After the Nvidelity comes the Huangover. Jensen Huang joins long list who confused boardroom and bedroom
UK borrowing falls ahead of spring Budget January 22, 2020 The UK government borrowed less than expected in December, official data has shown, as chancellor Sajid Javid prepares to boost spending in his March Budget. Borrowing in December was £4.8bn, less than expected and down £0.2bn compared to the same month a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Yet for the financial [...]
Housebuilders lead FTSE 100 bounce as coronavirus fears abate January 22, 2020 The FTSE 100 rebounded this morning following its worst performance in two weeks on Tuesday, with housebuilders leading the blue chip index after Berkeley raised its planned shareholder returns. The index gained 0.10 per cent in morning trading, led by Berkley. The company climbed as much as 5.40 per cent to hit a record high [...]
Brexit certainty helps AJ Bell boost platform assets by 27 per cent January 22, 2020 The end of the Brexit deadlock helped AJ Bell post a 27 per cent leap in its platform assets under administration (AUA), but underlying inflows for its advised platform were flat year on year at £800m. Its investment platform saw a 27 per cent jump in AUA to £47.2bn, a rise AJ Bell credited to [...]
Exclusive: Johnson’s US trade talks team ‘set’ – and priorities are being signed off by Cabinet January 22, 2020 The UK is poised to kick off US trade talks ahead of discussions with the EU, with the negotiating team in place and priorities all but signed off, City A.M. understands. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to fly to Washington in early February to “leverage the goodwill he has at the front end of [...]
London-based Blossom Capital launches $185m Europe-focused fund January 22, 2020 London-based venture capital firm Blossom has launched a second $185m (£142m) fund to invest in European tech startups, less than a year after its first raise. The new fund, which Blossom Capital said was “heavily oversubscribed”, will invest in European tech startups at an early stage, and takes the total raised by the company to [...]
From A&E waiting times to the Windrush scandal, beware bureaucratic targets January 22, 2020 Last week, health secretary Matt Hancock signalled an important change of strategy. Accident and Emergency Departments have a target that 95 per cent of patients should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. Hancock suggested that the target will be scrapped. Instead, wait times will be determined by clinical need. Cue predictable hyperbolic outrage. [...]
Bank of England forms group to weigh up digital currency launch January 21, 2020 The Bank of England has teamed up with other major central banks to assess the case for launching their own digital currencies, it announced today, as a debate rages over the future of money. Threadneedle Street will work with the central banks of Canada, Japan, the Eurozone, Sweden, Switzerland and the Bank for International Settlements [...]
IG Group says future remains bright despite fall in profit January 21, 2020 Online trading firm IG Group reiterated its medium-term targets today, despite announcing a drop in operating profit. Operating profit fell to £100.1m in the six months to 30 November, from £112.5m in the same period the previous year. IG has been hit hard by a Europe-wide crackdown on risky contracts for difference trades. However, the [...]
Lekoil receives stay of execution as operator delays payment deadline January 21, 2020 Investors in embattled Lekoil, which was last week embroiled in an extraordinary saga involving a fake investment fund, could breathe a sigh of relief today the operator of the Nigerian oil field the fake loan was meant to support said it would delay the deadline of Lekoil’s payment of $9.6m for costs. Optimum, which operates [...]
BP withdraws from Iraqi oil field as expansion falls through January 21, 2020 BP has withdrawn from Iraq’s Kirkuk oilfield after it failed to come to a new agreement on the giant field’s expansion. The oil major’s contract, which expired at the end of last year, was worth $100m (£76.6m), and the British firm informed Iraqi officials it would pull staff out of the site in December, sources [...]