“I do travel to work by helicopter” – Mike Ashley tries to seem humble on TV and fails September 20, 2016 Sports Direct's founder Mike Ashley has said this morning that he travels to work by helicopter "because it's more efficient". Ashley went on BBC breakfast this morning following an announcement that the company will be conducting an independent review of working practices and corporate governance, and answered questions about the moment he pulled out a wad [...]
EY pays $9.3m to settle charges that former auditors got ‘too close’ to clients on a personal level September 20, 2016 Accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY) is to pay out $9.3m (£7.1m) to settle charges that two of its former auditors got "too close to clients on a personal level", according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC said the ex-auditors broke rules aimed at ensuring reviews were impartial. SEC investigations found that the [...]
Supermarket sales continue to edge upwards in the months following the Brexit vote September 20, 2016 Supermarket sales continued to edge upwards this month, increasing by 0.3 per cent for the three months ending 11 September. The growth was against a backdrop of price deflation of 1.1 per cent. Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “While overall sales growth has been slow, consumers have been keen [...]
British business backer BBBI reports pre-tax profit of £40m as it gets behind 12,000 firms September 20, 2016 British Business Bank Investments (BBBI), the commercial arm of the government’s economic development lender, British Business Bank, today reports a pre-tax profit of £40m for the year to 31 March. BBBI, which invests in small business finance providers, will today also report annual income of £45.5m in the full year and a dividend of £32m to [...]
GlaxoSmithKline appoints Emma Walmsley as FTSE 100’s latest female chief executive September 20, 2016 GlaxoSmithKline will join the exclusive club of top firms to have a woman at its helm, the pharmaceutical giant announced this morning. Emma Walmsley, head of GSK's consumer healthcare division, will become the firm's new chief executive from March 2017, replacing the outgoing Andrew Witty. Announcing the appointment, GSK chairman Philip Hampton said: "I am very [...]
No Brexit storm for Kingfisher as it retains DIY crown with higher sales and profits September 20, 2016 B&Q owner Kingfisher has posted a strong set of results for the first six months of its financial year and said there is "no evidence" the EU referendum result dented its performance, sending its shares up two per cent at the open. The figures The DIY giant, which also owns Screwfix, said underlying pre-tax profits [...]
Sports Direct announces independent company will replace RPC to review working practices and corporate governance September 20, 2016 Sports Direct announced this morning that it would appoint a new independent party to conduct a review of its working practices and corporate governance – replacing RPC. Shares in the company were up 3.3 per cent mid-morning. [stockChart code="SPD" date="2016-09-20 11:15"] The embattled retailer said in a report released at the beginning of September [...]
Research identifies what makes a company an attractive acquisition target September 20, 2016 Underperforming public companies have become increasingly attractive acquisition targets in recent years, according to research out today. Intralinks and the Cass Business School have published a study, based on data spanning 23 years and 34,000 firms worth at least $50m (£38m), seeking to determine what features make a company an attractive target. The researchers examined six [...]
Fraudsters hit Brits with a financial scam every 15 seconds September 20, 2016 The UK suffered an incident of financial fraud ever 15 seconds in the first six months of the year, as the rise of scams to obtain passwords, bank details and cash shows no sign of abating. Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA) found more than one million separate accounts of people handing over personal details between January [...]
Why Stateside aggression is increasingly familiar to European investors September 20, 2016 An abundance of liquidity relative to opportunities has led to investors agreeing to lend to companies at relatively high leverages without the usual conditions that enable them to renegotiate terms when the businesses underperform. Almost all deals syndicated that are taking place in Europe this month are covenant-lite, which means that investors will be unable to [...]