Global market turmoil fails to derail UK consumer confidence in January January 29, 2016 UK CONSUMER confidence rose in January, shrugging off the global market volatility that overshadowed the start of the year. Market research firm GfK found that its consumer confidence index increased by two points to +4 in January, while a comparable index by YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) rose by 0.1 [...]
Retailers face uncertain jobs outlook over fears of rising costs January 29, 2016 The number of retailers planning to hire more staff has dropped sharply over the last year, a new survey today shows, due to concerns over rising costs from the introduction of the National Living Wage and the Apprenticeship Levy. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and law firm Bond Dickinson’s latest employment monitor found that 21 [...]
Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners sues Barclays for almost £1bn January 28, 2016 Amanda Staveley's investment vehicle PCP Capital Partners is suing Barclays over its emergency £5.8bn fundraising in 2008. The deal-maker is said to be seeking almost £1bn from the bank. PCP invested on behalf of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has since offloaded much of his stake in the bank through a hedging deal with [...]
Amazon share price dives as retailer unveils 22 per cent revenue growth and profit misses the mark January 28, 2016 Amazon shares tumbled more than 12 per cent in after hours trading as the company missed profit expectations, despite reporting income had more than doubled year-on-year in the final quarter of 2015 to $482m (£336m) from $214m, or $1.00 per share from $0.45. However, this was significantly wide of analysts' expectations of $1.56 per share. The firm also [...]
Rolls-Royce set to reveal senior management shakeup with dozens of departures January 28, 2016 Rolls-Royce Holdings chief exec Warren East is set to announce a raft of job cuts from the company's senior manager team tomorrow. Around one quarter of the senior managers – up to 50 in total – will leave over the coming months. “We are giving details of the latest stage of our transformation to our [...]
Time Warner Cable profits beat expectations as company reverses tide of declining subscriber numbers January 28, 2016 Time Warner Cable (TWC) posted a better than expected profit of $486m (£338m) for the fourth quarter of 2015, down from $554m in the same quarter of 2014. Revenue rose by 4.9 per cent to $6.07bn during the final three months of last year, up from $5.79bn the year before. The group, which is being bought [...]
BG Group share price rises as shareholders back takeover by Royal Dutch Shell January 28, 2016 In what will be one of the biggest energy deals in decades, BG Group shareholders today gave their blessing to a takeover by its bigger rival Royal Dutch Shell, for around £47bn. Of those that voted, 99.53 per cent of BG shareholders were in favour, and 0.47 per cent were against. It comes a day after [...]
Ford Motor shares drop three per cent despite record profits in 2015 January 28, 2016 Shares in car manufacturer Ford dropped by more than three per cent today, as the company's record profit of $10.8bn (£7.5bn) failed to assuage investor fears over the state of the motor market. The firm increased profit by $3.5bn last year, and doubled quarterly profit to $2.6bn from $1.3bn in the final quarter of 2014. [...]
Academic paper says “flash crash” trader Navinder Singh Sarao not the cause of 2010’s sudden market drop January 28, 2016 A research paper published online earlier this week by three US-based academics claims that May 2010's "flash crash" had little or nothing to do with the actions of a British trader accused of contributing to the sudden market drop. The study, which is entitled The Flash Crash: A New Deconstruction, concludes that it is "highly unlikely" the crash [...]
Retail administrations fall sharply in 2015 as Christmas claims less casualties January 28, 2016 Retail administrations fell by 19 per cent in 2015, new research shows, as the Christmas trading period claimed less victims than in previous years. The number of retailers collapsing into administration fell to 96 from 119 the previous year, according to accountancy firm Deloitte. Company administrations in all sectors in England fell by 12 per [...]