Most acquisitions and divestments don’t maximise value – even when some dealmakers think they do March 27, 2019 | City Talk Most acquisitions and divestments don’t maximise value – even when some dealmakers think they do. But acquirers who prioritise value creation at the onset outperform peers by as much as 14 per cent. Cass Business School provided the market analysis for a PwC and Mergermarket study of 600 global senior corporate executives which found that [...]
Drawing a crowd: Tate Modern pips British Museum to the post as UK’s most popular visitor attraction March 27, 2019 Tate Modern has knocked the British Museum off the top spot of the UK’s most popular visitor attractions, which it has occupied for a decade. The British Museum welcomed 5.82m visitors through its doors last year, while Tate Modern overtook it with 5.87m people – an increase of 3.7 per cent on 2017. Read more: [...]
Police raid Swedbank headquarters amid money laundering probe March 27, 2019 Police raided the headquarters of Swedbank this morning as part of a probe into insider trading. Read more: Minister blasts Swedbank money laundering report “The Economic Crime Authority can confirm media reports that a raid is ongoing at the Swedbank headquarters,” the body said. “The raid is being carried out by police from from the [...]
London house prices start to stabilise after three-year dip March 27, 2019 Signs that London’s house prices could be starting to stabilise emerged this morning, with a new study showing that values picked up slightly in February. According to Zoopla, househunters that have previously held off on deals are seeking out buying opportunities in the capital following weaker house price growth amid the Brexit uncertainty. Read more: [...]
Italy’s trade deal with China is playing with fire March 27, 2019 Italy’s decision to be the first major European economy to join China’s massive investment and infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative, can only exacerbate tensions between Italy and its neighbours. On Saturday, President Xi Jinping and the Italian government signed a non-binding agreement for Italy to join China’s 21st-century trade route, and inked a total [...]
Opinion divided on Next shares March 27, 2019 | City Talk After a drop below £50 for the first time this month, buyers are back. Our head of markets explains why. As expected, full-year profits at Next (LSE:NXT) have dipped slightly although in line with previous guidance, whilst revenues are ahead of expectations. The difference between the fortunes of stores and online is becoming increasingly marked. [...]
Guy Verhofstadt compares Farage to Blackadder character in European Parliament March 27, 2019 The European Parliament’s outspoken Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt has taken a swipe at the self-styled “Bad Boy of Brexit” Nigel Farage, comparing him to field marshal Douglas Haig from the final episode of sitcom Blackadder. Verhofstadt said he was “surprised” to see the former leader of Ukip on European Parliament duty in Strasbourg, rather than [...]
Draghi says ECB ready to halt rates rises as Eurozone economy struggles March 27, 2019 Mario Draghi has said that the European Central Bank “will adopt all the monetary policy actions that are necessary” to boost the Eurozone economy should it continue to struggle, including further delaying planned interest rate hikes. Speaking in Frankfurt, Germany, the ECB boss also said that although he thought “growth will gradually return”, the “risks remain tilted [...]
Advertising giant M&C Saatchi hikes profits as new business grows margins March 27, 2019 Advertising giant M&C Saatchi boosted profits last year as it signalled a confident outlook for 2019. The figures Profit before tax grew 16 per cent year on year to £32.3m as net revenue rose two per cent to £255.3m compared to 2017. Saatchi’s profit margin also ticked up one per cent to 12.3 per cent [...]
Bellway hikes dividend as revenues jump despite Brexit knock on confidence March 27, 2019 Bellway posted a double-digit rise in revenues this morning, shrugging off fears of Brexit uncertainty as cheap borrowing, high employment and the government’s Help to Buy scheme all provided a boon for the housebuilder over the last six months. In its interim results for the half-year to to 31 January 2019, the FTSE 250 developer posted [...]