Plus500 bumps up expectations for the year after cryptocurrency boom June 7, 2018 Online trading platform Plus500 said this morning that its board had lifted its expectations for the year, as trading remains ahead of what was previously predicted, thanks to a cryptocurrency boom at the start of the year. Plus500 had previously announced that a strong start to 2018 had come thanks to a period of "relative [...]
Workspace report solid annual figures June 6, 2018 | City Talk Workspace revealed a solid set of full-year figures. Profit before tax jumped by 91.9% to £170.4 million, which comfortably exceeded the Reuters consensus estimate of £80.65 million. Net rental income rose by 21% and underlying property valuation ticked up by 5%. The strong performance helped the property company increase its return to shareholders as the [...]
RBS in focus as UK government offloads 7.7 per cent share stake June 5, 2018 | City Talk When Chancellor Philip Hammond outlined plans in his Autumn Budget to sell off the government’s stake in RBS over the next few years there were the predictable raised eyebrows of those who questioned the logic of selling off the remaining 70 per cent stake of the bailed out bank at a loss to the taxpayer. [...]
Law firm Knights gunning for largest-ever law firm flotation June 3, 2018 Law firm Knights is set to announce its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange tomorrow in what will be the largest law firm flotation so far. The June initial public offering (IPO) is expected to value the business in excess of £100m, outstripping Gateley, the first English firm to go public in 2015, [...]
UK economy looks more positive for the second quarter May 31, 2018 | City Talk Last week European markets posted their first weekly loss since March, breaking a run of eight consecutive weekly gains, raising the prospect that we could be on the cusp of a period of consolidation after a run that has seen the FTSE100 run up from lows of 6,840 in March to a new record high [...]
AA skids off course in mid-cap promotion push as Marks & Spencer swerves blue-chip relegation May 29, 2018 British motoring darling the AA snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, as it is set to narrowly miss out on a return to London’s mid-cap index. Shares in the breakdown firm skidded over seven per cent today taking the firm out of contention for an automatic promotion back to the FTSE 250. Last week, [...]
Toscafund arm acquires stake in London wealth manager Plurimi May 29, 2018 A fund backed by City 'Rottweiler' Martin Hughes has today taken a significant minority stake in London-based independent wealth manager Plurimi Wealth. The acquisition of the stake is the first investment made by Tosca Private Investments Fund (TPIF), an arm of Toscafund Asset Management. TPIF is a specialist vehicle that will target small/mid-market private equity [...]
Traders are divided on the effectiveness of Mifid II regulation as just a quarter think it will help move trading to more transparent ‘lit’ venues May 29, 2018 After new regulation hit Europe's financial markets in January, traders are still divided as to its effectiveness six months on. A chunky 70 per cent of traders think the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid II) has made trading more transparent, according to a survey by Swiss stock exchange Six. But just a quarter [...]
Turkish lira gains ground as central bank continues efforts to prop up confidence in ailing currency May 28, 2018 The Turkish lira gained sharply against the US dollar today, rising by more than 2.5 per cent against the US dollar as its central bank continued its efforts to stem a steep decline in value. A dollar bought as little as 4.56 lira at the Turkish currency’s strongest point today, after last week reaching a [...]
Editor’s Notes: Time to wake up to your own online data dump March 23, 2018 Having spent the past decade pouring my every opinion and interest on toFacebook, I find myself outraged to discover that the data generated by my self-obsessed oversharing has been used to try and sell me things. Worse, political campaigns have been using my deep data footprint to try and target me with campaign messages. This [...]