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The company topped second-quarter forecasts and raised its outlook by sticking to its preppy play.

Big changes might be sweeping through fashion — luxury sales are off, China is weakening and President-elect Donald Trump promises to upturn Washington, again — but Ralph Lauren Corp. is sticking to the plan that’s made it a solid growth driver.

Still Patrice Louvet, president and chief executive officer, is careful to stay what he calls “positively paranoid.”

“We have momentum,” Louvet told WWD in an interview after the company beat second-quarter projections and raised its outlook for the year. “We’re optimistic about our future, but we also don’t take anything for granted, and we want to consistently recruit new consumers.

“We’re really happy to say that you can count on Ralph Lauren to consistently perform,” he said.

Ralph Lauren’s fiscal second-quarter net income increased slightly to $147.9 million, or $2.31 a diluted share, from $146.9 million, or $2.19, a year earlier as the company bought back stock and paid dividends worth a combined $375 million.

Adjusted earnings per share grew 21 percent to $2.54 — 13 cents ahead of the $2.41 analysts had penciled in, according to Yahoo Finance.

Wall Street liked what it saw and sent shares of the company up 6.7 percent to $221.88 on Thursday, giving the company a market capitalization of $13.7 billion.

The stock has some skeptics. Zachary Warring, analyst from CFRA Research, maintained his sell rating on shares of Ralph Lauren, while praising the work being done at the company.

“Although we believe Ralph Lauren is executing well, we cannot get past its valuation with shares trading over 18-times next-12-month estimates and well above its average on every time frame,” Warring said. “We think investors are overly optimistic about future growth and earnings.”

Revenues for the quarter ended Sept. 28 increased 6 percent to $1.7 billion from $1.6 billion. Comparable sales in the company’s direct-to-consumer business grew 10 percent, with retail comp increases across all of its regions.

Louvet, who has led Ralph Lauren as CEO for more than seven years, sees the brand as a steady presence in an ever-moving fashion world.

“This industry is characterized by trends and you see a lot of companies either create trends or ride trends and have a really nice run for three, four, five years,” the CEO said. “But very often it doesn’t end well because then the consumer is a bit confused as to what the brand stands for. If you’ve only relied on one trend, then the trend goes away, then you’re in a challenging situation.”

He didn’t offer specifics, but there are plenty of examples, from Gucci, which had a meteoric rise only to fall, to Vans, which relied on its classic styles when they were hot and saw the trend move on.

In Louvet’s view, Ralph Lauren is built on a steadier foundation with “a very consistent point of view, a very consistent set of values” that have been established and stuck to for 57 years.

“The challenge is in executing that in a way that’s relevant for the different generations as time goes by,” Louvet said. “What differentiates Ralph Lauren from many companies in our space is this clarity of positioning, consistency of execution and then keeping it fresh by broadening the marketing activity, by connecting with younger generation consumers, by innovating in the way we show up or in the types of products that we offer.”

Louvet said the looks that are “really performing particularly well” are core styles, like the cable-knit sweater, or the Polo shirt or the blazers, which make up 70 percent of the company’s business and grew double digits during the quarter.

Trump’s presidential election brings a new set of challenges to fashion, from the prospect of renewed trade wars to a new image abroad for America, but Louvet said the company is used to standing steady.

“We have lived through many different administrations,” the CEO said. “What we find is our values are pretty universal and are nonpolitical — our values of optimism, of authenticity, of family. We are going to stay focused on what we control. If we run our play, and we do it in a way that really connects with consumers, then we will be able to continue to build on our momentum. We are staying very clearly on offense.”

Ralph Lauren brought in 1.5 million new customers and increased average unit retail prices by 10 percent, both in its direct-to-consumer business during the quarter.

And Louvet said that growth in the customer base has been “very broad based” and not tied to the slowdown seen in the European luxury brands.

“They’re younger consumers,” he said of the brand’s new “recruits.” “So that’s an important characteristic relative to the historical makeup of the luxury category. They’re more diverse consumers and they’re higher-value consumers. We’re not seeing specifically what one might call a trade down from upper luxury.”

Revenues in North America rose 3 percent to $739 million while Europe was up 7 percent to $566 million and Asia was ahead 9 percent to $380 million.

The quarter’s results gave the company confidence to raise its outlook for the full year.

Ralph Lauren raised its annual revenue outlook to a gain of 3 percent to 4 percent in constant currencies, up from the 2 percent to 3 percent increase seen in August.

“We’re raising it now, even though we haven’t gone through holiday yet, which gives you a sense of the momentum and confidence that we have going into holiday,” Louvet said.

In short, the company is sticking to the playbook that made it a branded powerhouse while it flexes with the times.

Ralph Lauren, executive chairman and chief creative officer, said: “A spirit of optimism and the easy elegance of timeless style — these are elements that have come to define our brand. This summer was a celebration of all that we cherish, and as we turn our focus to holiday, we will continue inspiring people around the world to come together and step into their dreams.”

CEO John Idol described the results as disappointing and pinned them on the “softening demand globally for fashion luxury goods.”

Capri Holdings is still looking to find its footing.

The company’s second-quarter net income fell 73 percent to $24 million, or 20 cents a share, from $90 million, or 77 cents a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings were better at 65 cents a share, but still 10 cents below the 75 cents analysts projected.

“Overall, we were disappointed with our second-quarter results as performance continued to be impacted by softening demand globally for fashion luxury goods,” said John Idol, chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement. “Despite the challenging global retail environment, we remain focused on executing our strategic initiatives to deliver long-term sustainable growth across all three of our luxury houses.”

The declines were seen across all of Capri’s three brands in the quarter.

“Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors continued to resonate with consumers as evidenced by the 10.9 million new consumers added across our databases, representing 13 percent growth versus last year,” Idol said. “This reflects the strong brand equity and enduring value of our three iconic houses.”

Capri’s overall revenues fell 16.4 percent to $1.08 billion, $100 million below the $1.18 billion expected by analysts.

This isn’t how this year was supposed to go for Capri.

The company, which was already losing traction, agreed to sell itself to Coach parent Tapestry Inc. in an $8.5 billion deal signed in August 2023.

But the business has declined markedly in the interim and, last month, a federal judge blocked the buyout with a preliminary injunction on the grounds that it would create an accessible luxury handbag giant with too much sway in the market.

Tapestry and Capri have jointly appealed the ruling, but experts generally see the deal as all but over, in particular because a trial would extend the process past the Feb. 10 end date in the merger agreement.

Capri’s stock had already fallen well below the deal price of $57 a share and declined further in after-hours trading on Thursday, dropping 5.7 percent to $20.75.

The company has not issued guidance or held a quarterly conference call with investors since the deal was first announced, leaving Wall Street to speculate on the path forward.

Analysts are trying to gauge whether the business can be turned around with perhaps a fresh set of eyes and a big new push or if something more drastic needs to happen. Already, some analysts have said the company could sell Versace and maybe Jimmy Choo while Michael Kors could be taken private and then turned around.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said: “One of the central problems is that management has completely taken its eye off the ball over the past year or so. With the prospect of an acquisition by Tapestry, the general feeling seems to be that there is no need to put too much effort into any turnaround program.

“As a result, Capri is in a pickle,” Saunders said. “Its business is in a worse state than ever, it has no real coherent plan to remedy the problems, and there is no white knight coming to save it.”

To fund bigger war chest, Icahn Enterprises plans to halve dividend payout

Carl Icahn says he is sensing opportunity in the stock market and wants to increase his stake in a top portfolio company. But to fund his war chest, he is going to cut his investment firm’s dividend in half.

Icahn Enterprises IEP -2.35%decrease; red down pointing triangle plans to propose boosting its stake by more than 20% in CVR Energy CVI -4.73%decrease; red down pointing triangle, a small refiner in which the activist investor is the controlling shareholder, according to drafts of statements that Icahn and his firm plan to release Friday that were viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Icahn Enterprises, known by its ticker symbol IEP, already owns about 66% of CVR’s shares outstanding. The firm is offering to boost its holdings to more than 81% by buying up to 15 million additional shares, the statements said.

Sugar Lake, Texas-based CVR’s share price has tumbled more than 45% so far this year, compared with the S&P 500 index’s gains of about 25%.

IEP plans to make its tender offer for the extra CVR shares at a per-share price of $17.50, a 6% premium to Thursday’s closing price, according to the statements.

IEP said CVR, with a market value of about $1.7 billion, is currently undervalued and that stockholders would benefit from being able to cash out at a premium, according to the statements.

To fund the transaction—and others inside and outside his portfolio down the road—Icahn said he is halving IEP’s dividend payout for the second time since a short-seller report took on his publicly traded vehicle last year. The report from the short seller, Hindenburg Research, alleged that IEP was overvalued, inflated asset marks and paid an unsustainable dividend.

Icahn, who personally owns most of IEP’s shares, has argued that Hindenburg’s report was self-serving and misleading.

In the wake of the short-seller report, Icahn’s firm cut its quarterly dividend by half, to $1 a share. IEP hadn’t previously made a dividend reduction since 2011.

With the latest cut, IEP will be paying a quarterly dividend of 50 cents, the draft statements from this week said, which would represent a 16% annualized dividend yield. IEP shares are down more than 25% year to date as of Thursday. The firm is set to report third-quarter results on Friday morning.

IEP serves as something of a war chest for Icahn’s activist campaigns and market bets, as well as holding assets such as aftermarket auto-parts chains and commercial real estate, in addition to the CVR investment.

The firm currently has about $2.3 billion in cash and cash equivalents.

“Rarely have I seen a stock market with such extreme valuations—with some companies trading at unjustifiable premiums and others being massively undervalued,” Icahn said in the statement seen by the Journal. “These undervalued situations have created great opportunities for activists.”

CVR said late last month that it was suspending its third-quarter dividend. On the heels of the news, CVR shares suffered their biggest one-day drop on record, hurting IEP’s value as well.

CVR Chief Executive David Lamp said the dividend cut reflected the company’s concerns over how long the current weak environment would persist.

CVR, which has been an IEP investment for over a decade, had been viewed as an important holding for Icahn because of the hefty dividend payouts. Icahn himself was chairman of CVR’s board of directors from 2012 to 2018.

Jared Kushner rules out joining next Trump administration

President-elect’s son-in-law was a key figure in previous term and may serve as an outside adviser

Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will not return to the White House in the new administration but could advise on Middle East policy, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kushner was a senior adviser to the president-elect during his last term and played a key role negotiating the Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab states, including the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

The next Trump administration is expected to try to increase the number of Arab states with diplomatic ties to Israel, with Saudi Arabia being the ultimate prize.

Kushner and his wife, Trump’s daughter Ivanka, were central figures in the former president’s administration and have been living in Miami since he left office.

Kushner in 2021 founded a $3bn investment fund, Affinity Partners, which is financed almost entirely by overseas investors, with significant contributions from Gulf sovereign wealth funds.

The Senate finance committee has been investigating the company and the fees it charges to foreign clients. In a September letter Democratic Senator Ron Wyden raised concerns that Kushner’s fundraising and real estate deals “give foreign governments leverage over the Trump family”.

Kushner has denied accusations of conflicts of interest and said his company adheres to all relevant regulations.

Trump allies expect that Kushner will play an advisory role on the next administration’s Middle East policy, though it could depend on the final make-up of the team. He has maintained close ties with senior officials in the Gulf and in Israel.

Trump’s transition team has been looking to tap a senior national security official to work on Middle East issues — potentially with Kushner’s input.

Two people under consideration, according to a person familiar with the matter, are former senior National Security Council official Victoria Coates and Miguel Correa, a retired major general who worked with Kushner on the Abraham Accords and was also US defence attaché in Abu Dhabi.

The transition team has also been assembling shortlists for top national security jobs in the next administration. Richard Grenell, Trump’s former ambassador to Germany, is a contender to be secretary of state or national security adviser. Senator Bill Hagerty, former ambassador to Japan, and former national security adviser Robert O’Brien are also potential picks.

Brian Hook, the Trump administration’s former envoy on Iran, is leading the transition at the state department, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kash Patel, a controversial former senior defence official, is also expected to have a senior national security role, while Congressman Mike Waltz and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo are among the top picks to lead the Pentagon.

During his father-in-law’s last administration, Kushner played a key role in drawing up the Trump Middle East peace plan, which attempted to solve the decades-long conflict but was criticised for supporting Israeli demands while failing to satisfy Palestinian aspirations for an independent state. It was immediately rejected by the Palestinians.

Hook, who also worked on the Abraham Accords, described Jared’s work on the plan as “important” in an interview with CNN on Thursday.

“If you look at the plan that Jared put forward during the first term, that has all of the elements” that Saudi officials have asked for, including a path to a Palestinian state, Hook said.

He added: “I’m confident that that sort of thinking and working with the Palestinians and the Israelis, as much as circumstances will allow, are going to do a lot.”

European exchanges operator aims to harmonise listing information across seven countries

Euronext will create a US-style single prospectus for companies raising money on its seven stock exchanges, aiming to make information more accessible to investors and kick-start Europe’s flagging fundraising market.

Executives at Europe’s largest stock exchange group will in the coming weeks develop a standardised form that can be used by companies looking to raise funds on its venues.

The documents would contain key information for investors and be written in English, with an appendix in their local language, chief executive Stéphane Boujnah told the Financial Times.

Its move comes in response to growing concern among European policymakers at the region’s faltering capital markets. Politicians want to harmonise Europe’s fragmented markets, to attract investment and deter companies and capital from heading to the more active US equity market.

Euronext’s aim is to create “one single form, an S1 type of document with one single template so that anyone in Europe in any [equity capital markets] desk, in any asset manager looking for info can go to the same thing,” said Boujnah, referring to the forms companies file with regulators when registering new securities in the US.

Although many European stock markets have hit record highs this year, fundraising in the EU remains comparatively low. New listings and secondary share sales have raised $52.5bn so far this year, a 16 per cent rise on 2023. But US IPOs and share sales have raised $183.6bn, up 62 per cent in the same period, according to Dealogic data.

Many have argued a key difference is the US’s simpler and more unified capital market, which has fewer clearing and settlement houses — as well as legal structures and languages.

Euronext owns stock exchanges across the continent, including the main bourses of Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin and Lisbon. “Each country has similar rules [but] the problem with similar rules is that similar documents are different documents,” Boujnah said.

“Just like there is an ISDA contract for derivatives, we want to have a single prospectus,” he said. He added that the exchange group had discussed the plan with local regulators who “liked the idea” and encouraged the company to try it.

The 60-year old has led Euronext since 2015, making him one of Europe’s longest-serving exchange chief executives. He was “hopeful” that other countries would follow suit with the standardised document but the former banker admitted: “I don’t know how this initiative will be received.”

EU policymakers have spent more than a decade trying to dissolve national barriers and foster a ‘capital markets union’, but their efforts have been hampered by resistance from some countries.

Euronext’s attempt to homogenise offering documents also comes as the company unveiled a new three-year strategy on Thursday, focused on expanding its post-trade, listings and data businesses in a bid to become the region’s capital markets powerhouse. The company also announced a €300mn share buyback plan.

Boujnah wants to boost the company’s clearing and settlement offering across Europe. “Then we’ll see whether other domestic [central securities depositories] are looking for a better future,” he added, hinting at future deals.

Berkshire Hathaway has investors asking questions after filling its coffers by unwinding its most profitable trade

Warren Buffett is unwinding his most profitable trade in history, filling Berkshire Hathaway’s coffers with cash. But it is unclear if the Oracle of Omaha is ready to go elephant-hunting with his recent bounty.

Buffett last Saturday revealed that he had continued to slash his position in iPhone maker Apple and other stocks in the third quarter, generating $97bn in gains for Berkshire Hathaway, the sprawling industrial-to-insurance conglomerate he has controlled since 1965.

By crystallising a gain, Buffett has raised Berkshire’s cash levels to unprecedented heights. At $325bn, cash now accounts for 28 per cent of Berkshire’s asset value — the highest level since at least 1990. And it has left his followers attempting to pinpoint the motivation for the sale.

Some investors and analysts believe Buffett, who trained under legendary value investor Benjamin Graham — first at Columbia University and then at Graham’s investment firm — is sticking to his principles. They point to Apple’s relatively high price-to-earnings ratio compared with its potential earnings growth.

Apple warned investors this week that its future products may never be as profitable as the iPhone, as it ploughs capital into artificial intelligence to try to catch up with rivals including Google owner Alphabet.

Others believe something else is afoot, given Buffett’s praise for Apple over the years and a dearth of other investment opportunities, which the 94-year-old has repeatedly lamented. They have been left asking if Buffett is creating a runway for his successor, or if he sees a crisis on the horizon, giving him reason to raise cash.

“It is such a strange thing to see . . . [and it] begs the question, ‘Why is so much cash being built up?’” asked Morningstar analyst Greggory Warren.

Warren said he did not believe Buffett was poised to clinch one of the mega acquisitions that came to epitomise his investment playbook, given his trouble competing with other buyers. Nor is Berkshire stepping in to provide capital to giant US businesses like Intel that have sought out tens of billions of dollars of capital to fund their operations.

Buffett has also limited his buying of other stocks this year, purchasing equities worth just $5.8bn through the end of September. That sum is dwarfed by the $133.2bn of stock sales Berkshire has executed.

The sales have reduced the equity risk Berkshire is taking and gives it ample liquidity to invest, which it has put to work in past times of stress. But some investors sense other reasons for the shift.

Jeff Muscatello, a research analyst at Berkshire investor Douglass Winthrop, said that valuation was unlikely to be “the entire reason” Buffett had been cashing out.

“The nearing inevitable management transition makes it an opportune time to clear the decks for the next generation,” he said.

Warren of Morningstar agreed, saying it was cash that Greg Abel, Buffett’s heir apparent, would be likely to put to work.

“[Buffett] has been a bit more cognisant about how he talks about Berkshire and the future,” Warren said. “He knows he won’t be there that much longer. He doesn’t necessarily want to saddle the guys with situations they have to deal with.

“He wants Greg to have as large of a cash pile to work with,” he added.

Berkshire has always run a large cash position, in part to satisfy regulations that it has enough liquidity in its investment portfolio to pay out future claims from its mammoth insurance operation.

The investment in Apple dates back to 2016 when the company bought just under 10mn shares worth $1.1bn. The purchases were a shock, given Berkshire had long avoided fast-growing technology companies. As recently as 2012, Buffett had told shareholders that even with its growing profitability, he “wouldn’t want to buy” Apple.

The initial investment was made by Buffett’s deputy Ted Weschler, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. In the months that followed, Buffett himself came to appreciate the company’s business model, won over by the amount of time customers spent using their iPhones and that few were willing to switch to a competitor once they had bought one.

Buffett soon followed Weschler with his own buying spree, and alongside a small fund run by a subsidiary, Berkshire amassed a 5.9 per cent stake in Apple. At its peak last year, the position was worth nearly $178bn. Quarterly disclosures analysed by the Financial Times suggest that Berkshire spent about $39bn.

Acolytes of the investor say there are good reasons to take Buffett at his word: that he finds the return on short-term Treasury bills more attractive than the “alternative of what’s available in the equity markets”, as he said in May.

“Stocks, including Apple and Bank of America, haven’t become cheaper since then,” said Bill Stone, chief investment officer of Glenview Trust. “It seems like it might be just that simple.”

The iPhone maker’s shares trade at more than 30 times its projected earnings over the next year, according to FactSet. Darren Pollock, a fund manager at investment group Cheviot and a Berkshire shareholder, notes that when Buffett was buying, that multiple was closer to 12 or 13 times and that “Apple was growing at a significantly faster rate”.

“When stocks are overvalued, Berkshire’s cash piles up because Buffett is finding less and less to buy,” Pollock added. “He’s not a market timer. Selling down Apple and having this much cash in a richly valued market is classic Buffett.”

Investors will have to wait another three months before they know for sure. The company told the FT that Buffett was waiting to share any thoughts on the matter for his annual letter due in February.

Elon Musk might be Wall Street’s great white whale

The US election and elevation of the Tesla boss could lead to big deal fees. The race is on to be his favourite consigliere

Wall Street consiglieri are readying for a rush of new business. Bankers who advise on capital raisings or mergers and acquisitions expect a deluge of fees as Donald Trump returns to the presidency. But some clients are suddenly more valuable than others.

The potential snapback in deals is enormous. Global mergers are traditionally equivalent to around 20 per cent of US GDP in any given year, but in 2024 are around half that. If M&A volumes bounced to 25 per cent, as in 2021, that’s $4tn of additional activity. Fees range anywhere from 1 to 5 per cent for banks that win hearts, minds and mandates.

First in line is Goldman Sachs. A fifth of its revenue typically comes from M&A and underwriting, versus less than 10 per cent at Bank of America, which also runs a huge retail bank. Goldman generally tops the merger advisory ranks, with rival Morgan Stanley second or third. Goldman boss David Solomon has been positioning to pick off artificial intelligence-related deals too, assembling a special council for the purpose.

One client now has extra cachet: Elon Musk. His corporate empire is a potential fee machine, between his AI firm xAI, rocket-maker SpaceX and electric-car maker Tesla. Those companies have already generated $317mn of investment banking fees since 2010, according to LSEG data. Since the election, Tesla’s market capitalisation is closing in on $1tn. With the president’s ear, Musk is an invaluable ally.

In that race, Goldman may not be in pole position. The bank was once Musk’s go-to adviser: it lent him money, underwrote Tesla’s IPO in 2010, helped on several equity issues, and counselled him on a later-abandoned take-private plan in 2018. But when Musk made a hostile bid for Twitter, now X, Goldman was on the other side of the table. Having agreed a deal, Musk tried to jilt Goldman’s client at the altar. Twitter sued; Musk backed down.

There are probably no hard feelings. Solomon and Musk still break bread. But if Musk is the must-have client, crosstown rival Morgan Stanley may have an edge. It arranged $13bn of loans for the Twitter takeover, and assumed a portion of the losses that resulted. It has also flattered Musk liberally: chair James Gorman praises his “extraordinary capabilities”. Morgan Stanley’s Tesla analyst values Tesla stock at $310 a share; Goldman’s target is $250, below Wednesday’s closing price.

When deals revive, Goldman will do swimmingly, of course. But there is no room for complacency. Morgan Stanley boss Ted Pick, who took over at the beginning of this year, inherited a business that is persistently second fiddle in M&A. The political reversal could lead to a Wall Street reversal too.

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Mayors argue new train line is needed after northern leg of HS2 was axed on cost grounds

Proposals for a new privately-funded rail link connecting Birmingham with Manchester are “perfectly viable to explore”, UK transport secretary Louise Haigh has said for the first time.

“We’re working with Andy [Burnham] and with Richard Parker,” she said on Thursday, referring to the mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. “We’re assessing the options, including the potential for private finance, which look perfectly viable to explore.”

The proposals for the line, which could run along a similar route to the axed northern leg of the high-speed rail line HS2, were first published in September by Burnham and Parker. 

A study carried out on their behalf concluded that without a new rail line, the already congested west coast transport corridor would collapse within a decade. 

But despite support for the idea in parts of government, ministers have been previously tight-lipped about the plan.

Analysis by businesses including Arup and Mace suggests a new line is needed in the absence of HS2’s northern leg, which was axed by the last government due to cost overruns on the southern phase of the high speed rail project.

They argue the new route could be provided more cheaply, using a lower specification and a form of public-private partnership.

Haigh’s comments came as the chair of HS2 Ltd, the state-owned company building the high speed rail project, said the government had “frozen” the wind-down of the cancelled northern leg.

“We haven’t sold any of the land. We haven’t reversed any of the early works we’ve done. We’re waiting on a decision about what the government wants to do, while it looks at its options,” said Sir Jon Thompson at a conference on Thursday.

Haigh was speaking during a visit to Greater Manchester with chancellor Rachel Reeves, where they committed to the upgrade of the Transpennine route, a decade-long electrification project which is already well under way.

As well as the Manchester-Birmingham proposals, Burnham is also working with his counterpart in Liverpool, Steve Rotheram, on plans for a new rail line between their two cities. 

Asked whether east-west links in the north were more of a priority than the west coast route, Haigh and Reeves confirmed that was the case, citing the Labour manifesto. 

The manifesto promises to improve rail connectivity “across the north of England”.

However it remains unclear whether the Labour government will match a £17bn funding commitment for the Liverpool to Manchester project, pledged by the last government. 

Haigh acknowledged that ministers were “under huge amounts of pressure to start investing” in new infrastructure. 

“The previous government went round, pointed at marginal constituencies and announced projects in a very random way,” she said.

“We want to make sure it’s done in a strategic way that supports the economy as a whole.”

All major transport investments are being considered as part of the government’s new 10-year national infrastructure strategy, Haigh added. The plan is currently in development and not expected until the spring.