Nokia confirms €15.6bn Alcatel takeover April 15, 2015 Nokia has confirmed plans to buy French telecoms giant Alcatel-Lucent for €15.6bn (£11.3bn). The Finnish company said it had offered 0.55 new shares in Nokia worth €4.27 each per Alcatel share, representing a 28 per cent premium over Alcatel's average share price over the last three months. The two sides said combining their businesses will [...]
JD Sports share price soars as retailer scores £100m profit for the first time April 15, 2015 The figures JD Sports' share price soared by over five per cent after the retail group netted a slam dunk in 2014, with profits before tax and exceptional items smashing the £100m mark for the first time. The retailer which includes high street fixtures such as JD, Size?, Millets and Blacks in its roster, scored [...]
Burberry’s poncho “innovation and investment” drives sales as design worn by Alexa Chung and Cara Delevingne woos customers April 15, 2015 The figures Revenue at Burberry for the second half was up nine per cent on the same period the previous year to £1.4bn. Retail sales were strong, up 13 per cent to £1bn on an underlying basis with America and Europe hitting double-digit growth compensating for a continued slowdown in Asia. Licensing revenue was up [...]
China GDP first quarter 2015: Economic growth falls to slowest pace since 2009 April 15, 2015 China's economy grew at its slowest pace in six years, latest official figures have revealed. The country's GDP grew seven per cent in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago, its slowest rate of growth since the middle of the financial crisis in 2009. That compares to economic growth of 7.3 [...]
Barclays U-turn on account fees: Bank will pay customers £4 a month as competition hots up April 14, 2015 Barclays will offer to pay current account customers from next week, intensifying the battle sweeping the high street since the seven-day switching service made it easier to move banks 18 months ago. The bank has been losing customers to rivals through the seven-day service, as other lenders have won clients by offering financial rewards. Barclays’ [...]
HSBC gears up to shake up its board of directors April 14, 2015 British banking giant HSBC is planning to shake up its boardroom, as long-serving directors prepare to leave the institution. Non-executives Rona Fairhead and Simon Robertson are expected to serve on the board for another year, and the bank’s headhunters are looking for candidates to join the top committee. HSBC is understood to retain recruiters MWM Consulting [...]
Billionaire backers Wilbur Ross and Stanhope Investments cut Virgin Money stake April 14, 2015 Billionaire investors Wilbur Ross and Stanhope Investments last night cut their stake in high street bank Virgin Money by selling $354m (£240m) of shares in the Richard Branson-backed venture. The bank, which floated last November by raising £500m, valuing the business at £1.25bn, is co-owned by US investor Ross and Abu Dhabi-based fund Stanhope alongside [...]
Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis heads to Washington ahead of crunch talks April 14, 2015 Greece’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis will jet off to the US tonight to meet President Barack Obama, as well as the lawyer who helped Greece restructure its debt in 2012. Varoufakis will meet Obama tomorrow. It will be followed by meetings with European Central Bank head Mario Draghi on Friday, Secretary of the Treasury Jack [...]
Poundland eyes extension over 99p Stores deal probe April 14, 2015 Poundland is expected to ask for an extension tomorrow over its decision on whether to walk away from its £55m tie-up with 99p Stores or proceed with a full-scale probe by the competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said last week that it had concerns over 92 areas where it believes there could [...]
Flipkart backs off from Airtel deal amid social media backlash over net neutrality threat April 14, 2015 India’s biggest online retailer Flipkart succumbed to social media protesters yesterday after announcing it was backing away from a controversial deal with phone network Airtel. Flipkart had faced an increasingly hostile social media backlash after announcing plans to allow its customers to freely browse Airtel’s network while picking up their data costs. Critics had slammed [...]