Sir Martin Sorrell’s salary: How long would it take you to earn the WPP boss’s proposed £70m pay? March 13, 2016 Sir Martin Sorrell, the highest paid boss of the FTSE as chief of advertising giant WPP, is in line for an even bigger bumper payout that will leave him earning a more-than healthy £190,000 each day. Assuming a 12 hour working day, that potential £70m would be the equivalent of more than £15,000 per hour – more than the [...]
Budget 2016: George Osborne warns of further cuts to public spending as “hopes of a stronger global recovery have evaporated” March 13, 2016 George Osborne has warned that a slowing global economy will mean more cuts to public spending ahead of this week's Budget. "The hopes of a stronger global recovery have evaporated," he said. "Instead the world economy is slowing." The chancellor cited China's slowdown, falling oil and commodity prices, political instability in the Middle East, as well [...]
Chinese steel production posts weak start to the year March 12, 2016 Chinese steel production got off to a disappointing start this year, as the industrial commodity continued to be hampered by a chronic oversupply. Steel output in January and February continued to fall, shedding 5.7 per cent year-on-year to 121.1m tonnes, data from China's statistics bureau showed today. This helped prompt a further 10.4 per cent drop in the output of coking [...]
Its share price might be on a downward slope, but here are six reasons this Old Mutual spinoff might just work March 11, 2016 Shares in FTSE 100 insurance group Old Mutual have fallen after it unveiled plans this morning to split into four separate companies – suggesting investors are less than impressed at its plans Fear not, though. There could be good reason to be optimistic about this conscious uncoupling, if past precedent is anything to go by. “The [...]
UK’s trade deficit with the EU swells to a record in December March 11, 2016 Britain's trade deficit with the EU has swelled to a record, as Britain continued to export less goods to its European neighbours. The Office for National Statistics said the UK's good trades deficit with the EU widened to £8.1bn in January, from £7.4bn a month earlier. But Britain's trade deficit with the wider world narrowed to £2.2bn from [...]
Old Mutual share price rises as it unveils plans to split into four March 11, 2016 And lo, it came to pass: FTSE 100 insurance group Old Mutual has unveiled plans to consciously uncouple into four separate companies, after speculation over the move sent shares soaring on Monday. In a results statement today, the company said a strategic review by chief executive Bruce Hemphill had concluded it will split into four businesses: Old Mutual Emerging [...]
French auditor Cour des Comptes joins rising concern over EDF’s ability to finance Hinkley Point C March 11, 2016 A French auditor has joined the rising chorus of concern over utility giant EDF's ability to finance the £18bn Hinkley Point C project. Cour des Comptes, France's top audit body, said the state-owned utility should ask "serious questions" over the building the two nuclear power plants in Somerset. It comes a week after EDF's finance director, Thomas Piquema, resigned over the negative [...]
Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation into the big six: It’s time to welcome a new era in the energy industry March 11, 2016 An eighteen month investigation into the energy market is nearing a close, and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has recommended some practical solutions. This is much needed, given that 20 years after privatisation, 70 per cent of big six customers are still on the most expensive tariff and have been for far too long. We've consistently said [...]
Brent crude and WTI: IEA says oil prices might have bottomed out March 11, 2016 Oil prices could begin to trend upwards, as high cost US shale gas producers halt production and Iran makes an unexpectedly slow return to the market, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today. The IEA now expects non-Opec output will fall by 750,000 bpd this year, more than its previous estimate of 600,000 bpd. US production alone would decline by 530,000 bpd in [...]
Just retirement share price rises as it swings to profit ahead of merger with Partnership Assurance March 11, 2016 Shares in Just Retirement rose 2.99 per cent to 138p per share in early morning trade after the insurer swung to profit in the second half of 2015. The figures: Just Retirement posted a pre-tax profit of £26.1m in the six months ended 31 December, up from a loss of £9.2m during the first half of [...]