Drax agrees to buy renewable energy firm in next stage of diversifying operations December 6, 2016 Shares in energy giant Drax rocketed nearly 20 per cent this morning after it announced a £340m deal to buy Britain's sixth largest energy provider. Opus Energy generates 96 per cent of its energy from renewable sources and its purchase by Drax fits neatly into plans announced earlier this year to improve earnings through diversifying across energy markets. Read [...]
GoDaddy has beaten out the competition to buy Host Europe Group for $1.8bn December 6, 2016 Website domain name provider GoDaddy is buying rival Host Europe Group (HEG) for €1.69bn (£1.42bn) including debt. The move is designed to help accelerate GoDaddy’s international expansion and grow its services beyond the initial set-up of websites. Host Europe is currently owned by private-equity firm Cinven, which picked up the business in August 2013, and has a debt [...]
This independent beer brand has just started a war on corporate craft beer wannabes December 6, 2016 HonestBrew has started a row with what they claim are faux craft beer peddlers, claiming global industry leaders "hide behind" craft beer names to "trick" beer lovers into thinking they're supporting local businesses. The craft beer seller said multinational companies like AB InBev, a group they nickname "Blandy", buy out local breweries like Camden Town and retailers like Beer Hawk [...]
IG Group and CMC Markets are ‘collateral damage’ in FCA’s bid to protect customers, analysts say December 6, 2016 The regulator's plans to ramp up rules for companies selling contract for difference (CFD) products will be harmful to spreadbetters, regardless of whether they were the intended target of the watchdog, analysts warned today. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) this morning outlined plans to tighten the rules around CFDs, including spread bets – and shares [...]
Britain’s busiest stations: London Waterloo takes the top spot with over 99m passengers December 6, 2016 Commuters at London Waterloo might have guessed it already, but new figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have confirmed it: it's still Britain's busiest station. Annual passenger numbers reached over 99m in one year (99.1m for 2015/16), ahead of Victoria and Liverpool Street stations, which were the second and third busiest stations [...]
Spreadbetters respond to the FCA’s new rule proposals December 6, 2016 Spreadbetting firm IG Group has responded to the City watchdog's proposed new rules for contract for difference (CFD) products, which have knocked 30 per cent off its share price at pixel time. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) wants to impost tighter rules on CFDs sold to customers, including spread bets. Shares in IG, CMC Markets and Plus500 [...]
“A slippery slope to privatisation”: Network Rail shake-up draws mixed reactions December 6, 2016 Chris Grayling's plans to shake-up Network Rail's monopoly on track maintenance have already caused quite the stir. Service operators will be given a role in managing the tracks and Grayling wants the firms operating services to form a joint management team with bosses from state-owned Network Rail. He said on BBC's Today programme that he [...]
Eurozone GDP stays steady on 0.3 per cent in third quarter December 6, 2016 The Eurozone economy grew by 0.3 per cent in the period after the UK's Brexit vote, as some of Europe's most vulnerable economies accelerated slightly. Greece and Portugal both grew by 0.8 per cent in the third quarter, with the former doubling its growth rate from the second quarter. Portugal's growth rate accelerated even faster, [...]
Delays on Thameslink services due to fire at Gatwick Airport December 6, 2016 Thameslink services are subject to serious delays this morning, due to a fire near the train tracks at Gatwick Airport. ⚠We have just had it confirmed that the fault is with the third rail at #GatwickAirport which is blocking platform 1 https://t.co/MHuwsfH5I4 — Thameslink (@TLRailUK) December 6, 2016 The disruption comes as commuters grapple with delays [...]
These are the seven biggest risks facing housebuilders in 2017 December 6, 2016 Think housebuilders have had a bad year? Well, these analysts think 2017 could be worse. On the day of the Brexit vote, housebuilders were subjected to some of the most dramatic sell-offs of any stock. None of the big housebuilders have regained the ground they lost on the day. Read more: EU regulation protecting newts [...]