IMF “encouraged” by strong UK growth, Christine Lagarde says March 14, 2017 The UK’s growth in recent months has been “encouraging”, contributing towards healthier prospects for the world economy, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Christine Lagarde said the IMF is “especially encouraged by stronger-than-expected economic activity in the Euro area, the United Kingdom, and Japan.” The outperformance of the UK was one [...]
Federal Reserve meeting: What the experts expect Janet Yellen to do on US interest rates March 14, 2017 The Federal Reserve is almost universally expected to raise interest rates at its Wednesday meeting, in only the third rise since the financial crisis. Policymakers have laid the ground for a rate rise for markets. Janet Yellen, chair of the Federal Open Market Committee, recently said a hike would be "appropriate soon." The Federal Reserve [...]
FinnCap chief executive Sam Smith on IPOs, MBOs and the value of skin in the game March 14, 2017 FinnCap is a unique business grown from unusual circumstances. The leading City broker was established in 2007, when Sam Smith, its chief executive, orchestrated the management buy-out (MBO) of a small broking subsidiary of a private client stockbroking firm. Most significantly, FinnCap is now almost entirely owned by its employees – something that was a [...]
How to know when you’re ready to list on the stock market March 14, 2017 You don’t need to IPO to achieve rapid growth. Just ask Richard Branson. Founders generally also want to keep their equity close, both for control and so they can enjoy as big a percentage of any value growth as possible. But for some businesses, floating on the stock market can be the ideal way to [...]
Crude oil prices take a further hit as Saudi Arabia reports a rise in production in Opec report March 14, 2017 The price of crude oil has dropped sharply after a report by the oil producers’ cartel showed rising volumes being extracted in Saudi Arabia. Production of crude oil by Saudi Arabia rose by 263,000 barrels per day in February compared to the month before, according to the directly communicated figures reported in the monthly report [...]
Another year of profit losses for French Connection March 14, 2017 High street fashion shop, French Connection, has reported yet another year of losses. The figures French Connection said revenues for 2016 were £153.2m, down six per cent, compared to last year’s £164.2m. The company declared an underlying operating loss of £3.7m this year, compared to £4.7m last year. It has less cash this year and [...]
Gin is in, dumb phones are out: Meet the new ONS basket of goods for measuring inflation March 14, 2017 Poor old Nokia… no sooner has it made a comeback with the surprisingly popular 3310 than bean counters decide such "dumb phones" should be ditched from the shopping basket used to measure how prices are rising in the UK. The Office for National Statistics has revealed its annual update to its basket of goods for measuring inflation, which can be [...]
Sterling falls to eight-week low as traders take in Prime Minister Theresa May’s newly granted Article 50 powers March 14, 2017 Sterling has wiped out all of yesterday’s gains against the dollar as traders take in the imminent triggering of Article 50. Prime Minister Theresa May last night gained the consent of Parliament to start the process of leaving the EU. The pound fell to its lowest point since mid-January to reach lows of $1.2110 against [...]
The chancellor’s shambolic national insurance hike is based on a faulty reading of aggregate statistics March 14, 2017 "Britain is damning itself to be a low wage, low productivity economy”. How many headlines like that have we read over the past few years? Certainly, the UK has performed poorly when it comes to overall real wage growth since the financial crisis, reflective of weak aggregate productivity growth. But often these average statistics are [...]
Britain’s growth prospects upgraded by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) March 14, 2017 The UK economy has received another forecast upgrade as the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) becomes the latest to predict growth will be faster than previously expected this year. The economy will expand by 1.4 per cent this year, the BCC says, faster than the 1.1 per cent rate predicted in December. The upgrade in [...]