Banco Sabadell to buy TSB: European Commission gives deal the green light May 18, 2015 Spanish lender Banco Sabadell has got the go-ahead from the European Commission (EC) to buy TSB for £1.7bn. The EC said that ot saw no competition issues arising, due to the market share of the new company. The sale of TSB was initiated by the EC itself last year after, when it ordered Lloyds to [...]
Carl Icahn’s letter to Apple chief executive Tim Cook: Apple should be worth $1.5 trillion May 18, 2015 Another day, another missive from Carl Icahn. The activist investor has written an open letter to Apple chief executive Tim Cook saying shares in the Silicon Valley giant are massively undervalued, and that they should be worth $240 each – a figure which would value the company at a cool $1.5 trillion (£957bn). Read more: [...]
IMF raises Italy growth forecast May 18, 2015 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its forecast for Italy's growth to 0.7 per cent this year, up from 0.5 per cent. The organisation said Italy was "emerging slowly from a painful recession", but had been buoyed by the European Central Bank's (ECB) quantitative easing programme. "Government bond yields have fallen to pre-crisis lows, [...]
Three things to expect from the M&S full-year results on Wednesday May 18, 2015 If City analysts are anything to go by, this Wednesday could be a good one for Marks & Spencer's chief executive Marc Bolland. The troubled high street giant is forecast to post its first full-year rise in profits for four years. M&S has invested billions of pounds trying to improve the 798-strong store portfolio, up [...]
Goldman Sachs slashes its oil price forecast for the next five years May 18, 2015 The good news is that after months of falls, oil prices have begun to tentatively rise (although that was thanks to fighting in Yemen and Iraq). The bad news is that Goldman Sachs doesn't think it's going to last: the investment bank has slashed its oil price forecasts for the next five years. In a [...]
Rolls-Royce share price edges down as it announces plans to cut 600 jobs in its marine business May 18, 2015 Roll-Royce has announced plans to cut 600 further jobs in its marine business by the end of this financial year, amid challenging market conditions. This will be in addition to plans to lay off 2,600 staff – including its finance director – announced in November. And while the reductions will be global, around half of the [...]
Afren share price wavers after directors Peter Bingham and John St John step down May 18, 2015 Shares in troubled oil firm Afren opened 2.82 per cent higher at 3.28p after it announced two of its non-executive directors will to step down after its AGM, as the company's debt talks roll on. They were later trading slightly lower 0.63 per cent at 3.17p in early afternoon trade. Peter Bingham and John St [...]
Alibaba dismisses Kering lawsuit over faked goods as “wasteful litigation” May 18, 2015 Alibaba has dismissed the lawsuit brought by luxury giant Kering over counterfeit merchandise as “wasteful litigation”, saying it will fight the case “vigorously”. Kering, which owns high end brands such as Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, is suing the Chinese etailer over claims it is complicit in the sale of fake handbags, watches [...]
Global finance chiefs urge policy makers to ward off bubble risks May 18, 2015 Chief executives, chairmen and senior executives of some of the largest banks in Europe and the US have warned of the potential for unforeseen risks caused by policy makers attempting to avoid future financial crises. Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC, UBS chairman Axel Weber, Deutsche Bank's co-chief executive Anshu Jain, Larry Fink, chief [...]
Markets hit as Greece letter shows just how close it came to defaulting on a €750m IMF payment May 18, 2015 The FTSE 100 started the day on a positive note, edging back above the 7,000 mark – but that was quickly curtailed, after the publication of a letter from Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras to International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde showed just how close it came to defaulting on a €750m (£544m) payment [...]