Headlines from the Proactive UK newsroom.
Burberry’s (LON:BRBY) retail sales have collapsed in the last few weeks due to the impact of coronavirus. Since the virus spread to Europe and the US causing widespread lockdowns, sales have seen declines of between 70-80%, the luxury goods group said today
By contrast, Ocado (LON:OCDO) says it is struggling to cope with upsurge in demand since the virus took a grip in the UK. Sales and orders have doubled from the 10.3% growth recorded in quarter to March as people stockpile with new registrations being paused in recent days.
Spread better IG, too, is seeing business surge due to the financial market volatility. Revenues in the latest quarter was its third highest ever especially the final week of February.
BATM (LON:BVC) is teaming up with an Israeli life sciences firm to develop and market a rapid home testing kit for coronavirus. Working with a company called Novamed, it is creating a kit that will analyse a sputum sample in minutes.
I3 Energy (LON:I3E) has signed a drilling contract for its Serenity prospect n the North Sea. Dolphin Drilling will take a stake in the field as part payment for the estimated US$33mln cost of the programme.
Video conferencing group Loop Up (LON:LOOP) has seen a material increase in volumes in March as more people are forced to work from home due to the virus outbreak. Revenues in 2019 rose by 24%.
VR Education (LON:VRE) has been asked to form a strategic partnership with Taiwanese electronics firm HTC, which wants to distribute its ENGAGE virtual reality platform globally. ENGAGE allows users to build and attend classes or meetings in a virtual reality (VR) environment.