Pepsico issues full-year profit warning as it ramps up spending February 15, 2019 Pepsico has forecast a drop in full-year profit after spending heavily on marketing and the development of new products as it vies to steal market share from rival Coca-Cola. Read more: Coca-Cola bottler core profits fizz The cola company has increased advertising for its products, which include Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Mountain Dew, and has been pushing [...]
Mobile network industry calls for security scrutiny amid Huawei spying claims February 15, 2019 Europe needs a security testing programme to oversee the rollout of 5G in order to combat distrust of providers, according to the mobile network industry. Industry body the GSMA, which represents 800 operators, has called on governments and the private sector to collaborate on setting up such a scheme. Read more: Huawei boss: US has [...]
Lloyds Bank poaches Morgan Stanley banker as new chief financial officer and will pay him £4.4m in forfeited share awards February 15, 2019 Lloyds Bank has appointed Morgan Stanley banker William Chalmers as its new chief financial officer. The bank said it would pay Chalmers £4.4m in unvested share awards forfeited as a result of leaving Morgan Stanley, where he is currently co-head of its global financial institutions group. Read more: Lloyds Banking Group set to create 8,000 [...]
Britain prepared to leave EU with no Brexit deal, says Andrea Leadsom February 15, 2019 The UK government is prepared to leave the EU without a Brexit deal in place, according to Andrea Leadsom. The government's leader in the House of Commons suggested it was increasingly unlikely that there would be any form of extension to Article 50. Read more: Theresa May to back down on backstop demands in Brexit deal [...]
London Fashion Week to bring £600m of sales to the West End February 15, 2019 London Fashion Week is expected to bring a £600m windfall to the West End, in what is set to be a crucial boon for the capital’s shopping district at a time on mounting pressure for its retailers. A combination of fashion fans and foreign tourists are set to descend on the West End during February [...]
Stobart battle: Judge finds former boss Andrew Tinkler breached duties as a director February 15, 2019 The judge in the bitter court battle between the Stobart Group and former chief executive Andrew Tinkler ruled today that Tinkler had made four “serious” breaches of his duty as a director. His Honour Judge Russen QC said Tinkler breached his contractual and fiduciary duties in four ways: by agitating for the removal of the [...]
Scout24 board approves Blackstone consortium’s €5.7bn takeover February 15, 2019 Blackstone has won the support of Scout24's board with its latest offer of €5.7bn (£5.01bn) for the German online classifieds company. The bid sent Scout24's share price up more than 24 per cent during early morning trading to €46.60, more than the current offer is worth. Read more: Blackstone takes on Bloomberg, paying $20bn for Thomson Reuters [...]
Millennium & Copthorne warns of ‘challenging’ 2019 as profits plummet 28 per cent February 15, 2019 Millennium & Copthorne warned today that it anticipates a challenging 2019 as it revealed that profits fell 28 per cent last year. The figures In its full year results, the hotel company reported that profit before tax for 2018 fell 28 per cent to £106m in 2018, down from 2017's total of £147m. Revenue also slipped [...]
Property legal Q&A: Can I change my solicitors part-way through the purchase of my flat? February 15, 2019 You do not say why you wish to change your solicitors, but among the most common reasons for doing so are dissatisfaction with the level of service being provided, where a conflict of interest has arisen, or the need for particular expertise. If you have a complaint about your solicitor, this can often be resolved [...]
Metro Bank tops customer service survey as challenger bank grows in popularity February 15, 2019 Metro Bank has topped an industry-wide customer service survey despite battling an accounting error, which has hit shares in recent weeks. The challenger bank knocked First Direct off the top spot in a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) survey based on whether customers at the UK’s 16 largest current account providers would recommend their bank to friends [...]