Robot worker specialist Blue Prism announces IPO after raising £21.1m and is now due start trading on Aim on Friday morning March 15, 2016 The robots are coming to the London Stock Exchange, after virtual workforce specialist Blue Prism today revealed it had raised £21.1m ahead of its initial public offering. Shares in the company, which is due to be listed on Aim on Friday under the ticker PRSM, have been given a placing price of 78p. Market capitalisation when the company [...]
Ultimate Products eyes sale or IPO and mandates Shore Capital March 15, 2016 The owners of Ultimate Products, which has the licence to sell Russell Hobbs products to retailers, has hired City advisers Shore Capital to explore a potential sale or IPO of the business. The Manchester-based firm could fetch between £50m and £60m, according to people familiar with the situation. Shore Capital has been asked to explore all [...]
Has ECB president Mario Draghi’s big bazooka forged a currency war ceasefire? March 15, 2016 It has been a brutal race to the bottom for currencies, with interest rates slashed, the lower bound tested through negative deposit rates, and monetary policy re-written to explore more inventive options. But in the latest chapter, as the ECB gets more abstract, action has swung to credit easing rather than rate cuts, which maybe – just [...]
HR lady calling: Cosmetics company Avon reduces headcount by around 2,500 worldwide as struggling firm sets out new transformation plan, including moving headquarters to UK March 14, 2016 Avon today revealed that it would be cutting its headcount by around 2,500 positions in a bid to transform the struggling cosmetics company. The headcount reduction includes both filled and open positions worldwide. The company revealed that the decision had come as a result of management rethinking the commercial business of the cosmetics giant and [...]
Rosetta Stone names new chief executive as language learning software provider reveals narrowing losses for full year ended December 2015 March 14, 2016 Language software company Rosetta Stone today revealed its new chief executive alongside narrowing losses in its results for its year ended December 2015. Revenue for the company's full year dropped to $217.7m (£152.2m), down 17 per cent from $261.9m in 2014, although it narrowed its losses to $46.8m, an improvement of 37 per cent compared with $73.7m the year before. [...]
Opec is predicting lower demand for oil in 2016, resulting in an increase in excess supply in the market March 14, 2016 Global demand for oil is expected to be less than previously thought in 2016, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). Opec has put demand for crude at an average of 31.52m barrels per day in 2016, down 90,000 from last month's forecast. In its latest month report Opec has also predicted that supply from non-Opec [...]
Criminal investigation launched after man caught on video urinating on Kellogg’s factory assembly line March 14, 2016 A criminal investigation has been launched in the US after a video was posted online showing a man urinating on a Kellogg's factory assembly line. The company, which owns a number of well-known breakfast cereal brands, learned of the video on Friday and its own investigation revealed that it was filmed in its Memphis, Tennessee, factory in [...]
Russia predicts oil production freeze deal could be signed in April March 14, 2016 A historic deal among some of the world's biggest oil producers to freeze production could be inked in April and exclude Iran, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said today. Speaking after a meeting with Iranian officials in Tehran, Novak said Iran has a right to duck out of the deal until the recovery of its oil output, which had [...]
3D Systems share price up as 3D printer company announces that revenues have increased in its results for full year ended December 2015 March 14, 2016 Share price in 3D Systems rose today after the company revealed its revenues inched up for its full year ended December 2015. The 3D printing company revealed that revenue had grown during 2015 by two per cent to $666.2m (£465.3m). "We believe that by leveraging our domain expertise, partner and customer relationships and advanced technology we are well positioned [...]
Former Anglo Irish chief executive David Drumm charged with fraud and forgery in Dublin after extradition to Ireland March 14, 2016 The ex-chief executive of failed bank Anglo Irish, David Drumm, has been formally charged with 33 offences relating to the bank's collapse in Dublin after a three year extradition battle in the US. The charges include forgery, conspiracy to defraud, provision of unlawful financial assistance, false accounting, and falsification of loan facilities, some of which carry sentences of up to [...]