Aviva shareholder criticism prompts £450m preference share climbdown March 23, 2018 Insurance giant Aviva has today been forced into a U-turn over controversial plans to cancel £450m of high-interest shares. After receiving “strong feedback and criticism” from investors, Aviva has reneged on proposals to bin its irredeemable preference shares. Some of the shares date back to 1992 and pay an 8.5 per cent coupon. Boss Mark [...]
Bramson betting on Barclays break-up: When did activist investors become so polite? March 23, 2018 This week’s disclosure by Ed Bramson’s Sherborne Investments of a 5.2 per cent voting stake in Barclays was accompanied by the now-usual platitudes about constructive relations with the board, spotting a company undervalued by the stock market, and so on. That’s superficially plausible: Sherborne has already made a healthy return on the stock it began [...]
Facebook’s reign of unpunished rule-breaking is coming to an end March 23, 2018 Sorry seems to be the hardest word, they say. And for tech-superstar-turned-virtual-antichrist Mark Zuckerberg, it certainly seems difficult. The scandal over the unorthodox use of Facebook user data by political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica isn’t going away. It’s been nearly a week since the Guardian profiled whistleblower Christopher Wylie, who explains how the company scraped [...]
Russian spy poisoning: Policeman Nick Bailey who fell ill after responding to the attack discharged from hospital March 22, 2018 Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who fell ill after responding to the Salisbury nerve agent attack earlier this month, has been discharged from hospital. Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are still in critical but stable condition in hospital. Upon his departure from hospital, Wiltshire police chief constable Kier Pritchard read a statement from [...]
Formula 1 2018: The milestones in Lewis Hamilton’s sights as he aims for fifth championship March 22, 2018 For Lewis Hamilton, it was the brilliant Brazilian Ayrton Senna whose career achievements in Formula 1 he wanted to emulate in his own. In winning his fourth F1 championship crown last year, Hamilton surpassed Senna’s own number of titles and ahead of the 2018 season he is now, in his own words, “expanding to an [...]
Ladbrokes fails to recoup £71m from HMRC in long-running tax spat March 22, 2018 Ladbrokes’ long-running tax battle with HMRC has come to a halt after the Court of Appeal rejected the bookies’ appeal to win a £71m rebate for the third time. Ladbrokes’ dispute with HMRC dates back to 2008, when it entered into a scheme promoted by Deloitte that was branded as tax avoidance by HMRC. The [...]
Private individuals are being welcomed into the exclusive world of private equity as fintech firms help investors access funds March 22, 2018 A growing number of private equity firms, which have typically only accepted cheques from large institutions, are choosing to tap the private investor market to help them raise money. Fintech firm Coinvestor, which helps investors pool their cash to commit to funds which usually only accept hefty sums, was signed by south of England-focused Altitude [...]
This new bench in Westminster has the ability to fight as much pollution as 275 trees can March 22, 2018 Westminster is trying to bench pollution with a high-tech vertical garden right off Piccadilly Circus. The over 13-feet tall moss seating structure is called a CityTree and can hold up to 1,682 pots of moss — these have the ability to absorb as much pollution as 275 trees can. They are additionally outfitted with solar [...]
Crest Nicholson defends CEO Stephen Stone’s new role as some shareholders rebel March 22, 2018 Housebuilder Crest Nicholson defended its CEO’s new role as a chunk of shareholders voted against the proposal at its AGM. The vote passed a motion to re-elect Stephen Stone in a new role as executive chairman for one year, followed by two years as a non-executive director. But almost 10 per cent of shareholder withheld [...]
Provident Financial share price yo-yos after investors rubber-stamp £300m rights issue March 22, 2018 Provident Financial shares appeared to lurch widely today after the doorstep lender’s rights issue was yesterday rubber-stamped by investors. The firm revealed plans for a £300m rights issue at the end of last month. Yesterday the Bradford-based lender called an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to vote on the fundraising. It was supported by 99.93 per [...]