Afren ends takeover talks with Seplat after unsatisfactory offer February 13, 2015 Embattled oil producer Afren, which has been rocked by crumbling oil prices and corporate governance scandals, has ended talks with rival company Seplat after it failed to make an offer that's "satisfactory for all stakeholders". Seplat first made a play for Afren in December but it has since extended the deadline for it to make [...]
Virgin Media plans billion-pound broadband investment in “£8bn boost” to UK economy February 13, 2015 Virgin Media has unveiled major plans to invest in its broadband network which it says will benefit the UK economy by £8bn. The £3bn of investment will also create 6,000 jobs over the next five years, 1,000 of which will be apprenticeships, the Liberty Global-owned company has said. Virgin will increase by a third the number [...]
Bank of England’s Mark Carney: Interest rate cut is possible as UK heads toward deflation February 12, 2015 Bank of England governor Mark Carney revealed yesterday that interest rates could drop even further below their historic low of 0.5 per cent, as the collapse in global oil prices drags Britain towards deflation. In a mandatory letter to chancellor George Osborne, Carney said that if “global activity continues to disappoint, or if low inflation [...]
Bank of England inflation report: UK inflation rate could slide into negative February 12, 2015 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has warned UK inflation could slip into negative territory this spring, but he also upgraded the economy's growth forecasts on the belief it's most likely to be benign. Threadneedle Street warned it was "more likely than not that headline inflation would turn negative this year". In such a scenario, it would [...]
Sweden just cut its interest rates to negative and announced a bond-buying scheme February 12, 2015 The Swedish krona plunged 1.73 per cent to its lowest against the dollar in five years today, after the Riksbank – the world's oldest central bank – cut its key interest rate to -0.1 per cent. The cut, from 0.25 per cent, is an effort to combat a deflationary spiral in the country. Sweden's inflation [...]
Arm Holdings’ full-year profit grows on the back of Apple iPhone sales February 11, 2015 Software design company Arm Holdings’ full year profit jumped 13 per cent to £411.3m, after the iPhone 6, holding the company’s core chip technology, enjoyed record sales. The Cambridge-based company, most known for selling microchips to smartphone giants Samsung and Apple, saw its revenue rise 11 per cent to £795.2m. Apple, one of Arm’s biggest [...]
Tesco returns to growth as Drastic Dave’s overhaul gets underway February 10, 2015 TESCO has returned to growth after one of the most turbulent years in its history, according to the latest market share figures, in a sign that chief executive Dave Lewis’s turn-around efforts are starting to pay off. Sales increased by 0.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to 1 February compared with the same time [...]
Apple becomes most valuable publicly traded company ever February 10, 2015 Apple has become the first ever publicly traded company to exceed a total value of $700bn (£459bn). Shares in the technology giant went up by two per cent to $122.02 (£79.99) at close on Tuesday, giving the company a valuation of $711bn (£466bn). This was $13.4bn (£8.8bn) higher than on Monday, and makes Apple [...]
Morrisons, Tesco, Ocado and Marks & Spencer’s share prices soar after UK food sector shows signs of growth February 10, 2015 Supermarkets led the FTSE 100 higher this afternoon, after figures revealed the grocery sector was in growth once again. Morrisons' share price had recorded the biggest gains at pixel time, rising 5.5 per cent. This was on the back of Kantar figures out this morning, showing its sales had fallen 0.4 per cent, the [...]
Pound edges towards a seven-year high against the euro February 10, 2015 The pound rose as much as 0.5 per cent against the euro this morning, pushing it close to its highest since 2008. One euro now costs close to 74.1p, near the 74.3p it cost on Valentine's Day 2008. The rise followed encouraging data from the UK's manufacturing industry. Official data published this morning showed manufacturing [...]