Intu boss David Fischel : The UK is way out of line with its international peers on business rates February 23, 2017 Intu ruled the FTSE 100 roost this morning after the shopping centre giant increased its dividend, despite reporting a fall in profits. The retail property group's profits dropped more than 60 per cent but its dividend was up two per cent, at 14p per share. Revenues grew four per cent to £594.3m, from £571.6m the year before. While [...]
Storm Doris leads to train delays as tree falls on rail tracks – travellers are advised to avoid Euston station February 23, 2017 Storm Doris is wreaking travel chaos across the country today, with rail service disruptions set to continue all day. All west coast services out of Euston have been cancelled, and Transport for London has advised travellers to avoid the station if possible. https://twitter.com/victorialine/status/834759837208760320 London Thameslink services are severely disrupted, and there will be no direct service [...]
Storm Doris hits London: Heathrow warns of flight delays and cancellations due to strong winds February 23, 2017 Storm Doris has arrived and Londoners are waking up to strong winds in the capital this morning. Earlier this week the Met Office issued a severe weather warning for London ahead of Storm Doris' arrival, and forecast winds of up to 50-60mph, along with ice, snow, rain and fog. The storm is also causing disruption [...]
FTSE 100-listed Farmers Weekly publisher Relx reports growing revenue February 23, 2017 FTSE 100 information business Relx, formerly known as Reed Elsevier, reported revenue growth of four per cent in 2016 today. The figures Relx, which owns legal database LexisNexis and medical journal the Lancet, reported a 2016 turnover of £6.9bn. Underlying adjusted operating profit, meanwhile, was up six per cent to £2.1bn. The group increased its [...]
Regulators welcome fintech but aren’t sure what to do with it February 23, 2017 | City Talk Regulators have a 'wait and see' attitude about regulating fintech. Two governmental organisations recently released reports on regulatory approaches to fintech advances, including blockchain. First, the US Federal Reserve Board released its report on distributed ledger technology (i.e., blockchain) in payments, clearing, and settlement. Following that release, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) — a joint [...]
Storm Doris: London Fire Brigade has been called out to 36 weather-related incidents February 23, 2017 London Fire Brigade has been called out to 36 Storm Doris-related incidents so far today, as strong winds batter the city. The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning and said winds of up to 70 mph are likely. The storm has also caused major delays across the UK's transport networks, with trees falling onto [...]
Norwegian launches a raft of new transtlantic flights from Belfast, Edinburgh and Dublin to the US February 23, 2017 Low-cost airline Norwegian has announced a series of new transatlantic flights from five cities in the UK and Ireland to the US, offering tickets from £69. In total, Norwegian is launching 10 new routes with 38 new transatlantic flights this summer from Edinburgh, Belfast, Cork, Shannon and Dublin. The flights will start on 15 June [...]
MP committee tells press industry: Toughen up regulator or face feared Section 40 February 23, 2017 A group of MPs has called on the press industry to toughen up its regulator or face the much-feared Section 40. Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport committee today published a report calling for the industry’s preferred regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), to make itself compliant with recommendations set out by Lord Justice Leveson after [...]
Zest for pests: Rentokil Initial’s profits creep up after 41 acquisitions worth £107m February 23, 2017 Rat-catcher and business services group Rentokil Initial's pre-tax profit crept up last year on the back of 41 acquisitions worth £107m. For the year to the end of December, the FTSE 250 firm's pre-tax profit stood at £208.5m from £159m the year before. Revenue hit £2.17bn, up from £1.8bn in the previous year. Rentokil Initial acquired 41 companies in 2016 for [...]
BAE Systems expects earnings to rise in 2017 as defence spending ramps up in the US and other major markets February 23, 2017 BAE Systems anticipates its earnings will rise five to 10 per cent this year as its key markets ramp up defence spending. The figures In the year to the end of December 2016, the leading weapons and aviation group said sales increased to £19.02bn from £17.9bn the previous year, almost all of which was due to foreign exchange rates. [...]