Greene King and Spirit deal gets amber light from market regulator May 11, 2015 The Competition and Markets authority (CMA) yesterday gave pub company Greene King and Spirit a week to sort out hurdles that could halt their planned £774m merger. The authority said the current proposal would “substantially” lessen competition in the pubs sector. However, it pointed to difficulties in only 16 locations, which is small considering that [...]
Death rate rise propels profits at funeral provider Dignity May 11, 2015 An unusually high death rate helped Dignity, the UK’s only listed funeral provider, make higher profits last quarter. Deaths across the UK rose to 175,000 for the three months ending March, up nearly 20 per cent compared with last year. Revenue followed trend and rose to £85.5m from £69.1m in 2014. “The year has started [...]
Insurance customers may be ripped off by poor sales information May 11, 2015 Insurance firms received a slap on the wrist from the City watchdog yesterday for failing to provide proper information to customers on the costs of various payment options. The Financial Conduct Authority’s study found that insurance sellers do not always make it clear how much customers will pay if they pick various different payment options. For [...]
Fitness First in £200m revamp to lure back old fans May 11, 2015 Gym chains profit from helping people stay in shape, which is no easy feat when the customer in desperate need of a health kick is the club itself. Fitness First, which was rescued by its lender Oaktree Capital from the brink of collapse in 2012, has faced the gruelling task of getting back on form [...]
GW Pharmaceuticals reports high hopes for its cannabis-based childhood epilepsy drug Epidiolex despite losses May 11, 2015 British drugmaker GW Pharmaceuticals yesterday posted a widened half-year, pre-tax loss, as it invested more in its cannabis-based Epidiolex treatment for childhood epilepsies. The pharmaceutical company, dual listed on Aim in London and the Nasdaq in New York, posted a pre-tax loss of £13.7m for the six months ending March, which widened from £10.6m a [...]
Shell’s plan to drill in the Arctic is approved by US Department of Interior May 11, 2015 The Arctic is one of the most oil and gas-rich places on the planet, containing an estimated 20 per cent of the world's undiscovered reserves. It's no wonder, then, that Royal Dutch Shell has set its sights on drilling there, and it has just received “conditional” approval from the US Department of Interior to do [...]
Citigroup reveals it could plead guilty in Forex investigation May 11, 2015 Citigroup has said it could plead guilty to antitrust charges relating to Forex manipulation. The US bank is one of six being investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ), over claims that employees colluded to change foreign exchange rates to boost their own profits. They are accused of sharing confidential information about clients [...]
Tesco splits with auditor PwC after 32 years choosing Deloitte for turnaround May 11, 2015 Tesco has split with PwC, ending a 32-year relationship with the accounting firm following the worst year in the supermarket's near-century history. A Tesco spokesperson said: “We have issued an invitation to tender for the appointment of an auditor. Taking into account the term for which PWC has served as auditor, we have agreed with [...]
UK Oil and Gas Investments share price jumps on another Horse Hill oil estimate upgrade May 11, 2015 Shares in UK Oil and Gas Investments (UKOG), the company behind the oil discovery at Horse Hill near Gatwick, were up six per cent in early trading after estimates for how much oil there is in sandstone rocks in the area were upgraded. The new estimates are separate to the one made last month claiming [...]
ITE Group share price jumps as it shakes off Russia woes May 11, 2015 A sign of the times? Exhibitions and conferences business ITE Group, whose largest market is Russia and Ukraine, says it's back on form. The figures Alright, so the company's pre-tax profits fell 3.9 per cent to £17.5m in the six months to the end of March, while revenues dropped from £71.2m in 2014 to £56.1m. And net debt rose to [...]