Market Loop - 👋Farewell Roman

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3rd March 2022

Bite-sized business news from the UK and beyond

Good morning Before you create a new password make sure you check out this list of the ones not to use. The 20 passwords most found in leaked account information on the dark web range from simple number and letter sequences like “123456” and “Qwerty” to easily typed phrases like “Iloveyou.”

Today's stories

Farewell Roman – Chelsea FC up for sale
Delivering losses – Just Eat moves further away from profitability

SPORT
Chelsea FC up for sale

What’s going on?
After almost 20 years of ownership Roman Abramovich has announced he will sell Chelsea FC amid growing pressure to part company with the club due to his association with Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.

Why is this important?

Unlike some his fellow Russian oligarchs, Abramovich hasn’t been sanctioned by the West. But it seems that he may have felt like it was only a matter of time before this changed.

Earlier in the week there were reports that Abramovich was selling his London property portfolio and then a Swiss billionaire claimed he was offered the chance to buy Chelsea.

Then last night the club released a statement from its owner confirming that the rumours of a sale were true.

What’s striking is that Abramovich revealed that the £1.5bn loan he gave the club will be written off and the net proceeds from the sale will go towards helping the victims of the war in Ukraine.

The billionaire has an estimated fortune of £12bn and bought the club in 2003 for £140m, during his ownership it won 19 major trophies and became one of the most successful teams in the world.

Sources say he expects to fetch at least £3bn in the sale. But some analysts say that could be punchy and believe a figure closer to £2bn is more realistic and similar to the value of Manchester United which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Zooming out

So who would be interested in buying Chelsea? In short, billionaires who like trophy (pardon the pun) assets as football clubs are notoriously not always great investments with profitability varying with performance on the pitch.

CONSUMER
Just Eat moves further away from profitability

Yesterday Just Eat Takeaway.com announced soaring losses of €1bn in the 12 months to December 2021 driven by heavy investment in the firm's expansion.

Europe’s largest meal delivery app recorded a 33% jump in orders as lockdown restrictions encouraged more people to eat at home and the company expanded into new territories.

But the strong demand for its services wasn’t enough to offset the huge cost increases from processing orders, marketing spend and investing in traditionally underfunded markets.

The company also announced plans to exit Norway and Portugal, due to low revenue. Both countries generated a loss of about €10m annually.

More investment is planned as the company is set to take on the competitive rapid grocery delivery sector and apps like Gorillas and Zapp.

But Just Eat did promise that company is on the road to turning a profit and that the big losses are now a thing of the past.

Shares in the company have taken in a beating in the past year and have plummeted by 30% since January alone. Investors have becoming increasingly concerned that lockdown winners like food delivery apps could lose their popularity as life returns to normal.

Stat of the day

Last year more than 51,000 people became ultra-high net worth individuals – those with assets of more than $30m - a record 9.3% increase to 610,569 people in total around the world

Other stories to keep you in the loop

Oil prices spike even higher amid 'de facto ban' on Russian crude
Apple, Nike and Google join brands limiting services in Russia
H&M temporarily suspends sales in Russia
London tube strike: commuters face second day of travel chaos
London named the wealth capital of the world
Ryanair boss warns of ‘very difficult’ period for airlines
House prices jump £30,000 in just 12 months says Nationwide
Refillable groceries to be made available to every UK shopper
US central bank boss says he plans to raise rates
Cartier sues Tiffany for allegedly stealing trade secrets
Microsoft CEO's son has died at age 26

Interesting links from around the web

Why London ranks first as the best city for the wealthy
The 11 best films of the year (so far)
Why we are so obsessed with ticking items off our to-do list

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Market Loop - 👋Farewell Roman

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