Mario Draghi to resist pressure on more hawkish tilt towards quantitative easing March 4, 2018 Economists expect European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi to hold back from any major changes in communication on Thursday after policymakers update monetary policy. The European economy has continued to perform strongly, but the ECB has so far not signalled any desire to end its monthly €30bn (£27bn) asset purchases before September as currently [...]
Provident Financial share surge makes it “a proper short again” as hedge funds sense a fresh opportunity March 4, 2018 Hedge funds have upped bets against Provident Financial, hoping to capitalise on any negative reaction to the sub-prime lender’s recent share price surge. Provident’s market value leapt over 70 per cent on Tuesday. While soaring to around 1,000p a share, its stock market value remains less than a third of what it was a year [...]
Interserve rescue plans boosted by white knight’s £140m debt trade | City A.M. March 4, 2018 A Scottish brewing tycoon has snapped up £140m of Interserve’s bank debt in a bid to save the troubled outsourcer. Multi-millionaire Punch Taverns founder Alan McIntosh has hoovered up debt on secondary markets from the likes of Barclays and Lloyds through family office investment fund Emerald Investment Partners. Keen to reduce their exposure to the [...]
Theresa May says the UK will ditch passporting because it makes the City a “rule-taker” March 4, 2018 Theresa May has said that the UK will ditch passporting after Brexit because it makes the City of London a “rule-taker”. Speaking on the Andrew Marr show, she said a new trade deal with the EU will go further than the bloc’s agreement with Canada, but that the UK must leave the Single Market. Read [...]
Former KPMG UK chair heads up LSE probe into boardroom showdown which led to Xavier Rolet departure March 3, 2018 An independent review of last year’s boardroom crisis at the London Stock Exchange Group is underway, led by a City heavyweight. The LSE has turned to Simon Collins, a former UK chairman of KPMG, to head up the probe, according to Sky News. LSE chair Donad Brydon has written to its 20 largest shareholders to [...]
Dialog Semiconductor says Apple supply deal in place until at least 2020 March 3, 2018 The boss of chip maker Dialog Semiconductor attempted to soothe investor fears today, saying Apple will keep using its products to at least 2020. Chief executive Jalal Bagherli told German newspaper Euro am Sonntag that Apple has already commissioned chips for 2019 and 2020. The tech giant is the UK-based manufacturer’s biggest customer. But Dialog’s [...]
FTSE 100 firm Mondi share price (MNDI) rises as it hands out a special divi after a rise in annual profits March 2, 2018 Mondi is delivering shareholders a special payout after profit climbed and the board signalled a positive outlook for 2018. The figures The packaging products company’s pre-tax profit rose five per cent in the year to December 2017 to €887m (£792m) on revenues of €7.1bn, up seven per cent from the previous year. Mondi recommended a [...]
Mike Ashley ups Sports Direct’s stake in Debenhams March 2, 2018 Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct has upped its stake in high street retailer Debenhams to more than a quarter. Debenhams shares were up over four per cent at lunchtime after it was revealed that Sports Direct’s stake is now 29.7 per cent. This brings it close to the threshold at which a formal takeover bid must [...]
Donald Trump says “trade wars are good” after steel and aluminium tariffs prompt global market sell-off March 2, 2018 Donald Trump has doubled down on his decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to the US, tweeting “trade wars are good”. The US President tweeted: “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to [...]
Bank of England chief Mark Carney says cryptocurrencies are failing as money March 2, 2018 Bank of England governor Mark Carney said cryptocurrencies are failing as a system of money. In a speech to the inaugural Scottish Economics Conference, Carney posed the question: “How well do cryptocurrencies fulfil the roles of money?” In response, the Bank chief said: “The long, charitable answer is that cryptocurrencies act as money, at best, [...]