HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver cancels pay freeze after two weeks and raids 2017 bonus fund to cover the cost February 11, 2016 HSBC has cancelled plans for a pay freeze this year, according to a new memo from chief executive Stuart Gulliver. Less than two weeks ago, it was revealed the bank planned to impose a pay freeze and a hiring freeze across its global business in an effort to save up to $5bn by 2017. However, in [...]
British Gas and EDF become last of the ‘Big Six’ to cut energy prices February 11, 2016 British Gas and EDF Energy have announced price cuts of 5.1 per cent and five per cent, respectively. The energy giants have become the last of the ‘Big Six’ to offer reductions to their customers in recent weeks, following Npower, E.ON, SSE and Scottish Power. This is the third time that British Gas has lowered its [...]
Imperial Brands boosted by rising tobacco prices February 11, 2016 Rising tobacco prices helped push UK tobacco giant Imperial Brands’ revenue up, even as the number of cigarettes sold continues to drop. The firm, which rebranded earlier this month, dropping “tobacco” from its name, blamed the dropping amount of tobacco it sold in the quarter ending 31 December 2015 on turmoil in the Middle East. [...]
Rio Tinto slashes capex and scraps progressive dividend as falling commodities prices gobble up half its earnings February 11, 2016 Rio Tinto is slashing another $3bn from its capex as plunging commodities prices halved the miner’s 2015 earnings. The figures Rio Tinto posted underlying earnings of $4.5bn for 2015. This is down 51 per cent from $9.3bn the year before. Underlying earnings from the FTSE-listed miner’s aluminium arm were down 10 per cent. Iron fell [...]
Johnston Press in talks over buying the i newspaper from Evening Standard owner Alexander Lebedev February 11, 2016 ESI Media has confirmed it is in advanced talks with Johnson Press to buy the Independent's spin-off newspaper I. A figure of £24m has been put on the paper, which was launched in October 2010 with a cover price of 20p, though that has not been confirmed. The Independent – which Alexander Lebedev and his family bought for £1 [...]
Google UK boss Matt Brittin calls for international tax laws to be rewritten ahead of his Public Accounts Committee appearance February 11, 2016 The head of Google UK has called for "simpler, clearer" rules governing the international tax system – but insisted the business did not cut a "sweet-heart deal" with HMRC. Matt Brittin – who will today be grilled by MPs in the Public Accounts Committee – agreed reform was necessary "because it is important not only to [...]
Google tax: British Chambers of Commerce call for simpler business taxes as MPs grill Google executives over sweetheart tax deal February 11, 2016 A simpler business tax system would eliminate the loopholes that lead to tax avoidance schemes, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said today. The BCC's comments come as MPs on the Public Accounts Committee get ready to grill Google executives and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) bosses over the controversial "sweetheart" deal that saw Google hand over £130m [...]
UK house prices: Buy-to-let rush sparks surge in mortgage lending February 11, 2016 Buy-to-let landlords rushing to secure a property before April’s stamp duty hike has driven mortgage lending to its highest level in nine years, according to UK chartered surveyor e.surv. House purchase lending approvals reached 85,432 in January, an increase of 20.6 per cent since December 2015 and the highest number of monthly approvals since October [...]
Amazon shares rise in after hours trading as it unveils $5bn stock buyback February 10, 2016 Shares in US online retail giant Amazon spiked, before settling 1.4 per cent higher in after-hours trading, after it unveiled plans to buy back $5bn (£3.4bn) of shares. The company said will buy back shares "opportunistically from time to time when it believes that doing so would enhance long-term shareholder value", it said in a [...]
Black cabs and Uber can co-exist in London – and can even help each other get more custom February 10, 2016 Famous the world over, London’s black cabs are an iconic part of our city’s transport infrastructure. That’s why the impact of apps like Uber on traditional taxis has generated such a heated debate in the capital. Of course competition has affected the taxi trade. But surely the answer to the pressures faced by black cabs [...]