WPP share price rises as it reports profits ahead of forecast – but it’s been “ravaged” by strong pound August 26, 2014 WPP has reported a 1.5 per cent rise in headline pre-tax profits to £532m in the first half of the year, slightly ahead of forecasts. Taking into consideration currency differences, pre-tax profit grew 15 per cent as the world’s largest advertising group felt the effects of a strong pound. Reported revenue was up 2.7 per cent [...]
Carve Tesco into three, says former director August 26, 2014 A former Tesco executive has called for the business to be radically restructured by its incoming boss, creating three separate entities. Bruno Monteyne, an analyst at Bernstein Research and previously Tesco.com's development director, has argued that carving the supermarket up could be the only way to halt its decline. He suggests dividing it [...]
Redundancies loom at Time Warner August 26, 2014 Time Warner is expected to announce 550 job cuts this week at its Turner arm, which includes the likes of CNN and Cartoon Network, according to reports. CNN and its spin-off HLN are expected to bear the brunt of the cuts, with The Wrap saying "a couple of hundred" redundancies were expected at both, [...]
Easy money pushes S&P 500 index over 2,000 for first time August 26, 2014 US shares hit a record high yesterday, with the S&P 500 index breaking the 2,000-point mark during trading for the first time in its history. Global investors have piled into American stocks, pumped up by cheap money from central banks, and fleeing troubled economies in areas like the Eurozone and the wavering emerging markets. Federal [...]
Not tonight, Darling – TV debate is a win for Salmond August 26, 2014 SCOTS nationalists fought their way back into the battle for independence last night, with the country’s First Minister Alex Salmond widely considered to have beaten the No campaign leader Alistair Darling in the final televised debate ahead of the referendum. Salmond landed crucial blows on the NHS, welfare spending and the currency, giving him victory [...]
Carnival goers defy the rain August 26, 2014 DOWNPOURS failed to dampen the spirits of festival-goers and performers at the Notting Hill Carnival yesterday. But the good mood was soured by violence in the afternoon, with 11 reported knife attacks and six men arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Police last night invoked powers to stop and search for weapons.
Burger King to leave US in $20bn tax inversion deal August 25, 2014 Burger King is in talks to combine with Canadian coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons in a deal that would create a fast food empire with a market valuation of over $20bn (£12bn). The companies confirmed they had entered merger talks late on Sunday, and said the new merged group would be based in Canada, [...]
Boris Johnson attacked by top Lib Dems and Tories over rights of Isis suspects August 25, 2014 Boris Johnson came under fire yesterday from ex-attorney general Dominic Grieve and deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for suggesting that Brits suspected of fighting for Islamic State (IS) should be considered guilty until proven innocent. “It is a draconian proposal… if we were to do this we would be undermining our own values and ultimately [...]
Hollande sacks socialist rebels in reshuffle August 25, 2014 THE FRENCH government was dissolved yesterday, after just four months in office, following a scathing attack on the Eurozone’s economic policies from economy minister Arnaud Montebourg. Embattled President Francois Hollande formed the government in April, when Prime Minister Manuel Valls was brought into office after the Socialist Party’s gruelling losses in local elections. But during [...]
Amazon buys video site Twitch for close to $1bn August 25, 2014 Internet giant Amazon last night snapped up gamers’ video website Twitch for $970m (£585m). The service is just three years old, and is used by millions of gamers and viewers every month. In July 55m unique visitors watched 15bn minutes of videos – four-and-a-half hours on average. Amazon has a rapacious appetite for new tech [...]