Oil prices: Has black gold lost its shine? As Royal Dutch Shell takes a $4bn hit from a failed venture, are oil companies still investable? September 29, 2015 Royal Dutch Shell has halted oil exploration in the Arctic, after a $7bn (£4.6bn) quest failed to yield enough crude to justify continued spending. The venture has been a “very costly error” and will damage the company both financially and reputationally, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Lucas Herrman. Shell said it is likely [...]
London beats New York for the number of high tech jobs September 29, 2015 London is home to more tech talent than the cities of New York and San Francisco – or anywhere in Europe. There are more than 71,000 professional developers in the capital, according to research from Stack Overflow, an online developers’ group: 25 per cent more than NYC. A separate set of data from [...]
Saudi Arabia takes billions from asset managers to shrink deficit September 29, 2015 Saudi Arabia has pulled up to $70bn (£46bn) out of global asset managers in a bid to cut its deficit and reduce exposure to equities markets as it struggles to deal with weakened global oil prices. According to a report in the Financial Times, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency’s foreign reserves have fallen by almost [...]
UK companies may struggle to cover dividends as profitability plummets September 29, 2015 Dividend cover for the UK’s top 350 shares has dropped to a near six-year low as profitability among the country’s largest firms has dwindled, according to research from The Share Centre. Dividend cover is a ratio defined by profit after tax divided by dividends paid. The higher the ratio, the greater the comfort that a [...]
Skills gap grows and threatens UK productivity September 28, 2015 UK employers are facing even greater skills shortages and rising wage pressures, according to a new report from global recruiters Hays. Since 2012, the UK’s talent mismatch level – the gap between the skills people can offer and those employers are looking for – has increased every year. The UK now has a talent mismatch [...]
EU referendum: Fast-growing UK firms want to remain in the European Union and say Brexit will negatively impact their business September 28, 2015 High-growth companies are overwhelmingly in favour of Britain remaining in the European Union, according to a poll out yesterday. ECI Partners, a private equity firm, polled more than 300 fast-growing British firms over the summer, finding that nine out of 10 want the UK to remain in the EU. Just over half said [...]
Better to climb the ladder in work than find a new job as average UK salary has dropped 3.3 per cent in 2015 September 28, 2015 Hate your boss? It might still be better to stay put, as new data reveal the average UK advertised salary has dropped 3.3 per cent this year to £33,318. Figures from jobs database Adzuna, show that while advertised salaries have slipped, wages for those in work have risen more than 2.9 per cent. [...]
Diversity on executive boards: Better for business September 28, 2015 Diversity on executive boards can help companies to outperform firms with all-male leaderships, according to new research from Grant Thornton. A study by the group estimates that the opportunity cost, in terms of lower returns on assets, for companies with male-only boards was £430bn in 2014. The report, Women in business: the value of diversity, [...]
Insurance survey shows firms lack tech knowledge September 28, 2015 Insurance firms are upbeat about the sector, but may not be fully aware of the implications that FinTech developments hold for them, according to research from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and PwC. The set of data reveals that all sectors continue to expect to increase spending on information technology – the most common [...]
London’s helping the jobs boom with eight per cent jump in professional vacancies September 28, 2015 The financial services sector is helping to drive a boom for professional recruitment firms, which now have eight per cent more vacancies on their books compared to last year. According to data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), permanent vacancies across finance and accounting, IT and media and marketing are all up year-on-year, [...]