Rosneft stuck in a rouble rut as profits plunge 99 per cent October 29, 2014 It is a sign of the times for Russian oil companies that a 99 per cent fall in profits "defies expectations", but shares in Rosneft rose this afternoon after it posted figures showing it had avoided making a net loss in the third quarter. Instead, net profits for the world's largest oil producer fell to [...]
Noose tightens around global tax evasion as OECD countries sign new agreement October 29, 2014 The OECD just took a step closer to fighting tax evasion on a global scale, with 51 territories agreeing to create “information exchanges” that will help track culprits down. The first signatories to the dull-sounding "multilateral competent authority agreement" – which include the UK and Ireland – will launch their information exchanges by September 2017. [...]
Tesco share price rises as it confirms Serious Fraud Office has launched a criminal investigation October 29, 2014 The Serious Fraud Office has launched a formal criminal investigation into accounting errors at Tesco which led to a £263m profit black hole. Despite that, shares rose 2.6 per cent in mid-afternoon trading. The SFO had previously said it was “following developments at Tesco with interest” after the supermarket’s profit overstatement was first revealed in [...]
UK business is booming – but are workers being forced into self-employment? October 29, 2014 The number of businesses in the UK grew by 4.4 per cent between March 2013 and March 2014 as the recovery gathered pace, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures published this morning. The total number of VAT and/or PAYE businesses rose by 96,000 during the period. The report also showed the continued [...]
Why untrained investors don’t need portfolio managers: Financial expertise makes no difference to investment returns October 29, 2014 Having financial expertise does not make you more likely to make the right investment decisions – most of it is just down to common sense, according to a business scholar at a Michigan State University. By studying the private portfolios of mutual fund managers, Andrei Simonov found they were surprisingly unsuccessful at outperforming untrained [...]
Pea shoots and TV equipment: Here’s what Nasa’s exploded Antares rocket was carrying October 29, 2014 The rocket that blew up seconds after its launch last night might have been unmanned, but that doesn't mean the mission's failure hasn't cost Nasa and Orbital Sciences, the company behind it, dear. The Antares Rocket was the third time Orbital has been contracted by Nasa to resupply the International Space Station (ISS), and as [...]
Cut the costs of your overseas money transfers October 29, 2014 Moving money overseas can be more expensive than you expect, but there are a number of ways to keep costs down and minimise the inconvenience, especially if you have to make regular international payments. The City A.M International Payments service offers you rates that are typically 3-4% better than you can expect from a high [...]
Air France-KLM share price opens lower as pilot strikes cut profits in half October 29, 2014 Shares in Air France-KLM opened 3.6 per cent lower at €6.41 this morning, after third quarter operating profit fell by half . Profit for the three months to 30 September in 2014 was €247m, compared with €641m during the equivalent period last year. The company put the fall in profit down to September's [...]
How a single comment cost Royal Bank of Canada millions of dollars in fees from Alibaba’s IPO October 29, 2014 One banker will be keeping his or her mouth shut for a while to come after, let’s say a slight snafu, ended up costing their employer millions of dollars. The loose-lipped, unnamed banker at Royal Bank of Canada apparently let slip a comment about Alibaba during a webinar. No biggie, surely – unless the bank [...]
Mortgage approvals fall to lowest level since July 2013 October 29, 2014 Mortgage approvals have fallen to a 16-month low, adding further weight to the argument that the housing market is slowing down. Lenders approved just 61, 267 mortgages in September, figures published by the Bank of England revealed this morning, continuing the decline from a peak at the start of this year. In total, [...]