The Sun's sales drop

Get straight to the good stuff every day with the Multiply Minute; a lightning-quick round-up of the money news and how it affects you.

Sun setting?

The paper saw a £68 million loss in 2019, as daily sales fell by 8% to 1.38 million. That still makes it the country’s most read paper. The Sun’s owner, News Group Newspapers, also admitted to stumping up £26.7m for a legal bill related to phone hacking. Elsewhere in tabloid land: Reach, which has owned the Mirror and the Express since their 2018 merger, bounced back into the black with a £120.9m pre-tax profit despite a 5.3% drop in revenue.

All right for some

Big fund managers are snapping up cheap shares in luxury brands which are struggling as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak. Chinese citizens make 35% of all luxury purchases worldwide, and Burberry, Remy Cointreau, and Diageo have all seen their share price dip by up to 11% in recent weeks as sales fall. Leading funds such as Rathbone Brothers and BNY Mellon are taking advantage of the dip, which is expected to be short-lived.

Government spending spree?

Boris Johnson’s government could be on course to spend £1 trillion a year by 2023-24. It would be the first time public spending has gone that high. The analysis by the Resolution Foundation think tank predicts that the government’s plans would raise spending to 40% of GDP, a level which hasn’t been seen since the 70s. Curious? All will be revealed in Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget next month.

Blue passports

Is your passport due for renewal? Get ready for its sharp new look. The first blue passports since 1988 will be issued in March, and by mid 2020 all new passports will boast the new-old livery. They’ll be printed by French-Dutch company Gemalto; British firm De La Rue has issued multiple profit warnings since it lost out on the contract in 2018.