As a direct result of Boris Johnson’s Conservative party election victory,
the collective wealth of the UK’s 16 billionaires increased by £2.1bn on Friday, according to the Bloomberg billionaires index, as the share prices of companies they controlled soared.
Peter Hargreaves, one of Brexit’s biggest supporters, has plenty to celebrate. The Conservative Party’s victory didn’t just make Britain’s departure from the European Union certain. It also provided a $300 million boost to his fortune on Friday. The Lancashire-born billionaire owns about a third of Hargreaves Lansdown Plc, whose shares rose 4.1% as of 12:40 p.m. in London, boosting the value of his stake to $4.1 billion and his overall fortune to $4.6 billion.
Trading volumes hit 1.8 billion, more than double an average day, and biggest since June 2017 after the last election. Many UK companies have surged in value following yesterday’s election result, in the biggest day’s trading volumes in two and a half years. The FTSE 100 index of blue-chip stocks has closed 79 points higher at 7353 points. The UK-centric FTSE 250 index closed at a new all-time high, romping by 3.4% to 21,507 points at the close, up 714 points. That has raised the combined value of the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 by around £33bn today.
Housebuilders such as Taylor Wimpey, Barratt and Berkeley rocketed by between 14% and 15%. Utilities firms also had a very strong day, with water company Severn Trent gaining 9% and energy provider Centrica up 8.7%. Banks also led the rally, on hopes that the UK economy will pick up as the threat of an imminent disorderly Brexit vanishes. Virgin Money gaining 18%, Stagecoach up 16%, and estate agent Savills up 13%.
Against the US dollar, the pound is worth $1.334, its highest level since March, and very nearly an 18-month high. It’s now gained 11 cent, or 9%, since the UK and EU started to renegotiate the Brexit deal in October.
A super-rich European family on Friday instructed the luxury estate agency Beauchamp Estates to buy a £65m property in an undisclosed “prime central London” .
1 comment:
Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin was £44m richer on Friday thanks to a boost from the Conservatives’ election victory. The pub chain owner and prominent Brexit supporter saw the value of his stake in the pub chain jump almost 10 per cent from £487m to £531m.
Post a Comment