Glencore boss says the firm “has never been so well positioned as it is today” after strong 2016 results February 23, 2017 Miner and commodities trader Glencore said it has never been better positioned financially as core earnings increased 18 per cent and commodity prices rebound. The figures The Anglo-Swiss miner said adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 18 per cent at $10.27bn (£8.24bn), while EBIT increased 81 per cent to $3.93bn – 14 [...]
These are the UK banks with the happiest and saddest customers February 23, 2017 TSB has the happiest customers of the UK's high street banks, according to new research based on tweets. Emotion analytics company Adoreboard looked at more than 67,000 tweets by bank customers over a six-month period, and used mathematical algorithms to detect emotions such as joy, trust, rage and anger expressed by social media users. Unsurprisingly, the researchers [...]
Gale force winds from Storm Doris are set to cause travel disruption across Southern rail routes today February 23, 2017 A storm is brewing on Southern rail. An actual storm. No, it's not fed-up passengers staging an intervention, but a warning that Storm Doris is going to cause some significant troubles on the network today. Passengers have been advised to check before travelling today as gale force winds from Storm Doris have prompted Network Rail [...]
Co-op Energy will hike its prices for the second time in six months February 23, 2017 Co-operative Energy will increase its prices for the second time in six months, adding a collective £90 to customers' bills due to rising costs in the sector. The energy provider will raise its prices by five per cent, or £58, for gas and electricity from 1 April. In October, the firm raised energy prices three per [...]
National Express raises its dividend off the back of a surge in profits February 23, 2017 National Express has upped its dividend after announcing a 10 per cent rise in pre-tax profits, thanks to solid growth outside the UK. Read more: Mamma mia! National Express exits UK rail, leaving it to the Italians The figures Pre-tax profits of its continuing operations for the year rose 11 per cent to £136.3m, while pre-tax profits for [...]
Government stake in Lloyds Banking Group drops below four per cent, down from 43 per cent at its peak February 23, 2017 The government revealed this morning that it had shed more of its stake in Lloyds Banking Group, with its remaining shareholding now standing at less than four per cent. The government said to date it had recovered over £19bn of the £20.3bn of taxpayer cash that was used to bolster the bank in the aftermath of [...]
O2 to sponsor London arena for 10 more years after success of enticing more customers to stay February 23, 2017 O2 hailed its partnership with what was once seen as the UK’s largest white elephant, saying it has been key to halving the number of people leaving the mobile network over the last 10 years. The mobile network firm, owned by Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, initiated the sponsorship in 2007 of what was then called the Millennium [...]
Barclays’ 2016 pre-tax profits almost treble at £3.2bn, as it eyes an early close for non-core February 23, 2017 Barclays revealed this morning that its profits had shot up during 2016, and announced it would close down its non-core unit earlier than planned. The figures The banking giant reported a profit before tax of £3.2bn, up 182 per cent from £1.1bn in 2015. However, the figure missed the analysts' consensus, which had predicted profits before tax [...]
RSA grew profit and earnings last year despite underlying premiums dip February 23, 2017 RSA has reported profit and earnings growth in 2016, surpassing analyst expectations with a set of results that chief exec Stephen Hester said demonstrated a "seamless" transition from transition to outperformance. The figures Group operating profit went up 25 per cent to £655m, from £523m last year, while underlying pre-tax profit rose to £556m from [...]
British Gas owner Centrica returns to growth in 2016, but profit in its UK home arm drops February 23, 2017 British Gas owner Centrica today said it swung back to profit growth in 2016, but profit in its UK homes business dropped. The figures Britain's largest energy supplier said group operating profit rose four per cent to £1.52bn in the year to the end of December. However, operating profit for its UK home supplying business fell eight per [...]