Biffa in secret sell off talks: Waste management firm to go on sale for £1bn? November 23, 2015 Waste management firm Biffa is has been courting prospective buyers, giving itself a price tag of £1bn, Sky News has reported. The company is this morning set to report its half-year earnings, reportedly up by 19 per cent to £67.2m, with full-year profit expectations revised upward to £119m. Biffa is rumoured to have asked any [...]
House of Lords select committee questions Google over attitude towards competition November 23, 2015 Representatives from Google were questioned today by a House of Lords select committee, including about whether the technology giant’s search engine market prominence gave it an unfair level of control over the access of online content. Adam Cohen, head of competition and economy policy for EMEA at Google, and Jon Steinberg, external relations manager, EMEA, were giving [...]
Parabis Group administrators appointed, as business broken up and sold on November 23, 2015 AlixPartners has today revealed that three of its directors have been appointed joint administrators for legal services provider Parabis Group. Peter Saville, one of the administrators, said: “Despite the receipt of further support from its financial stakeholders, the Group was unable to resolve its cash flow issues and sought to market itself for sale. As [...]
John Lewis, Amazon & Lush: UK shoppers’ favourite retailers revealed as Black Friday 2015 draws near November 23, 2015 Amazon, John Lewis and Lush are UK shoppers’ favourite retailers, according to a new ranking showing that customer service has beat out price to become our top priority when shopping. Amazon held the top spot in the hearts of the 10,000 shoppers surveyed by OC&C for its annual Retail Propositions Index, with an approval rating [...]
Online shoppers abandon Tesco and Asda as website traffic drops at Britain’s biggest grocers November 23, 2015 Tesco and Asda have seen a sharp drop in traffic to their websites over the last year, new research shows, in a sign that supermarkets are facing fierce competition online as well as on the shop floor. Visits to Tesco’s website through desktop computers and mobile devices dropped to 35m in November from 49m the [...]
Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems and Babcock share prices rise on David Cameron’s Defence Review and £12bn spending increase November 23, 2015 The shares of big name defence firms have surged in the wake of an announcement by David Cameron that government spending on new equipment will increase by £12bn to deal with "diverse" threats. Rolls-Royce has closed up 3.08 per cent, the FTSE's biggest riser while BAE Systems climbed 1.02 per cent and Babcock closed 1.62 per cent higher. The Prime Minster [...]
Bonmarche shares out of fashion with investors despite sales defying mild autumn weather November 23, 2015 Bonmarche's share price fell almost five per cent this morning despite the women's clothing retailer posting a jump in sales as efforts to revamp its stores and make its product ranges more fashionable paid off. The retailer, which has 300 stores but also sells online, through mail-order catalogues and a TV channel, said total revenue increased by [...]
Chinese brokerage firm Guotai Junan International shares fall after chief executive Yin Fung goes missing November 23, 2015 Shares in Guotai Junan International fell more than 17 per cent today at the Chinese brokerage firm after its boss mysteriously disappeared. Guotai Junan said it had been unable to get in contact with Yin Fung, chairman of the board, executive director and chief executive since Wednesday 18 November, in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock exchange today. [...]
HSBC investors back mooted move from UK November 23, 2015 Major HSBC shareholders have said they would back the bank if it were to relocate away from London. HSBC announced earlier this year it was currently reviewing whether it would remain in the UK, with Hong Kong and the US widely regarded as possible options. A spokesperson for Aberdeen Asset Management, one of HSBC’s top 10 [...]
Insurer Towergate reports fall in income to £87m, down 10 per cent, in third-quarter 2015 results November 23, 2015 Towergate Insurance announced today that it has seen its group income topple to £87m for its third quarter of 2015, down 10 per cent compared to £97m last year. Income for the year to date was also down 10 per cent, falling to £271m for the nine months ended 30 September 2015 from £300m for the same period last [...]