Amazon pays just £293m in UK corporation tax despite revenue bounce September 9, 2020 Amazon paid out less than £300m in tax to HMRC last year, despite raking in an extra £3bn in revenue. The e-commerce giant said it paid £293m in direct tax — meaning contributions paid directly to the Treasury through levies such as corporation tax and business rates — in 2019, rising by more than a [...]
David Beckham’s e-sports team Guild to float in London September 9, 2020 David Beckham’s e-sports company is to list on the London Stock Exchange this autumn, raising £20m at a valuation of £50m. If successful, Guild Esports would become the first company of its kind to float in London. Former England captain Beckham is an original shareholder of the group, which was founded in September and launched [...]
Computacenter shares jump on pandemic-driven profit September 9, 2020 Computacenter’s share price rose more than six per cent this morning, after the technology group posted a boost in profit driven by the rise in remote working. The FTSE 250 group reported a pre-tax profit of £72.4m for the first half of 2020, up from £50.8m a year earlier, as costs also fell. Computacenter said [...]
The mutant algorithm: what actually went wrong with this year’s school exams September 9, 2020 The Prime Minister described it as a “mutant algorithm”. Social commentators were naturally outraged as it disproportionately upgraded the results of children from private schools, while downgrading those from state schools, especially in the poorest areas. Few people actually understood how it worked, as the technical report from the UK Office for Qualifications (Ofqual) purporting [...]
Tesla shares set for worst day in six months as tech sell-off bites September 8, 2020 Tesla’s share price fell more than 18 per cent as Wall Street opened this afternoon, putting it on track for its worst performance in nearly six months as investors spurned US tech stocks. The electric carmaker was excluded from a group of companies being added to the S&P 500 index — a milestone the company [...]
Australian regulator to probe competition between Apple and Google September 8, 2020 Australia’s competition watchdog has said it is going to take a deeper look at the use of data by apps and the extent of competition between the app stores of Apple and Google. It follows a major antitrust investigation of Apple’s app store policies in the EU announced earlier this year, as well as other [...]
Tiktok joins EU conduct code on hate speech as graphic video continues to circulate September 8, 2020 Tiktok has this morning signed up to the EU’s code of conduct on hate speech, as it struggles to contain the spread of a graphic video on its platform. The video, which shows a person committing suicide, has been circulating on the app since Sunday night. Tiktok said it is working to remove all posts [...]
Fortnite rival PUBG cuts ties with China’s Tencent in India September 8, 2020 The owner of Playerunknown Battlegrounds, also known as PUBG, is to sever a publishing deal with Chinese giant Tencent for its game in India, in an effort to get around the government’s ban of its app in the country. South Korean firm PUBG Corporation said today it will no longer give Tencent Games the rights [...]
China accuses other countries of ‘bullying’ its tech firms September 8, 2020 China has pointed the finger at “individual countries” that it says are “bullying” others and “hunting” its tech companies, as tensions between Beijing and Washington continue to mount. It announced an initiative to establish global standards on data security today, in a similar strategy to the Trump administration’s Clean Network. The plan asks technology firms [...]
Microsoft reveals smallest ever Xbox Series S September 8, 2020 Microsoft has unveiled its smallest ever edition of its Xbox console, the Xbox Series S. The console will be priced at £249.99, and will debut alongside the next flagship Xbox Series X which will be revealed later this year. The announcement followed hours after leaks of images, pricing and specifications of the two consoles appeared [...]