From Quindell and Gotham City to Uber and the LDTA – five of the biggest business battles to watch out for in 2015 December 22, 2014 Rival camps have banded together, the lines are drawn, battle armour is on and adrenaline is running high. All that's left for spectators to do is grab some popcorn and watch from the ringside. From rival estate agents, to a business targeted by a Batman styled US fund and an influx of tiny new banks [...]
Private equity floats at highest since 1998 December 21, 2014 NEW STOCK market listings of private equity backed firms like SSP, led by chief executive Kate Swann, rose to their highest level since 1998 this year, according to figures from the centre for management buy-out research, at EY and Equistone. There were 43 PE-backed floats across Europe in 2014, worth €44bn, according to the stats.
Black Friday 2014 lifts UK retail growth to 10-year high December 18, 2014 UK retail sales growth surged to a 10-year high in November thanks to roaring trade on Black Friday weekend, when retailers offered discounts on thousands of products. Falling commodity prices and the ongoing supermarket price wars have left households better off and helped boost consumer spending. Retail sales volumes rose 1.6 per cent on the [...]
Swiss central bank imposes negative interest rate: Franc drops against the euro December 18, 2014 The Swiss Central Bank (SCB) has moved to stop the franc hitting its currency exchange ceiling of 1.2 Swiss francs to the euro by imposing a 0.25 per cent tax on sight deposit account balances. A sight account is one in which funds can be transferred at speed and with no restriction, or withdrawn as [...]
Rising wages and falling inflation boost workers December 17, 2014 Wages continued to beat inflation in the year to October, official figures revealed yesterday. Regular pay (excluding bonuses) was 1.6 per cent higher in the three months to October than the same period a year ago, according to the Office for National Statistics. Inflation as measured by annual growth in the consumer price index was [...]
Inflation hawks stand ground December 17, 2014 BANK of England policy makers voted seven to two to hold interest rates at the beginning of December. The decision was announced two weeks ago but the discussion and vote split were only revealed yesterday along with the minutes of the meeting. The two who voted for a rate hike were Ian McCafferty and Martin [...]
Saga on track to meet market expectations in full year results December 17, 2014 Insurance firm Saga issued a trading update yesterday and confirmed that the company’s new chief financial officer will take up his role in April 2015. The firm, which specialises in products and services for customers over the age of 50, announced that Jonathan Hill, previously at Bovis Homes Group, had been appointed to the position [...]
Quindell eyed for group legal action by rival law firm Your Legal Friend December 16, 2014 Embattled insurance outsourcer Quindell is being eyed for potential group legal action by a rival law firm Your Legal Friend. Liverpool-based Your Legal Friend, which was formerly known as Camps Solicitors, is appealing for investors burnt by their investment in Quindell to get in touch. The company's share price has lost around 75 per cent in [...]
Bank of England stress test results: Lenders braced to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on IT improvements December 15, 2014 Britain's biggest banks are set to spend the next year pushing through major revamps of their IT systems, as stress tests have revealed problems in their ability to gather data on their own loan books. The lenders have been built up over decades from mergers of smaller banks, leaving them with a range of outdated [...]
With Lending Club’s IPO capping off another string of tech floats, is the sector in a bubble? December 14, 2014 Jasper Lawler is market analyst at CMC Markets, says Yes. Tech stocks are not seeing the same excesses as in the dot-com boom. But there are some clear parallels to be drawn, and lofty valuations support exercising caution. The dot-com bubble was characterised by the boom and bust of Pets.com, and in 2014 we’ve seen [...]