Metro Bank admits accounting error was found by Bank of England, sending shares to record lows January 31, 2019 Metro Bank shares have slid to record lows after the company admitted an accounting error it reported last week was actually uncovered by the Bank of England. Chief executive Craig Donaldson had insisted the mistakes, in the way it classified loans, were found by the bank’s own staff through an internal review. Read more: Metro Bank [...]
Switch sales help Nintendo beat profit expectations January 31, 2019 Nintendo has recorded a 26 per cent jump in operating profit in its third quarter today, driven by strong sales of its Switch console. The figures The video game giant reported an operating profit of ¥158.6bn (£1.11bn) in the three months to the end of December, up 26 per cent on the same period a year ago and [...]
Billionaire Mike Ashley’s retail empire balloons by a third in one year January 31, 2019 Mike Ashley’s retail footprint has swollen by more than a third in the last year, following a spending spree in 2018 that saw the billionaire tycoon snap up some of Britain’s largest high street chains. The Sports Direct owner, who is reportedly now in talks to add beleaguered music retailer HMV to his growing estate, bought House [...]
WPP sells stake in ‘Davos in the Desert’ consulting firm Richard Attias & Associates January 31, 2019 WPP today said it is selling its stake in Richard Attias & Associates (RAA), the consulting firm behind the so-called Davos in the Desert conference in Saudi Arabia last year. The advertising group said it will sell its minority stake in RAA back to existing shareholders as part of an ongoing plan to simplify its [...]
Italy slips into recession as Eurozone growth disappoints January 31, 2019 Italy slipped into a recession at the end of last year after its economy contracted for a second consecutive quarter. The Italian economy shrank 0.2 per cent in the final three months of 2018, the country’s statistical office Istat said today, following a 0.1 per cent drop the previous quarter. Read more: Eurozone at risk of [...]
Stock Spirits buys Italian grappa producer Distillerie Franciacorta for €26.5m January 31, 2019 Vodka manufacturer Stock Spirits has snapped up Italian grappa giant Distillerie Franciacorta in a deal worth €26.5m (£23.2m), the company said today. The London-listed drinks firm will take over Distillerie Franciacorta’s spirits and liqueurs business for €23.5m and pay a further €3m for land, with plans to build a new production facility. Read more: Activist investor [...]
London salaries 2019: Which jobs will get you a pay rise? January 31, 2019 Talent has rarely been so in demand as it is in 2019. Against a backdrop of a record employment rate, UK wages keep going up, with pay growth hitting a post-financial crisis peak of 3.3 per cent in late 2018. Read more: Employment rate hits new record as wages grow But as a UK-wide average [...]
Court rules in favour of Asda workers in equal pay claim against supermarket giant January 31, 2019 Asda workers have been handed a victory in their equal pay claim against the supermarket giant after the Court of Appeal ruled that store workers' roles are comparable to jobs in its warehouses. Tens of thousands of store workers claimed they had been discriminated against in being paid less than their male counterparts who predominantly [...]
Estate agent Foxtons cuts earnings guidance after ‘toughest’ year ever in London January 31, 2019 Estate agent Foxtons said last year was one of the “toughest sales markets” ever in London and expected earnings to drop 80 per cent on the previous year. The company said it expected market conditions to remain challenging this year. Read more: UK house prices growth falls to six-year low in weak start to 2019 It [...]
Google’s GDPR fine may cost it more than just €50m – it will impact the tech industry too January 31, 2019 Back in December, I wrote an article asking why, six months after the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) had come into force, we had not yet seen any major fines or punishments for firms that had misused or mishandled personal data. The lack of sanctions, I argued, made the new regulatory powers toothless. [...]