Mobile operators hit back at Ofcom plans to increase fees, claiming they threaten to increase consumer prices and hinder investment September 24, 2015 Mobile phone users could witness their bills increasing after Ofcom tripled fees for operators to use certain airwaves, providers have warned. The charge relates to the fees mobile operators Vodafone, O2, EE and Three pay for licences to provide 2G, 3G and 4G services and will come to a total of £199.6m each year, up [...]
Mining giant BHP Billiton share price jumps after dividend changes proposed to ensure payout to British investors September 24, 2015 Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton's share price climbed this morning, after revealing changes to its dividend funding policy to ensure British shareholders' dividends are paid out. The company is planning to change which funds are transferred between the Australian-listed company to the UK's plc arm, allowing it to meet its dividend requirements to its British [...]
BMW share price falls amid reports that its X3 xDrive model’s emissions exceeded EU limit September 24, 2015 BMW's share price plummeted this morning amid claims that one of its diesel vehicles exceeded the EU's emissions limit. The German car giant's stock fell as much as 7.3 per cent this morning, although staged a slight recovery to a drop of around six per cent at pixel time. The company was hit after reports [...]
Standard Chartered gifts Bill Winters £6m golden hello September 24, 2015 Standard Chartered is clearly pinning its hopes on knight in shining armour Bill Winters, gifting its new chief executive more than £6m in shares. The golden hello of just over 899,000 shares is being paid as compensation for "the value of share interests" in Renshaw Bay, the hedge fund he founded after leaving JP Morgan [...]
Volkswagen emissions scandal: Car giant’s share price rises after Martin Winterkorn resigns as class action law suit filed September 24, 2015 Volkswagen's share price opened higher this morning after embattled chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigned yesterday afternoon in the wake of the emissions cheating scandal. Winterkorn, who has been at the helm of the car giant since 2007, said he had been "shocked" by the scandal – but insisted he knew nothing about the "misconduct". “I [...]
Are boring bosses the culprit behind the UK’s productivity problem? September 24, 2015 As UK productivity figures continue to slump, new studies suggest that more inspiring bosses could be the key to reviving the country’s production. What affects your productivity at work? More than half of UK employees say feeling inspired and engaged makes them work better. Six in 10 agreed with this statement when surveyed by Oracle, [...]
Emerging markets deal blow to Diageo September 24, 2015 Drinks giant Diageo said the weakness of emerging-market currencies would cut its full-year profits by £150m. The owner of the Baileys, Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker brands said its earlier warning that North American sales would decline by two per cent was unchanged, and that emerging market demand for premium spirits was likely to fall. Phil [...]
Output up for UK car manufacturers September 24, 2015 British car manufacturers built just under 100,000 cars last month – a 40.6 per cent jump from the same month last year. UK manufacturers rolled out 99,910 cars in August, exporting 73,219 of them and keeping 26,691 in the country for domestic consumption, according to new figures out today from SMMT. The output pushed year-to-date [...]
Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn forced to quit over car emissions scandal as more heads set to roll after talk of criminal probe September 24, 2015 Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn has bowed to pressure and quit, accepting responsibility for the diesel emissions scandal that has all but destroyed the reputation of the German carmaker in recent days. Winterkorn is unlikely to be the only casualty of the emissions scandal. The embattled company’s executive committee said yesterday that it is [...]
Lindt wins sweet justice in trademark battle with Haribo September 23, 2015 Swiss chocolate-maker Lindt & Spruengli has defeated a legal challenge from gummy bear maker Haribo, which had wanted to stop it making the gold chocolate bears. Haribo said the Swiss chocolatier's gold foil-clad, red-bowed chocolate bears violated its "gold bear" logo, which can be found on the packets of the brightly coloured fruit gum sweets. But the German [...]