Coup de grace: Are investors misjudging Marine Le Pen’s chances of victory in France’s presidential election? February 21, 2017 "Fool me twice, shame on me,” goes the idiom. Caught out by shock victories for the Leave and Trump campaigns in 2016, investors are determined not to let political risk get the better of them a third time as the French presidential election approaches this spring. Since the beginning of the year, French government bonds [...]
Telefonica sells stake in Telxius to KKR in a deal that values the firm at €3.2bn February 21, 2017 Telefonica has sold a €1.3bn (£1.1bn) stake in its Spanish infrastructure division, a move that paves the way for it to refocus on plans for the London listing of O2. The Spanish telecoms giant sold a 40 per cent share of Telxius Telecom to private equity firm KKR, in a deal that values its infrastructure subsidiary at €3.2bn. KKR saw off competition [...]
The Eurozone economy heats up to pre-debt-crisis levels as German manufacturing drives growth February 21, 2017 The Eurozone economy has showed signs of heating up, with German manufacturing expanding at the fastest pace since 2011 before a sovereign debt crisis swept through the region, according to a survey closely followed by monetary policymakers. Across the Eurozone the expansion of industry reached an almost six-year high, according to the composite purchasing managers' index [...]
InterContinental to return $400m to investors as it unveils special divi and 11 per cent rise in its total dividend February 21, 2017 InterContinental Hotels Group is approaching 2017 with confidence after dishing up a chunky pay-out for investors in its yearly results. The firm, which runs hotels under brands including Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and InterContinental, reported a slightly better-than-expected yearly profit rise and said it will be returning $400m (£322m) to investors via a special dividend and [...]
HSBC profits plummet: This is how City analysts reacted February 21, 2017 HSBC announced a 62 per cent decline in profits for 2016 this morning, dipping to $7.1bn (£5.7bn) from $18.9bn the year before. Shares in the bank dropped 4.5 per cent at the open after HSBC revealed a series of one-off hits had eroded its bottom line last year. Here's what the analysts had to say: Shining example [...]
BHP Billiton swings back to profit on strong commodity prices and boosts its interim dividend February 21, 2017 Global mining giant BHP Billiton today revealed a boost to its interim dividend after posting a swing back to profit due to higher iron ore prices. The figures For the six months to 31 December 2016, BHP Billiton said it made an attributable profit of $3.2bn (£2.6bn), up from a loss of $5.7bn the previous year. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and [...]
Trump has named Lt Gen HR McMaster as his new national security adviser after Mike Flynn lasted just three weeks in the job February 21, 2017 President Donald Trump has named Lt General HR McMaster as national security adviser, his replacement for Michael Flynn. Trump called McMaster "a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience". His appointment comes after retired vice admiral Robert Harward turned down the role and David Petraeus, former general and CIA chief, was removed from the running. [...]
Toshiba is looking to raise £7bn from the sale of its memory chip business February 21, 2017 Toshiba's shares dipped again today as it prepares to raise at least 1 trillion yen (£7.1bn) from the sale of its flash memory chip business, a source told Reuters. The embattled Japanese firm is working to fill a multi-billion pound hole in its US nuclear business by selling a majority stake or even all of its prized memory chip [...]
The case for an infrastructure spending splurge rests on shaky foundations February 21, 2017 As the chancellor prepares his Budget and US President Donald Trump shapes his economic plan, commentators are urging both to engage in significant new spending on transport infrastructure. The conventional case was articulated well by Times columnist Oliver Kamm last week. Only the government can undertake the investment and planning necessary for complex projects such [...]
Drones will transform our cities – and we’re totally unprepared for the consequences February 21, 2017 Drones are everywhere – whether that’s delivering Domino’s pizzas in New Zealand or dancing behind Lady Gaga at the US Super Bowl. With the news that Amazon’s new drone delivery plan includes “package parachutes”, considering how drones will impact our cities in the future is an issue that London must address now. No longer limited [...]