Dignity welcomes watchdog’s probe into high funeral prices March 28, 2019 Dignity has welcomed a competition probe into the funeral sector announced today. Read more: Dignity shares slide after regulator proposes funeral competition probe The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will carry out a full market investigation into the industry after voicing concerns over high prices and a lack of competition. Dignity, the UK’s [...]
Anglo Pacific set for further deals says chief executive March 27, 2019 The boss of Anglo Pacific today said he would be “disappointed” if the company does not make more acquisitions this year. Julian Treger said that whereas his team expects “significant investments” to top up its organic growth, takeovers are on the table. “If we’re sitting here in a year’s time with $50m of cash on [...]
Canadian weed obsession gives London boost as other firms look for investment March 27, 2019 A focus on cannabis in Toronto made London more interesting for Canadian oil and gas firm Touchstone Exploration its chief executive said today as he presented his first set of full-year results since listing here in 2017. “They have been completely focused on cannabis and the legalisation of cannabis in the past three years, there’s been [...]
London obvious choice for float says boss of Kazakh miner March 27, 2019 LONDON was an “obvious” choice for Kazakh-based vanadium producer Ferro-Alloy Resources, its boss said yesterday as the company prepared for a listing in the City. The firm, which is targeting a market value of nearly £220m when it floats today, will gain access to investors with a good understanding of the exploration market, chief executive [...]
Diversified Gas and Oil makes a splash in the oil pool with $400m deal for US wells March 27, 2019 London-listed Diversified Gas and Oil completed its second biggest ever deal yesterday, announcing it will buy 107 gas wells in Pennsylvania and West Virginia for $400m (£302m). The deal is set to boost Diversified’s daily production by 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent. Read more: Oil and gas firm Diversified 'could benefit from Brexit' It brings [...]
Preparing for a black swan event in the financial markets March 27, 2019 Global markets are more complex and interconnected than ever. Since the 2008 financial crisis, it’s become increasingly difficult to predict how the behaviour of market participants will affect the broader financial system. Meanwhile, increased automation and the use of high-frequency trading have contributed to flash crashes. We struggle to manage the rapid market movements that [...]
Saudi Aramco signs $70bn deal to buy majority stake in petrochemicals firm Sabic March 27, 2019 Saudi Aramco has signed an agreement to buy a 70 per cent stake in petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) for $70bn (£53bn), the company said today. The state oil firm has secured the purchase from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), for an agreed price of 123.40 riyals per [...]
Turkish stocks tumble as short-term lira borrowing rate hits 1,000 per cent March 27, 2019 The Turkish stock market has fallen dramatically as the country struggles to contain another currency crisis. The country’s Borsa Istanbul 100 index fell by 6.3 per cent today as investors reacted nervously to apparent government intervention in the economy to avert a lira crisis of the sort seen in August 2018. Read more: Turkey holds interest [...]
Germany sells 10-year bonds with negative yields for first time since 2016 March 27, 2019 The German government sold 10-year bonds with a negative yield for the first time since 2016 today, as sovereign debt rallies amid global economic gloom. Read more: Draghi says ECB ready to halt rates rises as Eurozone economy struggles The German Finance Agency said the government sold €2.4bn (£2bn) of “bunds” with 10-year maturities with an average [...]
UK retail sales see biggest contraction in 17 months, says CBI March 27, 2019 UK retail sales volumes fell sharply in March, seeing the fastest contraction in 17 months and marking a four-month run in which sales have not grown, a leading business group said today. Of the businesses surveyed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), 46 per cent said sales volumes were lower in March than a [...]