Mentoring critical to having more FTSE female board members, say women on boards March 24, 2015 As a government report points to a more than doubling of women on FTSE boards, three women give the lowdown on life in the boardroom, and how more women can get there. Anne Richards Anne Richards had “wandered through life not really worrying about the gender mix of a board”. However, the chief investment officer [...]
AA plans to raise £200m through share placing March 24, 2015 Roadside recovery business the AA is preparing to raise £200m through a share placing, as part of a refinancing plan aimed at reducing its debt of £2.7bn. The company will also refinance £735m of its senior debt facilities, in plans that could be announced today. Investors who have been approached about the placing are thought [...]
Eurozone economies pick up just as Asian giants start a slowdown March 24, 2015 Global economic growth showed signs of shifting in March, as influential surveys indicated that the troubled Eurozone is starting to recover, but manufacturing activity falling in China. Even the stagnant French economy racked up a second consecutive month of growth, according to the study from Markit. Its purchasing managers’ index (PMI) recorded a score of [...]
London house prices on the up after six months of flatlining March 24, 2015 London’s house prices are picking up again after stalling since August, official data showed yesterday. The average home in the capital cost £510,000 in January – up 1.6 per cent from £502,000 in December, and back up towards the £514,000 peak seen in August 2014. Nationally, prices rose £1,000 to an average of £273,000. Over [...]
Direct Line CEO gets £2m raise March 24, 2015 Insurance boss Paul Geddes has been granted a pay rise of more than £2m – up from £2.54m in 2013 to £4.62m last year. The Direct Line Group (DLG) chief executive’s pay was revealed in the company’s final results yesterday, which showed pre-tax profits jumped by 12.2 per cent from £407.3m to £456.8m in 2014. [...]
Dark pools set for probe from City watchdog March 24, 2015 Private trading venues called dark pools face a probe from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the City watchdog wants to investigate potential conflicts of interest. The FCA’s business plan for the year ahead yesterday set out a range of probes across financial services. “We have been considering the risks around dark pools and will [...]
Wall St drops on dollar fears – New York Report March 24, 2015 US stocks fell for a second session yesterday, with equities keeping a tight range that corresponded with currency fluctuations as traders focused on the dollar’s strength and its possible effect on corporate earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 104.9 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 18,011.14, the S&P 500 lost 12.92 points, or 0.61 [...]
Why drug-resistant superbugs could wipe 6pc off the world economy by 2050 March 24, 2015 Tackling antibiotic resistance could become one of the biggest struggles of our time, according to new research by the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Tuberculosis (APPG TB). An overuse and misuse of antimicrobials has allowed some of the planet's deadliest diseases to start winning the battle against man-made drugs, and the situation is [...]
HSBC to move 1,000 jobs from Canary Wharf to Birmingham March 24, 2015 HSBC will move 1,000 jobs from its Canary Wharf headquarters to Birmingham from 2017, the bank said today. In a statement today, it added that the jobs will be head office roles at its ring-fenced bank. Under rules due to be set out by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), banks must separate their "core" retail [...]
Five Morrisons execs leave as Potts swings axe March 24, 2015 Five members of Morrisons' management team are on the way out, after new boss David Potts swung his axe. Group customer marketing and digital director Nick Collard, group retail director Martyn Fletcher, group property and strategy director Gordon Mowat, group logistics director Neal Austin and convenience managing director Nigel Robertson are all leaving. "I will [...]