China weakness hurts Intercontinental Hotels Group revenue May 3, 2019 The Intercontinental Hotels Group has revealed a decline in hotel occupancy rates as it continues its aggressive expansion plans. The firm, which owns Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Kimpton Hotels, said it had added 12,000 new rooms in the three months to end of March, with another 24,000 to come soon. Read more: Legoland owner [...]
City broker Numis profits plunge due to political uncertainty May 3, 2019 Numis saw profits slide 64 per cent in the first half of the year as the City broker was affected by a slowdown in UK dealmaking and weakening investor sentiment due to the political uncertainty caused by Brexit. The figures Shares fell 3.9 per cent after the AIM-listed company reported profit before tax dropped to [...]
Shares fall at shopping centre owner Intu as it warns on rental profit May 3, 2019 Shopping centre developer Intu's share price fell 6.7 per cent this morning as it warned 2019 losses may be worse than expected this morning as the troubled property firm battles with a challenging retail environment. Read more: Intu sells major stake in Derby shopping centre to cut debt The company, which welcomed former finance boss [...]
Legoland owner Merlin set to meet market expectations despite quiet winter May 3, 2019 Entertainment company Merlin has reported that it is set to meet analysts expectations in its financial results, despite the seasonally quiet period. Merlin, which owns Legoland and Madam Tussaud among other attractions, said that trading had been in line with the guidelines set out in February. Read more: Intu warns on profit after insolvency procedures pile [...]
Brexit bites: Tories and Labour suffer local election backlash amid deadlocked negotiations May 3, 2019 Voters expressed their frustration with Theresa May’s Conservative party and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour at the ballot box yesterday, it has emerged, as results continue to pour in across the UK. So far both major parties have accepted they have suffered a backlash over gridlocked Brexit negotiations, with representatives having made little progress in cross-party talks. [...]
S4 Capital continues to grow profits as it lands big-name client wins May 3, 2019 Sir Martin Sorrell’s advertising firm S4 Capital has posted another quarter of bumper revenue and profit growth as it looks to win over big clients with its digital-first approach. Read more: Sir Martin Sorrell was paid £140,000 by S4 Capital in 2018 The figures S4 Capital posted like-for-like revenue growth of 35 per cent to [...]
The tangled Huawei web isn’t just about Gavin Williamson May 3, 2019 To say that Gavin Williamson was neither widely liked nor widely respected in Westminster would be an understatement. Often a figure of ridicule for the pet tarantula kept on his desk when he was chief whip, his former life as a fireplace salesman, and gaffes like saying Russia should “go away and shut up”, he [...]
Of course we must protect the planet, but not by taking Britain back to the dark ages May 3, 2019 On Wednesday parliament declared a climate emergency. Then yesterday, the Committee on Climate Change published a series of recommendations on how to cut Britain’s carbon emissions, including banning the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2035 and increasing the cost of air travel. Making this planet greener and cleaner is a goal shared by [...]
DEBATE: With another strike planned, should industrial action on the Tube be banned? May 3, 2019 With a strike planned over the FA Cup weekend, should industrial action on the Tube be banned? Keith Prince, the GLA Conservatives’ transport spokesman, says YES. Workers should have a right to redress, for example if they have legitimate safety concerns. But all too often, we have seen “safety” being used by unions as an excuse [...]
It’s time to fix regulation and scrap socialism for the banks May 3, 2019 For too long, it has been possible for bankers to make massive profits while socialising losses through subsidies, deposit schemes, public ownership, and bailouts in times of crisis. This creates a moral hazard: bankers are encouraged by the regulatory regime to take on excessive risk, allowed to issue limited equity, and in case of a [...]