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Strong sales during lockdown and fewer returns have helped profits surge at Asos (ASC.L).

The online fashion retailer said on Wednesday that pre-tax profit in the year to 31 August rose 329% to £142.1m ($182m).

Asos said the jump in profits — which was ahead of forecasts — was driven by improvements in the underlying efficiency of the business and a decline in returns, which offset rising costs due to COVID-19.

“Last year the company made heavy investment into IT and spent significant amounts sorting out operational problems at its warehouses, which ate into profits,” said Susannah Streeter, a senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“But that spending meant the company was in a much better position to profit from the lockdown shopping surge.”

Revenue rose 19% in the period to £3.26bn. Asos recorded double digit percentage sales growth in all its markets and signed up 3.1m new

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  • Asos posted a record 329% increase in pretax profit to £142.1 million ($184 million) in the year to August.
  • This was mainly down to it cutting around £50 million ($65 million) of costs.
  • Sales of sportswear, skincare, and makeup also boomed during lockdown.
  • But it said it was “cautious on the outlook for consumer demand” because of pressure on the disposable incomes of its customers, who are mainly in their 20s.
  • Asos shares fell by 9%, set for their largest one-day fall since mid-March.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Asos more than quadrupled its profits in the year to August thanks to cost-cutting measure and a sportswear boom during lockdown, it announced on Wednesday.

But it warned that its target market, people in their 20s, were struggling economically. It was “cautious on the outlook for consumer demand, and will remain so until lifestyles and financial stability for our

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All investors want to make as big a return as they can from the stock market. Alongside time in the market and costs incurred, the percentage return achieved is one of the biggest contributors to growing your money. If you want to generate wealth through the stock market, you need to improve your performance and your returns. I’m aiming to make returns of 25% a year from income and growth shares.



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Image of person checking their shares portfolio on mobile phone and computer

Pick quality income and growth shares 

To have any chance of reaching the ambitious target of 25% annual growth, I’ll need to pick quality shares. I think one way to do this is to look at shares that currently combine both income and growth. I’ll want to see that a company has a history of being able to consistently increase dividend

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Written by Nick Ackerman, co-produced by Stanford Chemist

Now that the majority of online brokers feature $0 commissions, it is important to focus on what features and services brokerages can offer to investors. One important discussion that has cropped up is participation in fund-sponsored DRIPs. These can allow investors discounted shares for participating in reinvestment plans. This happens when shares are trading at premium levels for a CEF. I would say the majority of CEF sponsors do have some sort of discounted DRIP available.

The only problem with this – some brokers don’t offer participation in these programs – some don’t even offer reinvestment at all. Additionally, the process for getting reinvestment going is different for different companies.

It is important to consider the importance of reinvesting. Even if it is just “manually” reinvesting. That would be taking the distributions as cash and investing where one sees fit. We have

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TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher in muted trading Monday, as worries about the pandemic kept optimism in check despite a rally that closed out last week on Wall Street.

Investors growing wary over upcoming earnings reports have been cashing in recent gains, helping pull Japanese shares lower. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.3% to finish at 23,558.69. Big exporters logged some of the largest losses, with Toyota Motor Corp. falling 0.8% and Honda Motor Co. shedding 1.8%.

Japan reported core private sector machinery orders edged 0.2% higher in August, contrary to forecasts for a decline. But overall, economic indicators remain weak.

Other regional benchmarks were rising. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.5% to 2,403.12. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 6,132.00. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.2% to 24,654.77, while the Shanghai Composite added 2.4% to 3,350.22.

“While U.S. politics remain center stage, a string of Asia

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By Soumyajit Saha



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A board displaying stock prices is seen at the Australian Securities Exchange in Sydney

(Reuters) – Australian shares struggled for direction on Monday as investors stayed away from making big bets ahead of corporate earnings and production results while awaiting further developments on U.S. stimulus talks.

The S&P/ASX 200 index <.axjo> slipped 0.03% to 6,100.2 by 23:45 GMT, after posting its best week in six months last week.

A slew of Australian companies, including global miners BHP Group and Rio Tinto , are scheduled to report their quarterly production figures later this week, while the ‘big four’ banks will provide the first peek into how lenders fared in the July-September quarter later this month.

The Australian parliament on Friday approved A$17.8 billion ($12.87 billion) in personal tax cuts, quickly pushing through measures announced earlier in the week as part of the federal budget to support

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Holders of NS&I Premium Bonds and Income Bonds are set to find it more difficult to make a passive income in the coming months. Low interest rates mean the returns on both products, as well as other bonds and cash savings accounts, are set to be extremely low.



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A person holding onto a fan of twenty pound notes

As such, buying UK dividend shares could be a sound move. Their high yields, growth potential, and low valuations may allow you to achieve a worthwhile income return. They may also deliver impressive capital returns in the coming years as the stock market recovers from the recent crash.

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Obtaining a worthwhile passive income

Making a passive income has been more difficult for many people since the global financial crisis. It prompted historically-low interest rates that sent the returns on bonds and cash savings accounts

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These UK shares are set to release fresh financial details over the next couple of weeks. Is now the time to buy in? Or should you give them a very wide berth?

Barclays

Imminent third-quarter financials from FTSE 100 banking colossus Barclays are bound to attract plenty of attention. This is a reflection of the blue chip’s standing in its own right as well as its role as a barometer of the health of the British economy. And I have to tell you that I’m not too optimistic over what they’ll show.

UK banks have already been forced to suck up gigantic impairments resulting from the Covid-19 crisis. Barclays itself announced it had booked £3.7bn worth of credit impairments in its half-year trading update in July. Profits at the bank sunk to £1.3bn between January and June from £3bn a year earlier, too. I fear

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Businesswoman, philanthropist, and television personality Bethenny Frankel is known for her bold and outspoken nature. Over the years, she has taken many calculated risks as an entrepreneur, investor, and lifestyle influencer. One of the best ‘risks’ has been speaking up as a woman in business. Now with much success, Frankel has taken on a new venture as the host of the “Just B with Bethenny Frankel” podcast which takes a nontraditional approach to business and lifestyle conversations with business luminaries.

To date, Mark Cuban, Television personality, Entrepreneur, and Owner of the Dallas Mavericks; Bozoma Saint John, Chief Marketing Officer of Netflix; and Paris Hilton, Entrepreneur & DJ have joined Frankel on her show.

When it comes to speaking up, Frankel said that there are many ways to do business. Being fearless in her decision making and advocating

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By Joice Alves

LONDON, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Rolls Royce RR.L shares on Friday were heading for their best weekly gain since listing in 1987 as the British aircraft engine maker’s plan to raise money to cope with the coronavirus travel crisis triggered bargain hunting among investors.

The value of Rolls Royce shares more than doubled in the last week to 228.90 pence, although that is still a far cry from the 690 pence they traded at before the coronavirus outbreak.

The company aims to raise a total of 5 billion pounds, including 2 billion from shareholders, to cope with a “worst case scenario”.

“(The recapitalisation plan) sets up Rolls-Royce sufficiently to navigate an uncertain recovery and removes any lingering concerns about liquidity – and even solvency,” said Berenberg analyst Andrew Gollan, keeping a “buy” rating on the stock.

Worries over a long-haul travel slump reduced Rolls Royce’s market

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