David Beckham signs deal with Kent & Curwen September 17, 2015 David Beckham has signed a five-year deal with upmarket British sportswear retailer Kent & Curwen that will see the former England captain design ranges and promote the brand overseas. The deal is the first to come out of Beckham and his business partner Simon Fuller’s joint venture with Hong Kong-listed Global Brands Group last year, [...]
MPs grill Bank of England’s Mark Carney on Beijing and interest rate rise timings September 17, 2015 Despite raising questions over the accuracy of Chinese economic data, Bank of England governor Mark Carney maintained yesterday that the threat to the world economy from China’s stock-market slump did not signal a slowdown for Britain. Giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee (TSC), Carney said: “Certainly, the Chinese statistics are published with remarkable speed [...]
A sharper slowdown in China could derail the global economic recovery September 17, 2015 A slump in China poses a major threat to the global economy, especially if financial markets deteriorate further, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said yesterday. China’s economy is expected to grow 6.7 per cent this year and 6.5 per cent in 2016, representing a slowdown from recent years’ growth. Some [...]
London is prime destination for foreign ventures September 17, 2015 London is the greatest city in the world at attracting foreign investment, according to new research. The capital left the likes of Paris, Singapore, Chicago and Dubai far in its wake for the seventh year running in 2014, according to the ranking from tech giant IBM. Foreign investment has generated 11,300 London jobs [...]
Beer giants AB InBev and SABMiller in takeover talks: The long-awaited superbrew merger starts September 17, 2015 The world's largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) has set its sights on a takeover of rival SABMiller, which would create a mammoth global brewery worth $275bn (£177bn). Shares in SABMiller shot up by nearly 20 per cent on the news, pushing the FTSE 100 to a one-week high during yesterday’s trading. The [...]
Insurance deal frenzy shows no signs of stopping as Phoenix considers offer for Cinven subsidiary September 17, 2015 Insurer Phoenix Group today confirmed it’s in talks about a possible takeover of Cinven-owned Guardian Financial Services. “Phoenix has been evaluating Guardian Financial Services as part of an on-going sale process for the Guardian Financial Services business,” it said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange today. “Discussions remain on a non-exclusive basis. There [...]
Glencore share price: Debt-struck resuorces giant calms investors with £1.6bn cash call September 16, 2015 Glencore’s share price closed 5.2 per cent higher yesterday, after a £1.6bn share placing reassured investors that the debt-struck resources giant could turn around its fortunes. The FTSE 100 commodities trader and miner rallied to 134.7p per share, having plummeted to an all-time low of 118.10p on Tuesday, due to market jitters about Glencore’s unwieldy [...]
Former Anglo American and BHP Billiton chiefs Cynthia Carroll and Marius Kloppers move on to new positions September 16, 2015 Two former chief executives who presided over mining giants during the financial crisis have moved on to pastures new. Cynthia Carroll, who was chief executive of Anglo American from 2007 to 2013, has been hired as an adviser at Indian mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources. “Having known Cynthia for many years, I look forward [...]
Fracking could help the UK meet its low carbon targets, says report September 16, 2015 Shale gas should be used to help the UK transition to more renewable energy sources and the revenue it generates can be invested in low carbon technologies, a new report has said. “The evidence is clear that it is not feasible to create a renewable and low carbon industry in the short term in the [...]
US interest rate rise 2015: Dollar droops ahead of the Federal Reserve’s big decision September 16, 2015 The dollar tumbled with less than a day to go until the Federal Reserve makes its big decision, falling one per cent against the pound. With the dollar dropping against 15 of the 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg, the biggest winners were the pound, gaining one per cent, and the South African rand, gaining [...]