Plus500 share price gains as company defends “sustainable business model” May 27, 2015 Plus500's share price has risen by more than seven per cent in morning trading after the firm insisted it had a "sustainable business model" in a statement to the stock exchange. The Israeli-based spreadbetter is holding its annual general meeting today where it is expected to give further details about how recent freezes on some its [...]
Snapchat IPO: Founder Evan Spiegel reveals plans to take messaging app public May 27, 2015 Evan Spiegel, the co-founder and chief of the billion-dollar app Snapchat, has said the company is planning an IPO. "We need to IPO," the 24-year-old told a tech conference, ruling out an acquisition by a larger company. Spiegel did not divulge the time frame Snapchat is following to take the hugely popular app public, but [...]
Imperial Tobacco share price rises after $7.1bn purchase of Reynolds cigarette brands wins regulatory approval May 27, 2015 Imperial Tobacco's takeover of a number of cigarette and ecigarette brands from Reynolds American is set to go ahead after winning regulatory approval from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The British tobacco company entered into a purchase agreement for the brands as far back as July last year following Reynolds' $27bn (£17.5bn) takeover of Lorillard. [...]
Wizz Air profits and revenue soar to record success in 2015 May 27, 2015 Wizz Air has been flying high since it floated in February. The figures Eastern Europe's largest low-cost airline achieved record results in 2015, with profits up at €146m (£103m) for the 12 months to 31 March – a 67 per cent increase from €87m in 2014. Revenue also went up by 21 per cent [...]
Aer Lingus is cleared for BA boss’ takeover as Ireland agrees to sell May 26, 2015 The Irish government last night agreed to sell its 25 per cent in Aer Lingus to British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) after many setbacks. The Irish airline’s board recommended IAG’s proposed €1.36bn (£961bn) offer in February, but it still needs support from the other main shareholder, Ryanair, which has previously voiced its support [...]
£6m loan for London startup notonthehighstreet.com from Silicon Valley Bank May 26, 2015 The London-based tech startup notonthehighstreet.com has won a £6m loan from the Silicon Valley Bank. The website, which was founded by Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish, brings together lifestyle products from over 5,000 small businesses and makes them easy to buy. It will use the money from the new loan to expand the business further. [...]
ING cuts stake in investment firm NN in line with 2008 bailout deal May 26, 2015 Dutch banking giant ING last night cut its stake in NN, an insurance and investment management company. ING has agreed to sell 45m shares at €24.46 per share, making the sale worth €1.1bn (£780m). The deal slashes ING’s stake in NN from 54.8 per cent to 42.4 per cent. NN said it would purchase 5.9m shares, valued at [...]
Liberty’s John Malone nets his prey with Time Warner and Bright House Networks takeover blitz May 26, 2015 John Malone's Liberty empire owns scores of media assets around the globe, including Virgin Media in the UK Cable kingpin John Malone ended his long running pursuit of Time Warner Cable (TWC) yesterday by engineering a $90bn (£59bn) takeover blitz to create the US’s second biggest cable operator. Charter Communications, a vehicle of Malone’s [...]
Spreadbetter Plus500 bounces higher ahead of crunch shareholder meeting May 26, 2015 Crisis-hit spreadbetter Plus500 won the backing of top shareholder Odey Asset Management yesterday, ahead of a crunch meeting of shareholders today in London. An Odey fund run by James Hanbury added another tranche of shares to its holdings, taking the company’s ownership of the firm past 19 per cent, amid a broad-based rally in [...]
IMF tells China to let currency trade freely May 26, 2015 China’s government is being urged to liberalise more of its economy, and let markets operate more freely in its finance sectors. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday urged the authorities to let its currency, the renminbi, trade freely, and asked the government to target a free-floating exchange rate in the next two to three years. [...]