Sterling hammered as pound drops toward $1.21 October 11, 2016 Sterling continued its dramatic decline last night, crashing through key levels against both the dollar and the euro during a punishing session. The pound lost two cents against the dollar in a matter of four hours yesterday evening, falling to a low of $1.209 after US markets opened. Sterling also plunged through the €1.10 mark [...]
Tony Hayward reportedly eyeing oil fields in Latin America for a big investor October 11, 2016 The former BP boss, Tony Hayward, is reportedly working with private equity investor Carlyle to find oil fields to purchase in Latin America. Sky News reported that, if successful, he's likely to be paid a fee by Carlyle for introducing the deal to the firm. While it is unclear whether Hayward would have an ongoing role in the new venture, [...]
Biffa, GoCompare and others will not follow Pure Gym in binning IPO plans October 11, 2016 A series of high-profile London stock market flotations are set to go ahead in the coming weeks, despite Pure Gym abandoning its plans for an initial public offering (IPO) this month. City A.M. understands waste disposal company Biffa remains confident of listing on the London Stock Exchange this month. Read more: Pure Gym avoids overstretch [...]
IEA says oil market will recover faster if Opec sticks to cut deal October 11, 2016 The International Energy Agency (IEA) said today that the global oil market could recover more quickly if the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) sticks to its production cut deal. "Even with tentative signs that bulging inventories are starting to decline, our supply-demand outlook suggests that the market — if left to its own devices — may remain [...]
FTSE 100 fails to hold on to new record high October 11, 2016 The FTSE 100 hit a new record high today, before a bumper round of profit-taking sent the index of leading stocks down for the day. The UK's bluechip index hit a high of 7,129 points in lunchtime trading, beating the previous intraday high set in April 2015 of 7,022 points. The gains came as the pound suffered another topsy-turvy [...]
Bank of England rate-setter thinks sterling could fall further October 11, 2016 The newest member of the monetary policy committee (MPC) has said the pound could continue to fall given inherent weaknesses in the UK economy. Michael Saunders, who joined the Bank of England's rate-setting committee over the summer, told MPs today: "Given the scale and persistence of the UK's current account deficit, I would not be [...]
Pure Gym avoids overstretch as it confirms it has pulled the plug on a £190m London IPO October 11, 2016 Pure Gym confirmed this morning it has abandoned plans to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO), citing concerns about a "challenging" and volatile market. The company, which is the UK's largest gym operator, announced it was planning a £190m share sale in mid-September. Pure Gym had planned to use the proceeds to repay its existing [...]
Is the tumbling pound providing a correction, or are we losers now? October 11, 2016 A strong currency can be a sign of a country’s economic success. When a currency rises against another, those earning income in it have greater spending power. Equally, a weaker currency is considered by some to be a source of national embarrassment. Last week’s sterling crash was rather embarrassing for Britain – the pound fell 4.2 [...]
Done right, fiscal policy can act as a channel to direct monetary stimulus into the real economy, not asset prices October 11, 2016 It's scarcely possible to read about global economic policy these days without hearing that central banks have run out of ammunition and a call to open the fiscal floodgates. But is fiscal policy really the answer to whatever is ailing the global economy? And has the great monetary experiment really reached the end of the road? [...]
InnovaDerma predicts maiden profit on Dragons’ Den-backed Skinny Tan October 10, 2016 Shares in InnovaDerma soared today after the beauty company said it is on track to book a maiden profit this year. The firm expects to report revenues of around £4.2m in the year to 30 June, up more than 800 per cent from just £0.5m a year ago. Strong top line growth should enable it to announce a maiden net [...]