Neil Woodford sticks to his guns despite Capita being a “poor investment” February 5, 2018 Star fund manager Neil Woodford has thrown his weight behind embattled contracting giant Capita. Woodford, which owns an 11 per cent stake in Capita, took a big hit after shares crumbled almost 50 per cent last week. Last year his funds were hit as Provident Financial endured one of the biggest one-day sell-offs in FTSE [...]
Britain’s big banks decline to follow Lloyds lead on bitcoin credit card bans February 5, 2018 Lloyds Banking Group has banned customers from buying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using credit cards, but other big British banks say they currently have no plans to clamp down on the risky assets. A wave of lenders around the world have placed restrictions on customers using debt to buy digital currencies, including JP Morgan Chase, [...]
FTSE 100 falls steeply as global stock sell-off continues February 5, 2018 The FTSE 100 suffered a steep fall as markets opened today, following other big sell-offs in equity markets around the world. The benchmark stock indices in Germany, France, Italy and Spain all lost more than one per cent, dragging the Stoxx 600 index, which tracks the biggest companies across Europe, falling by 1.52 per cent [...]
Broadcom has upped its bid for Qualcomm to $82 per share February 5, 2018 The biggest tech deal ever just got a whole lot bigger – if it goes ahead that is. Broadcom has upped its bid for Qualcomm to $82 per share in a deal that would be worth a blockbuster $146bn. It had originally made an unsolicited bid of $70 per share for the iPhone chipmaker, an [...]
FTSE falls on global equities selloff: Here’s how five City analysts reacted February 5, 2018 Shares slid this morning as global equities markets reacted to worrying data coming out of the US on Friday. In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell 1.2 per cent, its biggest fall since August last year – while sterling was pushed lower by a disappointing outlook for the UK’s services sector, with the purchasing managers’ [...]
Sadiq Khan campaign: FTSE-listed housebuilders pledge to reserve London homes for UK-based buyers February 5, 2018 Some of the UK’s biggest housebuilders have pledged to restrict the sale of London homes to UK-based buyers following a campaign by Sadiq Khan. Taylor Wimpey, Barratt London, Berkeley Homes, Redrow and others have offered to restrict sales of homes worth up to £350,000 to UK-based buyers for three months before embarking on any overseas [...]
Super Bowl LII: Triumphant Philadelphia Eagles man Jay Ajayi hails London heritage after beating Tom Brady and co of New England Patriots February 5, 2018 Philadelphia Eagles running back Jay Ajayi lauded his journey from London to his first ever Super Bowl title after helping his side to a thrilling 41-33 victory over NFL titans the New England Patriots. Ajayi, who was born in Hackney, draped himself in the British flag as he celebrated the first Super Bowl victory in [...]
Cineworld climbs after new shares issued as part of Regal deal February 5, 2018 Cineworld shares are up this morning after the company issued over 1bn new shares to the market. The issue comes after the group’s shareholders backed its bid to buy Regal Entertainment Group, which will create the world’s second biggest cinema group. The share price was adjusted from 518.5p on Friday’s close to an opening price [...]
British services sector growth declines to slowest since September 2016 February 5, 2018 Output from the massive British services sector grew at the slowest pace since September 2016, according to a closely watched survey. The purchasing managers’ index for the services sector declined from 54.2 in December to 53 points in January, according to data firm IHS Markit – well below the 54.3 reading expected by economists. A [...]
Downing Street rules out customs union with EU as Leavers warn of “abuse of language” February 5, 2018 The Prime Minister has ruled out the UK remaining in the customs union with the EU, after another week of confusion and infighting between the government’s Brexit factions. Downing Street was last night forced to intervene after yet another minister suggested there might be a loophole on the issue. A source said “it is not [...]