BHP Billiton and Vale share prices fall after Brazil vows to make it pay for mine disaster November 12, 2015 The Brazilian government has said BHP Billiton and Vale will be punished for the fatal mining disaster, in its strongest remarks on the tragedy yet. "If federal fines are applicable, we will apply them," environment minister Izanbella Teixeira said. "There will be punishment, and under Brazilian law the environment has to be repaired," she added. Dams [...]
The UK and US governments just conducted a huge cyber terrorism drill to test the resilience of the FCA, Bank of England and Treasury November 12, 2015 The UK and US governments have conducted a huge joint exercise, along with global financial firms, to see how well we'd respond to a "cyber incident" in the finance sector. The drill involved participants including the Bank of England, the Treasury, the Cabinet Office and the Financial Conduct Authority, the chancellor said today. The exercise [...]
Derwent sells Covent Garden’s Davidson Building for £66m as third quarter lettings soar November 12, 2015 Derwent London's Davidson Building in Covent Garden has been snapped up by US real estate firm Cornerstone for £66.2m, the developer said yesterday, as it reported a surge in third quarter lettings. The company bought the office building and redeveloped it in 2003, keeping the Edwardian façade on Southampton Street. It was named the Davidson [...]
Glencore, Anglo American, BHP Billiton share price: FTSE miners tumble as commodities rout deepens November 12, 2015 The FTSE 350 mining index fell 4.61 per cent to 8,234.14 points this afternoon as copper prices tumbled. Glencore shares shed 9.52 per cent to 94.77p per share, Anglo American fell 8.55 per cent to 450.60p per share and BHP Billiton was 4.27 per cent lower at 884.50p per share. Earlier, copper prices slid to a two-and-a-half month low after the dollar [...]
Almost a third of London employers are struggling with productivity levels, compared to just less than a quarter of employers in the UK as a whole November 12, 2015 Nearly a third (32 per cent) of London employers think that productivity is a problem for their business, according to figures shown exclusively to City A.M. by Group Risk Development (GRiD). By comparison, in a report released earlier by GRiD, just 23 per cent of employers across the UK as a whole said that productivity [...]
Why the UK always falls short in global innovation rankings November 12, 2015 Innovation is often cited as the Holy Grail of any politician. Without it, wealth creation becomes harder and economies can stagnate. Yet developing and encouraging this innovation is harder than it looks. That certainly seems to be the case in the UK, which once again is not represented in the latest Thomson Reuters study on [...]
RBS says it is cutting investment bank costs by another £2bn November 12, 2015 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) set out plans today to cut costs in its corporate and institutional banking (CIB) business by about £2bn over the next three years as part of a wider strategy to reduce the size of the division. RBS said in a presentation this afternoon it expects annual revenues in its CIB business [...]
US JOLTS: Labour market keeps up momentum in September as job openings rise to 5.5m November 12, 2015 The US jobs market had a robust September. The number of job vacancies in the US edged up to 5.5m from 5.4 in August, according to Jobs Openings and Labour Turnover report publishhed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today. The reports showed that the total number of hires was 5m, also little changed from August. The [...]
FirstGroup first half profits slide following franchise misstep November 12, 2015 FirstGroup, operator of buses and trains in the UK and the US has said pretax profit dropped by a third in the first half year-on-year, down to £22.4m from £33.3m. Group revenue for the half was down 17 per cent to £2.44bn, in line with its expectations. The group’s share price is trading up by [...]
Just less than half of financial professionals think bosses’ business decisions are based on gut feelings, as many feel undervalued by the organisations they work in November 12, 2015 Are the spreadsheets scattered across your boss's desk just an illusion? A report out today by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and professional services firm KPMG has found that almost 40 per cent financial professionals believe that most business decisions are made primarily on gut feeling rather than cold, hard facts. In the [...]