European markets shrug off Greece fears April 20, 2015 European markets started the day stronger, shaking off worries over Greece's ability to negotiate with its lenders. The FTSE 100 rose one per cent in early trading, while Germany's Dax jumped 1.18 per cent and France's Cac rose 0.9 per cent. The gains followed an announcement overnight by China's central bank that it [...]
Eni chief exec Claudio Descalzi says Saudi Arabia has lost control of prices April 20, 2015 Eni's chief executive Claudio Descalzi has previously warned under-investment could lead oil prices to hit $200 per barrel – now he's back with another ominous forecast for the world's tumultuous oil market. Speaking to the Financial Times, Descalzi said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) was neither willing nor able to control oil prices. Since the 1980s Opec, [...]
HSS Hire reports pre-tax loss of £8.5m in its first results since IPO April 20, 2015 The numbers Tool hire giant HSS Hire Group has reported a loss before tax of £8.5m for the year to 27 December 2014. Revenue was up 25 per cent to £284m, while operating profit rose 10.3 per cent to £23.6m. Why it's interesting Today is something of a landmark for HSS – it's the group's first [...]
Rio Tinto April 20, 2015 The figures xxx Why it's interesting The FTSE giant was the target of a failed takeover bid by rival Glencore and with the six month cooling period for offers having just come to an end, investors will be eager to see what kind of shape the miner is in with speculation that a new offer [...]
Greek debt deadline: Mario Draghi urges Greece to hurry as default looms April 20, 2015 European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has said the Greek government needs to do more work and do it urgently to conclude a deal on extra bailout cash. “More work, much more work is needed now and it’s urgent,” he said at the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank spring meetings in Washington. “We all want [...]
Workers strike as Deutsche Bank weighs up a sale of Postbank April 20, 2015 Deutsche Bank workers at its Postbank subsidiary voted to strike yesterday, as they demand employment protection amid a potential sale. A total of 94.8 per cent of the members of the Verdi union voted to strike indefinitely. To date, strikes have already closed 670 branches for as many as four days each. The union said [...]
Vince Cable warns of potential hiccup in Lloyds Bank shares sell-off April 20, 2015 A competition enquiry could upset Conservative party plans to sell billions of pounds of Lloyds Banking Group shares to the public by May 2016, Liberal Democrat business secretary Vince Cable said yesterday. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is set to publish its final report on the personal current accounts and small business banking markets [...]
Newcastle fans boycott Tottenham Hotspur game in protest over Mike Ashley ownership April 20, 2015 A group of Newcastle fans boycotted yesterday’s home match against Tottenham Hotspur in protest against current owner Mike Ashley, calling on him to leave. The plans were announced last week as strong negative sentiment towards the club’s ownership was compounded when it was revealed that United had more then £34.1m in cash reserves. Fans are [...]
Alliance Trust wins backing of City bosses April 19, 2015 Embattled Alliance Trust boss Katherine Garrett-Cox won the support of a series of business bosses over the weekend, as the leaders spoke up in favour of her stewardship. Activist investor Elliott Advisors is pushing to add three new directors to the FTSE 250 investment group’s board, arguing that its executives need to be pushed harder [...]
City recruiter Morgan McKinley records big jump in job openings April 19, 2015 The second quarter will see a robust jobs market in the City, according to a new report out today. The number of job openings in financial services in London increased by 19 per cent in the past month, according to recruiter Morgan McKinley’s latest London employment monitor. The jump in job openings coincided with virtually [...]