9bn up 28% whilst loans and advances grew $14bn from Q2.
Amazon lost $250bn in market capitalization in the last 2 months – it took Amazon 18 years to reach a $250bn market cap. The CEO Jeff Bezos was criticized for remaining silent on Jamal Khashoggi who was a columnist at the Washington Post, owned by Bezos.
Restaurant Group is buying Wagamama for £559m with £315m worth of funding secured via a rights issue.
Intu Properties received a takeover proposal from John Whittaker for 210.4p per share. The consortium has until 15th November to make a firm offer.