Spread-betting firms buck the trend amid downturn

NOT many sectors have actually done well out of the coronavirus pandemic.

But online share trading companies have been like cash machines – for their investors if not necessarily their customers.

People trapped at home, many on furlough, have had more time to put their pocket money to good use and a number have turned to investing in a vain attempt to become the next Warren Buffett.

As a result, shares in spread-betting companies have boomed during the pandemic.

These firms allow punters to bet on company share price movements without actually owning any shares.

Talk of increasing regulation had hit shares in such companies – including IG and CMC Markets – but they have come roaring back. IG shares are almost hitting all-time highs.

On Thursday, the company releases annual results which are expected to underline the surge in online trading activity in recent months.

City traders will be watching for any guidance on next year’s outlook.

Analysts are assuming trading will go back to normal in the near future, but IG could surprise by setting its sights high.

INSURERS have come under fire during the coronavirus crisis f or their reluctance to pay out to business claiming losses resulting from lockdown.

However, Beazley is due to unveil its first-half results on Thursday and the Swiss bank UBS fears they will be ‘ weak’, the insurer having already announced about £135 million of Covid- 19 claims.

The company reassured investors when it raised £250 million in May to bolster its balance sheet, even though it also said it would not be paying them an interim dividend. Since t hen, t he shares have recovered some ground.

UBS expects Beazley to report a pre- tax loss of £ 25 million for t he six months to t he end of June.

GETTING a new kitchen fitted might be back on the agenda for many Britons.

But orders might take some time to feed into Howden Joinery’s financial figures.

The kitchen company has kept quiet through most of the lockdown, last updating investors in March.

We will find out what the company has to say when its first- half results are released on Thursday.

Most of its branches are now open again, so it should be able to give investors an idea of how fast demand is returning.

Number- crunchers at Peel Hunt even say that rivals could fall by the wayside in the coming months, helping Howden gobble up more of the market.