Did RBS just move one step closer to privatisation? Share price shoots up as profits jump July 30, 2015 Shares in RBS shot up 4.2 per cent to 368.1p in early trading this morning after the bank reported profits had jumped 27 per cent in the three months to the end of June. Was that gentle creaking the sound of Royal Bank of Scotland moving one step closer to privatisation? The figures The bank said [...]
Royal Dutch Shell share price soars as it confirms 6,500 job cuts while £47bn takeover of BG Group “progresses well” July 30, 2015 Royal Dutch Shell's share price climbed this morning after confirming it is cutting 6,500 jobs while revealing a 35 per cent drop in profits for the three months to 30 June. The figures The oil giant is struggling amid falling prices and heightened competition. Profits were down more than a third to $3.4bn for [...]
Rolls-Royce profit before tax tumbles while dividends increase July 30, 2015 After it issued its fourth profit warning in less than 18 months, Rolls-Royce said today that its order book had roared – despite revenue and profits before tax falling. The figures Rolls-Royce said underlying revenue had fallen three per cent to £6.3bn in the first half of the year, compared with £6.5bn last year. The company said [...]
Walkie Talkie owners face fresh woes over Sky Garden July 30, 2015 First there was the little problem of the Walkie Talkie dazzling passers-by and melting cars. Then there was the bad hair day it brought to City workers. Read more: Walkie Talkie Sky Garden: How to book a visit to the stunning public park with views across London Now, in another spate of bad luck, it seems [...]
Antofagasta pushes production up after challenging first quarter July 30, 2015 Chile-based miner Antofagasta yesterday reported an improvement in production during the second quarter, after difficulties with protesters at its Los Pelambres mine and heavy rains and Centinela hit results in the first three months of the year. Copper production was up to 157,000 tonnes, an increase of 7.2 per cent on the first quarter, although [...]
Tullow Oil profit halves as price of oil stays low July 30, 2015 Tullow Oil posted half-year results in line with expectations yesterday, despite the continuing weak oil price leading to significant drops in revenue and profit. Revenue was down by 35 per cent in the six months to 30 June, from $1.27bn (£811m) to $820m, while gross profit plummeted by 50 per cent, from $681m to [...]
Crisis in Calais takes its toll on Channel Tunnel trade: Disruption “having a severe effect on the UK economy” July 30, 2015 Business groups are putting pressure on the UK government to step up border security measures, claiming that the chaos in Calais is coming at a steep cost to the economy. For weeks, industrial strikes and action by migrants have disrupted services through the French port, holding up trucks on both sides of the English Channel. [...]
Facebook share price dips despite soaring sales and 1.49bn monthly active users July 30, 2015 Social media giant Facebook received a bit of a poke last night when it reported a nine per cent fall in quarterly profit after spending heavily to boost mobile revenue and develop products. Shares dipped in after hours trading, despite the company saying that it has 1.49bn monthly active users – up 13 per [...]
As David Cameron vows to crack down on corrupt foreigners buying London properties, can PM lift the shroud of secrecy? July 30, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron grabbed headlines this week when he said: “There is no place for dirty money in Britain.” Vowing to remove a “shroud of secrecy” surrounding luxury London properties owned by offshore holding companies, the Prime Minister said in a speech in Singapore that the UK “must not become a safe haven for [...]
Barclays boss John McFarlane looks to cut costs despite profit rise in bid to streamline bank July 30, 2015 Barclays, Britain’s largest bank after HSBC, yesterday delivered £3.1bn of pre-tax profits for the first half of this year, boosted by a 36 per cent rise in the performance of its investment banking arm, which chipped in almost half the total. The investment bank made £1.44bn pre-tax profit. John McFarlane, who joined the bank as [...]