“Extraordinary surge” in M&A continues into 2018 April 4, 2018 The “extraordinary surge” of dealmaking which picked up at the end of 2017 has continued into the first three months of 2018, figures released today revealed. Activity hit its highest value since 2001 with pressure from shareholders and the search for innovation driving corporates towards M&A. In the first quarter, $890.7bn (£632.8bn) was recorded across [...]
Should Mark Zuckerberg step down? April 4, 2018 THE CEO HAS changed. That’s no longer a secret. For the first time in history, chief executives and business leaders are virtually expected to be in the public eye, communicating with the customer and offering opinions on social and political issues. This can have commercial benefits. People buy from other people: therefore if organisations leverage [...]
Canadian start-up looking to raise £35m for project to rival Elon Musk’s Hyperloop April 4, 2018 A Canadian startup has entered the futuristic transportation race by issuing a call to arms to raise $50m (£35m) to develop its own hyperloop technology. Bloomberg reported that TransPod is looking to raise funds to develop its own Hyperloop, a project first proposed by Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX. Hyperloop envisages passengers propelled in pods [...]
Car insurance premiums set to rise in the two years say insurance bosses April 4, 2018 Eight out of 10 insurance bosses in the UK, EU and US predict that motor premiums will rise in the next two years, with 43 percent thinking they will rise by at least 10 per cent. Telematics company The Floow surveyed 280 decision makers at insurance companies and found that those in the UK were [...]
European markets down amid fears of US-China trade war April 4, 2018 European markets opened lower on Wednesday amid fears of an escalating global trade war, after China slapped new retaliatory tariffs on US goods. The FTSE100 lost about 10 points in Wednesday’s first deals, before dropping a further 45 points down to 6,979 before midday. On the continent, the pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 4.29 [...]
UK house prices: Over-50s hold 75 per cent of UK housing wealth, says Savills report April 4, 2018 Homeowners over 50 hold three-quarters of the country’s housing wealth, according to new research from global property adviser Savills. These older homeowners, who have benefited from years of strong housing price growth, now own 75 per cent of all equity, with a total value of £2.8 trillion. The analysis reveals the extent to which equity [...]
Gold up, dollar down: Markets react as China unveils retaliatory $50bn tariffs on US products April 4, 2018 Donald Trump has denied the US is in a trade war with China, as markets fell on the back of retaliatory tariffs unveiled by Beijing this morning. The US dollar fell against the yen, euro and pound this morning after China revealed its tit-for-tat $50bn measures. Beijing confirmed a 25 per cent levy on US [...]
Construction activity shrinks in March after unusually bad weather, says IHS Markit, CIPS UK construction PMI April 4, 2018 Activity in the construction sector was chilled in March due to “unusually bad weather”, according to the IHS Markit/CIPS UK construction purchasing manager’s index out this morning. Growth slowed from a reading of 51.4 in February to 47 in March, signalling the first time industry activity fell below the 50 no-change marker for six months. [...]
WPP (WPP) share price falls as chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell rejects allegation of financial impropriety “unreservedly” April 4, 2018 Shares in WPP fell in early trading after the firm put out a statement this morning saying it had appointed independent counsel regarding an allegation of personal misconduct against its chief executive. Sir Martin Sorrell has said he rejects the allegation “unreservedly”. Shares in the firm dipped more than three per cent in early trading. [...]
A truly global Britain would not meddle with the market – Theresa May’s government must be careful how it deals with De La Rue, GKN, Melrose and Sky April 4, 2018 With the Conservatives and Labour neck-and-neck in the polls and a Brexit-shaped mountain building up in her in-tray, the last thing Theresa May needs is a trio of tricky situations emanating from the business world. Yet that is precisely the situation in which the Prime Minister finds herself. Away from the far weightier concerns of [...]