BUSINESS LIVE: NatWest names new boss; Retail sales jump; Oil prices rise

NatWest Group has confirmed Paul Thwaite as its permanent chief executive, as the lender posted its highest annual profit since the global financial crisis.

The banking giant’s pre-tax profits jumped by a fifth to £6.2billion in 2023, its best performance since making £9.3billion in 2007 and around £200million above analyst forecasts.

The caravanserai of bosses, buyers, influencers, journalists, models and the rest has swept into town for London Fashion Week (LFW), which begins today.

This year, some designers’ shows will be staged against a contentious background. As David Bowie said, in his song Fashion, this can be a world ‘full of tension and fear’.

The shrinking universe of London-listed real estate investments trusts (REITs) is tipped to diminish further in 2024, as the sector struggles under the weight of low assets, weak share prices and high discounts.

Charles Hepworth, investment director at GAM Investments:

‘After December’s 3.3% collapse in UK retail sales, today’s number for January went against all expectations.

‘Retail sales rose 3.4% despite the country being underwater, both literally and figuratively, after three separate winter storms.

‘It should be noted that this data can be extremely volatile and swings as wildly as a Conservative by-election majority.

‘Should this trend persist, with insightful economic data coming in better than expected, the economic slowdown is expected to be a shallow and short-lived affair. That isn’t necessarily good news for early rate cut hopes.’

Taylor Swift has brought American Football to a new female audience since she began dating a player – and now Charlotte Tilbury wants to open up Formula 1 to young women.

Matt Dalton, partner, risk consulting and consumer sector leader, at Mazars:

‘The retail sales number -surprisingly-blew past expectations, rising at the fastest pace in nearly three years. As inflation moderated, consumers hit main street and opened their wallets in January, in every category bar clothing.

‘The data release is a very positive read for the UK economy going forward, and consistent with our view that a UK recession will not necessarily deepen or indeed last long.

‘Slower online retail sales is a cause for concern, however, and we would expect this category to pick up too, before we talk about any sort of a sustainable bullish consumer trend.’

UK retail sales grew at their fastest pace in nearly three years in January, beating expectations, fresh ONS data shows.

Retail sales rose at a monthly rate of 3.4 per cnet in January, according to the Office for National Statistics, compared with forecasts for an increase of 1.5 per cent. The rise was the biggest since April 2021.

Sterling was last flat on the day at $1.259, having traded around $1.25815 prior to the numbers. Against the euro , the pound was also unchanged on the day at 85.46 pence.