HSBC expansion curtailed by China slowdown January 18, 2016 London based HSBC has had its expansion plans throughout Asia dashed by slowing economic growth in China and increased market volatility throughout the region, according to Moody's Investors Service. The bank, which is still considering whether to move its headquarters to Hong Kong or possibly the US, pulled in around 60 per cent of pre-tax [...]
Shell share price falls despite ditching major Abu Dhabi gas field project amid oil price rout January 18, 2016 Royal Dutch Shell today said that it's had to exit the multi-billion dollar natural gas project in Abu Dhabi, as it attempts to manage costs in today's low oil price environment. Oil prices skidded to a 2003-low today, after the lifting of Western sanctions on Iran. The 18-month rout has forced oil companies to delay, and even abandon, a number of [...]
Rolls-Royce share price down as outlook downgraded to negative by Standard & Poor’s January 18, 2016 Standard & Poor's (S&P) today downgraded its outlook rating for Rolls-Royce from stable to negative. The ratings agency, which has dropped its expectations over the manufacturer's profits and cash flow generation for 2016, pinpointed near-term business challenges, particularly in the company's civil aerospace and marine divisions, as the reasoning behind the downgrade. S&P, which affirmed its A/A-1 [...]
Accounting watchdog meeting to decide on KPMG investigation into the auditor’s role over HBOS collapse January 18, 2016 The accountancy watchdog could decide as soon as tomorrow whether to launch a formal investigation into the role of big four accountancy giant KPMG in the collapse of HBOS in 2008. The Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) conduct committee is set to meet tomorrow to make its decision, Sky News has reported. The conduct committee will [...]
Mazars merges with Chinese audit firm ZhongShen ZhongHuan January 18, 2016 Professional services firm Mazars announced today that it completed a merger with Chinese audit firm ZhongShen ZhongHuan in December last year. The newly-merged firm will operate in 77 countries, including 15 offices with 1,800 professionals in mainland China that were originally run by ZhongShen ZhongHuan. Mazars, which has had a presence in China for almost two decades, [...]
Tesco, Sainsbury’s and M&S are among most praised companies by NGOs but VW and Royal Dutch Shell make “naughty” list of most criticised January 18, 2016 Tesco, Sainsbury's and M&S are certainly not having the best of times on the high street these days, but there's one place their winning at least. The three are among several of the biggest global companies to make a "nice" list of companies which pressure groups and campaigners across the world, from the likes of Which? to Greenpeace, have [...]
Credit Suisse share price falls as it unveils plans to cut London costs by £627m and make job cuts January 18, 2016 Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse has confirmed it will slash costs by hundreds of millions of pounds in an effort to reduce its London office, it has been reported. The BBC said this morning that the bank told investors it was targeting cost reductions of SFr3.5bn (£2.4bn), with SFr900m of those reductions – about £627m – [...]
Xchanging share price up: Deal edges closer as Computer Sciences Corporation offer becomes unconditional January 18, 2016 US-based Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) revealed today that it is one step closer to purchasing outsourcing company Xchanging, after 87 per cent of Xchanging's shareholders accepted its offer. This level of acceptance means CSC's offer is now unconditional. Share price in Xchanging, which started trading late today, rose after the announcement and were trading up 0.5 per [...]
Tata Steel to cut another 1,050 jobs in Britain at sites in Port Talbot, Trostre, Corby and Hartlepool January 18, 2016 Tata Steel has confirmed it will axe another 1,050 jobs across the UK, including 750 job losses at the UK's biggest steel maker Port Talbot. Around 100 jobs will also go at its steel mills in Trostre, Corby and Hartlepool, alongside 200 support roles. It blamed the proposed changes on slumping European steel prices, largely due to a flood of cheap imports, [...]
Asda will axe jobs in the UK as supermarket struggles continue January 18, 2016 Asda will axe jobs in the UK amid increasing pressure on British supermarkets. The redundancies will be at Walmart-owned supermarket's Leeds head office. The supermarket said in a statement: "It’s well documented that in recent years, customers have radically changed the way they shop. "We were the first of the “big four” to recognise this and [...]