Financial Conduct Authority proposes last year’s insurance premium information should be published on renewal documents December 3, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published proposals today that would require general insurance providers to include details of last year’s premium on customer’s renewal documents. The proposals are designed to address concerns that some customers might be getting a bad deal by sticking with the same company. “We hope the proposals encourage more people to [...]
JD Sports shares rise as King of Trainers hikes full-year profit guidance December 3, 2015 JD Sports have climbed by more than two per cent after the sportswear retailer revealed that full-year profits are likely to beat current City expectations. The so-called King of Trainers said the strong performance it enjoyed in the first half of the year, when it reported a 10 per cent rise in like-for-like sales, had continued [...]
HSS share price jumps after media report suggests no merger with Speedy Hire December 3, 2015 HSS Hire shares jumped today after a report suggested talks for a £300m merger with fellow tool and equipment hire group Speedy Hire had stalled. Shares in the Heathrow-based HSS had jumped as much as 10.3 per cent at 57.35p per share this morning, and were up 8.65 per cent at 56.5p per share at the close. HSS and [...]
Profits drop by 26 per cent for British packaging company DS Smith, causing share price to tumble too December 3, 2015 Profits have unraveled at DS Smith, as the packaging company today announced a fall in profits before tax of 26 per cent on a reported basis to £91m for the six months ended 31 October 2015. Revenue at the company dropped one per cent on a reported basis to £1.95bn, although this had increased by [...]
US ISM non-manufacturing: Business survey shows economy slowing December 3, 2015 The US economy excluding manufacturing lost some momentum in November, according to a survey of firms released today. The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) purchasing managers' index dropped to a score of 55.9 for last month from 59.1 in October. It is the lowest score since May. Scores above 50 indicate an improvement in business conditions compared [...]
“An exquisitely wrapped lump of coal”: Here’s how economists are reacting to Mario Draghi and the European Central Bank’s decision to introduce further monetary easing December 3, 2015 European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi may have given markets a bit of what they wanted, but in the event it was more of a nerf gun than a bazooka. At a press conference today Draghi said the Bank will extend up its asset purchase programme into 2017, as well as cutting its deposit rate to minus [...]
Polyus Gold is the latest Russian company to leave the London Stock Exchange today December 3, 2015 Russia's largest goldminer Polyus Gold leaves the London Stock Exchange today. Polyus was taken over by a shell company Sacturino, which is controlled by billionaire Suleiman Kerimov's family. Their company, Wandle Holdings, was the majority 40 per cent stakeholder in Polyus and completed its compulsory acquisition early in November. It's the latest in a flurry of Russian [...]
European Central Bank extends asset purchases to March 2017 and cuts interest rates to new record lows December 3, 2015 The European Central Bank (ECB) has ramped up its asset purchase programme to the tune of €360bn (£257bn), its president Mario Draghi announced today. The programme will now run until the end of March 2017 instead of September 2016 as initially planned, but will stay at a rate of €60bn. It will take the value [...]
European markets under pressure following ECB decision to cut deposit rate by less than expected December 3, 2015 European markets have not reacted with confidence following a more-dovish-than-expected decision by the European Central Bank to cut its deposit rate to just minus 0.3 per cent. The FTSE 100 was trading 1.07 per cent down at 6,352 points in early afternoon trading, while the German Dax was 2.6 per cent lower at 10,891 points. The French CAC 40 was down [...]
Individuals are shouldering more of the tax burden as companies find ways to pay less, warns OECD December 3, 2015 Since the global economic crisis corporate tax revenues have been falling, pilling greater pressure on individual taxpayers to shoulder the burden so that governments can meet financing requirements, according to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Individual workers and consumers are now taking on the burden of more tax, as across OECD countries average revenues from [...]