Euronext may improve offer for Norwegian stock exchange Oslo Bors in wake of Nasdaq’s superior bid February 4, 2019 Pan-European exchange Euronext is considering increasing its offer for Norwegian stock market operator Oslo Bors after Nasdaq tabled a superior bid. The battle for one of Europe’s last remaining independent stock markets intensified today as Euronext, which runs exchanges in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Dublin, refused to back down against US giant Nasdaq. Read more: Nasdaq [...]
Confidence in the UK economy among financial services professionals hits record low February 4, 2019 Confidence in the UK’s economic prospects among financial services professionals is at a record low, a new survey showed today. A poll of its members by trade body the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) showed confidence was at its lowest level since it began the survey in 2012. Of the 1,062 respondents, 55 [...]
Eurozone investor confidence slumps to four-year low as German slowdown and Brexit concerns hit the bloc February 4, 2019 Eurozone investor confidence has sunk to a four-year low as Brexit uncertainty and Germany’s continued slowdown added to the bloc’s woes. The Sentix Index, which monitors investor sentiment across the single currency bloc, fell to -3.7 for February, following a survey of more than 1,000 investors. Read more: Italy slips into recession as Eurozone growth disappoints [...]
Jim Ratcliffe: Government is using ‘slippery’ manoeuvres to kill off British fracking February 4, 2019 The chairman of Britain’s biggest private company has accused the government of using “slippery back door manoeuvres” to kill off fracking in the UK. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire founder of Ineos, said the government is sticking to a plan which is “unworkable, unhelpful and playing politics with the country’s future”. Read more: Ineos hails 'game [...]
UK construction activity slows to weakest growth in 10 months as Brexit ‘anxiety’ harms the sector February 4, 2019 The UK construction sector eased to its slowest growth for ten months in January as the industry lost momentum. Output in commercial, residential and civil engineering construction fell from December and employment growth slowed to a two and a half year low, according to the IHS Markit / CIPS UK construction Purchasing Managers' Index. Construction [...]
How to reshape the financial system? First ditch the idea of the free market February 4, 2019 | City Talk Nick Silver, Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow, Cass Business School, writes for The Conversation. First published by Amy Ripley (Senior Communications Officer) Ten years ago the financial system collapsed and governments around the world intervened to save it. Much of the subsequent legislation, regulation and angst has attempted to make the system less risky so it [...]
Iron ore miner Ferrexpo to probe charity partner over financial discrepancies February 4, 2019 London-listed iron ore miner Ferrexpo said today it was probing the accounts of a Ukrainian charity that helps run its corporate social responsibility programme. Ferrexpo said the charity, Blooming Land, has sent copies of its bank statements to its auditors Deloitte which had discovered “unexplained discrepancies”. Ferrexpo said it was launching a “comprehensive independent review” [...]
Swiss investment bank Julius Baer targets £77m of cuts as profit growth slows February 4, 2019 Swiss bank Julius Baer launched a SFr 100m (£76.6m) cost-cutting programme today as profit growth slowed last year. The figures Switzerland’s third largest bank saw net profit for the full year 2018 grow four per cent to SFr 735m, compared to a 14 per cent growth rate in 2017, missing a Reuters poll of analyst [...]
More than three quarters of CFOs believe the UK will be worse off out of the EU, says Deloitte February 4, 2019 More than three-quarters of chief financial officers believe the UK will be worse off as result of leaving the EU, a new Deloitte survey has found. Approximately 80 per cent of CFOs surveyed by the big-four accountant said they expected the long-term business environment to be worse on leaving the EU. The UK is scheduled to leave [...]
Private equity firms set to snap up Total’s North Sea oil and gas fields this week in £1bn deal February 3, 2019 French energy giant Total is on the cusp of selling its stakes in a series of North Sea oil and gas fields to two private equity firms. The oil major is expected to announce a £1bn deal with Albion Energy and First Alpha Energy Capital later this week, the Telegraph reported, citing sources. It will [...]