Currency headwinds eat up SABMiller’s profits ahead of the megabrew deal with AB InBev November 12, 2015 A strong dollar took a large chunk out of SABMiller’s results, and despite strong growth in emerging markets the beer giant posted drooping profits ahead of the megabrew deal with AB InBev. The figures SABMiller posted underlying growth, with group net producer revenue growing by four per cent to $12.69bn at constant currency rates in [...]
House purchase lending jumps to seven-year for October November 12, 2015 Mortgage lending reached its highest level for the month of October in seven years, new data released today shows, as low inflation rates and rising wages helped keep consumer confidence levels high. Overall house purchase lending approvals reached 72,409 in October, up by 5.1 per cent on the previous month and 21.9 per cent ahead [...]
Megabrew is here: Now that SABMiller and AB InBev have reached a deal the real hangover begins November 11, 2015 Anheuser-Busch InBev’s £71bn takeover of SABMiller, the biggest ever British corporate merger, is poised to leave a bitter taste in the mouth with thousands of job cuts, a de-listing from the London Stock Exchange and the shuttering of SAB’s Mayfair offices all in the pipeline. AB InBev said the deal, confirmed yesterday, will result in $1.4bn (£920m) in efficiency [...]
Apple commits to Ireland expansion despite looming EU tax ruling November 11, 2015 Apple has said it is committed to its operations in Ireland regardless of the outcome of an investigation into its tax affairs. “You can tell by our announcement today, we’re all in,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook told Irish national broadcaster RTE after the company announced it was creating 1,000 new jobs in the country [...]
Apple boss Tim Cook isn’t a fan of Microsoft’s new Surface Book November 11, 2015 Apple boss Tim Cook has described the concept of Microsoft’s new Surface Book as “sort of deluded”. Collecting a gold medal award in Dublin as honorary patron of the Trinity College Philosophical Society, he engaged in a Q&A session with students where he also said: My view on the surface is very simple and straightforward. [...]
Great Portland’s first half results boosted by mammoth Facebook letting November 11, 2015 Great Portland Estates posted record beating results in the first half of the year after Facebook agreed to take all of its office space at Rathbone Square near Tottenham Court Road, in one of its biggest lettings deals to date. The West End developer made 29 new lettings in the six months to 30 September [...]
At the close: FTSE 100 closes marginally up despite losses from Sainsbury, housebuilders and miners November 11, 2015 The FTSE 100 rose marginally on Wednesday, despite by falls in Supermarkets, miners and housebuilders. The UK's top blue-chip index rose 0.35 per cent to 6,297 points. The largest casualty, by some way, was Sainsbury, which today reported profits had slumped 18 per cent and slashed its interim dividend by a third. Sainsbury's group sales were down two per [...]
German utility E.on books record loss as it writes down power plants November 11, 2015 The figures E.on reported a net loss of €7.25bn (£5.12bn) in the three months to September 30, the biggest in its 15-year history, when the company was created from the merger of Veba and Viag in 2000. The Germany headquartered company's results were sunk by a €8.3bn writedown on the value of its power plants and oil and [...]
First-time buyers fuel rise in mortgage lending in September November 11, 2015 Mortgage lending rose year-on-year in September, new data shows, driven by a jump in first time buyers taking out new loans. The month saw 28,600 first-time buyers take out mortgages, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), which was up four per cent on the previous month and by 8.7 per cent year-on-year. By value, [...]
Italian bank UniCredit to cut 18,200 jobs November 11, 2015 Italian bank UniCredit is planning to cut 18,200 jobs by 2018 in an acceleration of cost cutting measures. The bank today unveiled a strategic plan to become more efficient and profitable, planning to slash thousands of jobs as well as focus on "the new digital agenda, underpinned by €1.2bn in investments over 2016-18", in order to accelerate [...]