Moneycorp profits up on boom in international payments unit June 4, 2015 Foreign exchange provider Moneycorp increased its gross profits by 26 per cent on the year in the first quarter of 2015, its financial results show today. Its earnings rose from £22.7m in the first three months of 2014 to £28.6m in the same period of this year. Retail growth was relatively subdued, with revenues up five [...]
Passenger numbers are up for EasyJet as summer approaches June 4, 2015 EasyJet yesterday announced a 7.2 per cent rise in passengers for May 2015, compared to May 2014. The budget airline flew 6.4m passengers last month, compared to 6m the year before. Its load factor, the average portion of capacity an airline has filled with travellers, was up to 91.2 per cent, from 89.4 [...]
Wizz Air unveils new routes and fares as passenger numbers soar June 4, 2015 Budget airline Wizz Air announced a 20 per cent rise in passengers for last month, compared to May last year. Passenger numbers were up to 1.6m, from 1.3m last year. This was in part helped by the introduction of two new A320 aircraft, which have 180 seats each. The firm also announced that capacity was [...]
Swiss prosecutor drops HSBC money laundering probe without criminal charge June 4, 2015 HSBC can start to breathe easily – at least when it comes to the money laundering claims. Swiss prosecutors have dropped their investigation into its private bank after reaching a financial settlement that carries no admission of guilt. HSBC has agreed to pay SF40m (£27.8m) to the Genevan authorities investigating alleged money laundering [...]
Morrisons AGM: The best quotes so far June 4, 2015 It might not be quite as explosive at last year's event but the annual general meeting of troubled supermarket Morissons is shaping up to be another lively affair. The best lines so far A shareholder on new chief executive David Potts: “It's nice to hear the new chief executive talking English. The predecessor [Dalton Philips] [...]
Lloyds Banking Group faces record £100m PPI fine this week June 4, 2015 UPDATE: Lloyds Banking Group fined £117m for PPI failings Lloyds Banking Group could be slammed with a record fine from the FCA for its handling of PPI complaints. The bank – which is currently still part-owned by the taxpayer – could receive a penalty of “well over £100m” from City watchdog the FCA . [...]
Marks & Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland pockets £600,000 bonus after retailer’s first profit rise in four years June 4, 2015 It's not just shareholders who will be pleased that Marks & Spencer finally returned to growth last year. Marc Bolland has pocketed a bonus worth nearly £600,000 for the high street retailer's green shoots, which reported its first rise in profits in four years last month. Bolland received a bonus worth £596,000 on [...]
UK Oil and Gas Investments shares suspended pending Horse Hill oil announcement June 4, 2015 Trading in the shares of UK Oil and Gas Investments has been temporarily suspended pending an announcement about the firm's Horse Hill oil reserves. Shares were suspended on Aim from 7.30am Read more: "Gatwick gusher" shares are going berserk "The company has requested the temporary suspension of trading in its shares, pending an announcement in relation [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct hires Matt Pearson as new finance boss after 18 months… but he’s only “acting” June 4, 2015 It's taken 18 months and some serious shareholder pressure, but Sports Direct has finally appointed a new finance boss… although only on an interim basis. The Mike Ashley-owned retailer has today promoted Matt Pearson to the role of acting chief financial officer with immediate effect. He also joins the board. Pearson was group [...]
Alibaba Pictures share price tumbles following $1.6bn placement June 4, 2015 Alibaba Pictures' share price has dropped over eight per cent on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as it announced a massive share sale expected to raise at least HK$12.1bn ($1.6bn/£1.2bn). Read more: Alibaba will invest in Jackie Chan movies The company is a separately traded unit of the New York-listed ecommerce giant Alibaba, formed last year [...]