Reporting Accounts - news and updates

In todays episode Adrian Lawrence talks about how Reporting Accounts the popular pay as you go business credit report service is seeing strong growth again.   Activity was subdued during the pandemic lockdown, but we are pleased to report impressive growth already in 2022.

Reporting Accounts are in discussion with private equity houses about a fund raise, so if you are an existing customer and would like to invest, then watch this space as they say, as the Reporting Accounts fund raise is likely to be in the news again in the near future.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence our resident financial expert talks about the new living wage rate from 1st April 2021 and how it impacts on the economy giving Brexit and the recent pandemic lockdowns.   Adrian took part in the 2020 Low pay commission review and is cited in their previous report.  He discuses how the new NLW does not apply during Furlough and that some employees those aged 23 and 24 will see an 8.7% increase.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence our resident financial expert talks about Cineworld and their announcement that they will re-open their USA cinemas starting in April and their UK ones in May.  They have also agreed a deal with Warner Brothers to show films in cinemas for 45 and 30 days prior to them being streamed online.  This is a really positive news story as cinemas have been amongst the worse hit businesses by the Pandemic.

In today's podcast episode Adrian Lawrence our in-house financial expert talks about the National Grid and how they have announced an asset swap deal, they are selling their UK Gas distribution assets and buying more electricity ones in their place, this increases the proportion of their revenue from Electricity and reduces the proportion from Gas.  Given the UK's plans to reach net zero by 2050 this is a positive move, as it moves the company away from involvement with Fossil fuels.  Electricity is a regulated area so it also increases the percentage of its revenue which is regulated.

Overall its a positive news story and one that will be welcomed by environmental groups.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence our in-house financial expert talks about Rolls Royce who have reported a £4billion loss today compared to £583m profit in the previous year. Their results are brutal but that does reflect that their model is to charge for the hours their engines are running rather than for sales of engines.  The impact of the worldwide pandemic has very badly impacted on their model.  The company is reducing its workforce by 7,000 people and is in discussions to sell some of its subsidiaries.

The positive news is that with the roll out of vaccines worldwide, the worse is behind the company, but it will still be later in 2021 before the world of international travel returns more to normal.

In today's episode our in-house fianancial professional talks about Clarks Shoes the 195 year old family owned business.  They have a chain of 320 high street stores and have had a tough time recently with the Lockdowns and the move to online retail.   They have announced their sale to a HK based private equity house. Whilst restructures have reduced costs, they are not enough for it to remain viable without investment.   Like so many similar companies Clarks just did not embrace change fast enough and now they have fallen into foreign hands.   There is however huge international potential for their shoes and of course the potential for online growth, both of which their new owners recognise.

In today's episode our in-house Financial expert Adrian Lawrence talks further about becoming a Portfolio FD, he works as the CEO for Reporting Accounts one day per week, but as a Portfolio CFO himself 3 or 4 days per week for a number of different SME clients.

At FD Capital we get regular calls from FD's interested in moving into Portfolio work, common questions include how easy is it to find Portfolio work?   You need to build up a network to be fully occupied and that takes time and effort, typically a day per week needs to be set aside for networking and reaching out to build up a network within the Private Equity and corporate finance spaces.

How many days per week can I expect to work?  That's another common question and the ideal seems to be 4 days per week as that allows for extra time to support clients with their requirements for year ends, budgets, forecasting and fund raises.  It also allows for time for networking.

In today's podcast Adrian Lawrence our resident financial experts talks about Deliveroo and their plans for an £8billion IPO on the London stock market.  Deliveroo are only 8 years old but in that time have already grown to capture around 1/3 of the home food delivery market.   Their IPO timing is also shrewd coming shortly after the pandemic lockdowns means their trading will have benefited.  It is also a great endorsement of London and the London Stock market as a fund raising centre.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence our resident financial professional is talking about Part Time Finance Directors or Portfolio FD's as they are known, these are experienced accountants who work for more than one company at the same time, it's an arrangement that was more or less unheard of 10 years ago, but is now popular in the UK.  Companies gain the experience of finance professional but only pay a fraction of the cost.  The professionals themselves earn a good day rate and have the variety of work as an added benefit.  It's also an arrangement that works well if there is a need for more of a work life balance.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence our in-house financial experts talks about Trustpilot.  They are planning an IPO on the London Stock Market that would raise around $50 and value their business at around £1billion.

The company based in Copenhagen would become the first major EU company to list following Brexit and will re-inforce London's position and reputation as the natural choice for technology IPO's.

The LSE is reviewing its listing rules to see how it can make itself more attractive for technology businesses and the changes potentially include listing fewer shares.

Trustpilot has been in the news in 2020 as users had sued each other over negative reviews.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence our resident in-house financial professional talks about Pets at Home.   The retail chain which operates 451 shops across the UK, has reported full years profits of £85m ahead of their last forecast of £77m.  It's the fourth time since September that the company has updated its profit forecast and that reflects that it continues to benefit from being classed as an essential retailer and has therefore kept its stores open.

It is good to hear of a positive news story in these troubled times and Pets for home has a great reputation for service.  To what extent the lockdown has encouraged pet ownership is unclear once the UK returns to normal any long term improvement will become apparent, meanwhile it is a positive story.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence our resident financial expert talks about Heathrow airport which has been in news todays as it is struggling under the burden of its £20billion of debts.  Passenger numbers are down to 22 million in 2020 from 80million 2019, levels not seen since the 1970's.

Heathrow is calling on the chancellor to grant them business rates relief in next week's budget and to extend the furlough scheme, it remains to be seen if the chancellor will be supportive of their rates request, though it appears certain furlough will be extended for longer in some form at least.

The airport group is also threathening the Civil Aviation Authority with legal action if it doesn't agree to it's request to increase landing fees something that will be strongly resisted by airlines.

In today's podcast Adrian Lawrence our resident financial expert talks of a news story in today's press that Pure Gym Ltd are loosing £500K per day as a result of the lockdowns.  They are not collecting gym subscriptions and they have staff furloughed, but unlike their competitors they run a lean model with gyms open 24 hours supported by remote monitoring and with limited staff numbers.

It is a very challenging time for the company given their levels of losses, and the news that the UK is gradually returning to normal will be very welcome news indeed for them.

In today's episode our resident financial expert Adrian Lawrence talks about the long anticipated news today that the UK will finally begin its exit from it's third lockdown.  Schools will re-open on the 8th March and non-essential retail including hairdressers and beauty salons on the 12th April.

The economy is expected to rebound strongly in the second half of the year and may regain all its lost ground by year end.  There remains uncertainty around international travel as the UK is ahead of much of the rest of world in terms of vaccinations.

This is a very welcome news story as a large part of the UK economy, leisure, retail and hospitality has been shut down for a considerable part of the last 12 months.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence talks about John Lewis and their announcement of a further store closure programme.  John Lewis is a well respected high street brand in the UK, and unusually it is owned by it's members rather than shareholders.   Last year it announced losses of £635m and that means it has won't pay its staff a bonus for the first time since 1953.  It is planning to close up to 8 of its remaining 42 store, this will be a significant blow to its loyal customers as John Lewis is often the anchor store in many town centre locations.

It is yet another sign of how damaging the pandemic and the three lockdowns are to the UK economy.  There is a positive side to the announcement in that John Lewis expects up to 70% of its sales to be through its digital channel by 2025, this also highlights how retailers are increasingly focussing on their online sales channels.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence talks about how companies with warehouses they expanded to cope with the surge of online sales during the UK's three lockdowns are now planning to retain them.  This is a long term trend which appears to have been accelerated by the pandemic by between three and five years.  If this proves to be the case then it means the traditional retail market will have a tough time when the UK returns from lockdown.

It is likely that niche retailers and those with strong digital offerings will succeed whilst those with neither attribute will struggle.

Moonpig group plc the recently listed greetings card online retailer reported its strongest ever week over the valentines day period.  The company now expects its revenues for the year to 30th April to be around double the £173m it reported in the previous year.  The shares rose 2.5% to £4.45 in early trading on Thursday.

The increase in demand saw the "strongest ever trading week in the Group's history" the company said in a brief statement.

It shows that the pandemic has had a positive impact on the groups trading as most high street competitors are closed due to the UK's lockdown. What happens once the country re-opens and life returns more to normal remains to be seen.  This is still a very positive result for the company.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence our resident financial professional talks about how Barclays bank is putting aside £2.1billion as a provision for bad debts.  The UK and US economies have been badly impacted by the pandemic and the bank now expects a proportion of its lending during that time never to be repaid, as a result it is making a provision in its accounts to cover its expected losses.

Provision can sometimes be overly cautious and if that is the case then some of this provision will be released as a future profit, but there is also a good chance that the provision will be needed.  Once Government support is withdrawn then businesses in the UK and USA will face a day of reckoning as businesses and individuals become insolvent.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence our in-house financial expert talks about how Companies House, the UK's Government agency that deals with the filing of company accounts, has suspended its voluntary and compulsory strike off notices.   This is part of the wider Government pandemic initiative to help companies during this challenging time.

Often directors rely on postal reminders to keep their company records in order, and with the prolonged third lockdown in the UK, this is an increasing issue.  So by giving companies an extra month to catch up with their admin the initiative is helpful.

What companies house is saying it that "We’ll continue to publish first Gazette notices for voluntary strike  off applications to minimise the impact on those who have applied to  close their company - but we will not be publishing the second Gazette notice and striking companies off during this period. For companies on  the compulsory strike off path, we will not be publishing first and second Gazette notices.

Pausing our strike off processes will provide companies with more  time to update their records and help them avoid being struck off the  register. It’ll also protect creditors and other interested parties who  might have had difficulties in receiving notices or registering an  objection, or whose objections have not yet been processed."

So some positive news for those managing the company secretarial affairs of UK companies.

Today Adrian Lawrence our resident financial expert is talking about Virgin Wines, this is a company that was formerly associated with Richard Branson but was subsequently sold to a management team and private equity houses.

The company is joining the London aim market on 2nd March and is likely to be valued at £100m.  As with other recent IPO's the company has traded successfully during the pandemic lockdowns as its business model is digitally based.

2021 has already been a postive year for new issues, and Virgin Wines follows on from the successful IPO's of Dr Marten's and Moonpig, both of which have been the subject of Podcasts episodes on this show.

In today's episode our financial expert Adrian Lawrence talks about the Pound's foreign exchange rate, which has been rising over recent weeks.   There is growing optimism in the UK economy as the vaccination roll out program is on target with more than 15 million people now vaccinated, which means it is now more likely that the lockdown of retail, leisure and hospitality can end.

The other significant factor in the exchange rate was Brexit where the uncertainty was lifted before the end of 2020 when the UK reach a withdrawl agreement with the EU.

The UK looks to be able to recover faster than the EU whose vaccination program is proceeding at a far slower rate.   

The exchange rate is now £1 to $1.38 with market expections of a return to the long term average rate of $1.45.  The rate against the Euro has also improved to around £1 to Euro1.14.

This is positive news story as it shows there is renewed positivity about the UK economy.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence our in-house financial professional talks about Land Rover Jaguar and how they are going all electric, the story in the press is that they are moving to an all electric line up, and plan to discontinue their petrol and diesel engine models at the end of their natural lifecycles.  

This is a brave decision but also one that makes long term sense, the sales of petrol and diesel cars has to decline as the UK has committed to move to being net carbon neutral by 2050, so investing in a declining technology does not make sense.  Electric cars on the other hand are close to a tipping point in the UK and will soon overtake convential fueled vehicle sales.

Jaguar Land Rover is therefore aiming to take on Tesla but at the more luxury end of the market.

In today's episode our resident financial professional talks about auditing during the Covid Pandemic, a qualified chartered accountant himself Adrian is familar with the auditing process.   In normal times the auditors team would attend client a clients site for between a week and two weeks during which time they dig into the books and records of a business verifying the accuracy of the accounting records.

The Covid pandemic has however presented many obstacles to overcome, premises are typically closed, staff are working from home or self isolating and the this means the majority of work has had to be undertaken remotely.   Auditors have been innovative in their approach to this challenge and we have heard of drones being used to attend stock takes remotely and for the staff walking around stock locations to have life streamed using mobile devices so the auditors can attend virtually.

Listed companies are very keen to stick to their anticipated accounts publishing dates as delays can make investors nervous.   Overall the profession appears to have coped very well with the lockdowns.

In todays podcast Adrian Lawrence talks about how Digital Nomads are settling down for the longer term to become techpats, having enjoyed travelling the world working remotely from their laptop many are now deciding to select sunny low tax countries to work out from on a permanent basis.

Cyprus is very attractive from this perspective as it allows residency rights provided you stay in the country for more than 90 days per year, and a very attractive corporation tax regime of 12.5%.  As its an EU state there are many advantageous in terms of security and stable trade arrangements with the rest of the World.

It's believed there are as many as 4.8 million digital nomads which is the same number as there are companies in the UK, and as many as 17 million worldwide are interested in this lifestyle.

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence talks about Reporting Account's experience of Podcasting.   As a company we are new to recording podcasts and started for the first time in January 2021.  Our experience has been very positive, and we are tracking the visitors to our site on a daily basis and noting a good number of visitors arrive after listening to one or more of our podcast episodes.

Some sites that we particular like and note in this Podcast include

Spotify the popular Swedish streaming service has been in the news today, it is introducing flexible working so its employees have greater choice worldwide of where they choose to work and a option of workplace or home also.

This follows from similar announcements by Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook, and whilst more straightforward for a digital company such as Spotify it does have implications for the wider economy.   A large proportion of business costs relate to the workplace, so in future companies may choose to save this by not having the convential city centre office.  This in turn has implications for the footfall of shopping areas and changes potentially the whole dynamic of where people live and work.

This is a welcome development and one which other companies are likely to follow.

In this episode Adrian Lawrence our resident financial professional talks about the impact that Brexit is having on exporters.   The withdrawl agreement that brought brexit to a close at the end of 2020 was meant to represent a free trade agreement without tariffs and duties.  Many exporters are now finding to their costs that due to the rules of origin goods brought into the UK from outside the EU and then exported to the EU are paying double, once to on import to the UK and then again on import to the EU.

Companies are looking for ways to avoid this double taxation issue and these include setting up subsidiary companies in the EU close to the customers.  However this is not without costs in itself and there are changes due in 2021 around the ownership rules for EU companies which may limit the advantage this gives.

Business does not like uncertainty and many companies are not exporting, or exporting at a much reduced level due to these issues.

French Connection the UK fashion retailer LSE:FCCN has received two takeover bids, in this episode our resident financial expert Adrian Lawrence discusses this and the changing dynamics in the high street.

French Connection rejected a takeover in January 2020 as being too low, that bid was around 40p but since then the high street shopping channel in the UK has been very seriously impacted by the three pandemic lockdowns.  The share price has been bombed out as have other companies who operate in the retail, leisure or hospitality sectors.   Towards the end of last year 2020, their share price was trading around the 10p level.  Now following on from the speculation surrounding retail brands and the actual announcement on Friday of formal takeover approaches, their price has jumped to 25p.   

Today Adrian Lawrence our in-house finance expert is talking about the extension of the HMRC filing deadline for personal tax returns, normally their is a penalty of £100 if a return is not filed on time.  Now provided it is filed by the end of February 2021 this will be waived.  Also time to pay is available at an APR of 2.6% which is a good option for tax payers facing difficulty due to the pandemic.

Moonpig the online greeting card business soared above its £1.2billion IPO value on its first day of trading, conditional trading opened around 30% higher at £4.40 compared to the IPO price of £3.50.   This is a real success story and follows on from the positive trading in Dr Martens the bookmaker which also joined the market last week.

In today's podcast Adrian Lawrence our in house financial expert talks about how the company is now likely to join the FTSE 250 and that it is likely to see increased competition as more and more traditional retailers are moving online and raising their game to offset the decline in high street sales particularly following the recent lockdowns.

In today's episode Adrian our in house financial expert discusses the news from Hargreaves Lansdown today that they attractive growing numbers of younger investors.   There are many factors behind this trend, interest rates are very low in the UK at the moment and during the lockdown spending has been lower than normal meaning people have more savings available for investment.

The lockdown also means there is less travel and commutting which means more time available to research and investigate investment options.   This trend is welcome as the UK population is living longer and the stock market is a key source of funding for companies, direct investment get younger people more engaged with the economy.

The only concern being that younger investors means less experienced investors and that may lead to issues as the current times are very turbulent in terms of rises and falls of stocks and shares.

In today's podcast Adrian Lawrence our in house financial expert talks about Lookers plc and how their shares were relisted on Friday and straight away jumped 83%, there unsuspension was accompanied by an RNS which updated the market on trading, which has been ahead of expectations.

Lookers plc - stock code LSE:LOOK has had a rough time over the last year, a fraud was detected which led to the resignation of a number of its senior team including its CFO and chairman and there has been a change of auditors.   Better than expected trading combined with the appointment of a fresh experienced team has encouraged the market and resulted in the jump in the price.  It will be interesting to see how trading develops during February as the market gets closer to the re-opening of Lookers dealerships.

In today's podcast Adrian Lawrence talks about Dr Martens a british bootmaker who floated on the London Stock Market on Friday, they have something of a renaissance over recent years having being close to bankruptcy they were acquired by a private equity house, who built them back up.

Their price was set at £3.70 per share at opening they quickly moved to £4.25 and closed at around £4.50 representing a 22% rise on the day, this is a great result given the unsettled time for the UK economy and bodes well for other large floatations due soon including Moonpig plc.   The LSE code for Dr Martens is DOCS and its the largest IPO the London market has seen since September 2020.

In today's podcast our resident financial expert Adrian Lawrence talks about Reddit Day traders and how they have sent the shares of Gamestop rocking upwards.  Reddit is a social media platform where members can chat and discuss a wide range of topics a sub group with Reddit known as Wallstreetbets has sprung up and is frequented by tens of thousands of amateur investors and day traders, they have been egging each other one to buy more and more share in a stock called Gamestop and the resulting stock squeeze has sent its share price through the roof.

Some of the threads point to a revenge aspect to this activity in that hedge funds shorted stocks during the 2008 financial crisis and in so doing left many small investors badly out of pocket.  Now they have targetted Gamestop where short sellers had a large open position, by driving the share price upwards they have forced many of these funds to close their positions, causing them large losses and compounding the shortage of stock.

Sadly this is likely to end with large losses for the small investors concerned as the share price has moved outside of the range which is realistic for a stock like this, so investors should be very wary of following the crowd.

There is even talk of an overspill into UK stocks such as Cineworld.

If nothing else its a great story, the small investor versus the large Wall street funds.

In today's podcast we talk about Rolls Royce the leading UK aero engine manufacturer and engineering company, last year it raised funds via a rights issue and today it announced a short fall of a further £2billion as a result of the lockdown and rhe continuing impact of the pandemic.

Rolls Royce is paid based on the number of hours its engines are in use, so clearly during this period of disruption its income has been significantly impacted.   The new variant of covid has also extended the period of expected disruption which has again weighed down on the business.

The share price dipped today to around 90p but recovered somewhat in later trading.   The company is seen as a good long term prospect and is supported by Government contracts but a recovery in its share price depends on a return to normal in the aviation industry not just in the UK but worldwide.

In today's podcast Adrian Lawrence our in house financial expert talks about Dyson the vacuum cleaner and innovation company.  They are making a claim against the EU for £200m of damages.  The claim is based on flawed tests which favoured convential vacuum cleaners instead of dyson's bagless versions, the test were based on empty bags which in a conventional vacuum takes more energy in the real world than in the test conditions.   

Because Dyson's vacuum clearer are bagless they use a steady amount of energy if they are full or empty and hence their issues with the test used by the EU.

Dyson originally lost the case but won on appeal and the rating standard as annulled in a consumer victory, Dyson now want to get compensation for their lost sales.

In today's podcast our resident financial expert Adrian Lawrence talks about a the living pension, this is a new concept which follows the example of the real living wage but applies to pensions.  The UK has a two tier pension system, the state pension which is fixed and based on a fixed amount for every year worked up to 35 years, the second tier is known as auto enrolment and is contribution based system currently set at 8% of a band of earnings.  5% comes from the employee (4% and 1% tax relief) and 3% from the employer.

The issue is that in order to get enjoy a good standard of living in retirement those contributions levels need to be 12% or more based on someone starting contributions at the age of 25.

The Government is already moving in this direction with a planned abolition of the earnings and age thresholds, but until the minimum contributions levels are increased this will be a long way short of enough to give a decent pension.

The idea of the living pension is for employers to lead by example and contribute more educating their employees to do so at the same time.

During today's podcast Adrian Lawrence our in house financial expert talks about the latest news on Covid and that the UK mutant version is speculated to have a higher mortality rate as well as a higher infection rate.  Also the South African variation has been detected in the UK raising additional concerns as it appears to be resistant to the current versions of vaccines, the pharmaceutical companies behind the current versions are believing to already being working on a new variation that can cope with the variations.

The UK stock market has moved lower on these developments as share prices reflect sentiment and expectations for future earnings both of which will be impacted if companies in the retail, leisure and travel sectors are forced to remain closed for a longer period.

There will be a return to normal and better times ahead, though the impact on this summers holiday travel season remains uncertain.

In today's podcast Adrian Lawrence talks about an interesting news story this week. Pimlico Plumbers have announced that they will only employee new starters who have had a Covid Vaccine, and existing employees and subcontractors can only continue to work for them if they agree to have the vaccine.

This raises a number of HR questions and points, someone with less than two years of service can be dismissed for more or less any reason, but an employee with more than two years service can object for example if they are pregnant or have valid medical reasons not to have a vaccine, or religious objections.

It will be interesting to see if more companies follow the lead of Pimlico Plumbers and maybe even we won't be able to travel abroad without proof of having receipted a vaccine.

Reporting Accounts the leading UK Business Intelligence provider welcomes in 2021 albeit on the back of a very tough financial year that has seen UK companies really suffering from the Covid Pandemic.