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 [...]
IMF: “Complex forces” drive mature market growth, dampen emerging markets in 2015-2016 April 14, 2015 There are “complex forces” across the world that could lead to “uneven” growth over the next year, the IMF has warned. Overall global growth is forecast at 3.5 per cent in 2015 and 3.8 per cent in 2016 – but beneath these top line figures there will be a huge variety. The two biggest [...]
Phones 4U creditors to receive up to 24p in the pound says PwC April 14, 2015 Collapsed mobile phone retailer Phones 4U will return up to 20-24p in the pound to senior creditors, but suppliers and the taxman will get relatively little from the administration. PwC, which was appointed administrator in September last year, said super senior noteholders – typically hedge funds and other asset managers – will receive nearly [...]
JPMorgan profits rise beyond expectations in the first quarter April 14, 2015 During the first financial quarter of 2015, JPMorgan's profits reached $5.9bn (£4bn) – a 12 per cent increase on last year's figure of $5.3bn. This was equivalent to $1.45 per share, which beat analyst expectations of $1.41 per share. Revenue was also up, at $24.8bn – a rise of four per cent. It's the [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown share price falls as co-founder Peter Hargreaves leaves board after 34 years April 14, 2015 Hargreaves Lansdown's share price dropped 4.4 per cent this afternoon as it revealed co-founder Peter Hargreaves was stepping down from the board of the company that bears his name. Hargreaves, who along with Stephen Lansdown set the Bristol business up in 1981, is stepping down from the Hargreaves Lansdown board with immediate effect. He [...]
London house prices no longer the UK’s fastest growing as General Election looms April 14, 2015 House price growth is slowing in the run up to the election, new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has shown, with London slipping down the list of fastest growing regions. In January London was top of the pile with 13 per cent year-on-year growth, but it’s been knocked back as its growth [...]
Asos hires Capquest boss Helen Ashton as new chief financial officer April 14, 2015 The chief financial officer merry-go-round continues. Today, it's the turn of Asos, which has hired Helen Ashton to take on the role being vacated by Nick Beighton. Ashton, who is currently chief executive of debt management business Capquest, will join in September. She will join the board at the same time. Beighton has already moved [...]
UK inflation: Last time it was at zero in 1989, it was measured by the prices of swiss roll, tracksuits and luncheon meat April 14, 2015 The last time inflation was this low, shoppers' baskets were overflowing with Swiss rolls, shell suits and tins of luncheon meat. Yum. Prices fell 0.01 per cent in March, figures published today by the Office for National Statistics revealed. Although that figure means inflation is still technically zero per cent, it's nevertheless the lowest since records began [...]
General Election 2015: Uncertainty hangs over UK mortgage lending data April 14, 2015 The uncertainty surrounding the General Election hit mortgages in February, as lending dropped, with the total number of loans falling one per cent on January’s figure and 16 per cent compared to last year. The figures According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML),a total of 40,600 loans valued at £6.8bn were granted in February, meaning the [...]
Inflation is zero, but retailers and manufacturers are charging you more for less April 14, 2015 Consumer price inflation may be at zero for the second month in a row, but new research suggests the goods we buy are getting smaller while prices are edging up. Take your Tetley's Blend of Both tea, for example. If you bought that in Sainsbury's a few months back it would have been £2.55 for [...]