The cup doth overfloweth: Profits at the world’s largest listed winemaker doubled last year August 18, 2016 The corks will have been popping today at Treasury Wine Estates, the world's largest listed pure-play winemaker, after its net profit more than doubled over the last year. The figures The Australia-based Blossom Hill maker's net profits rocketed to AU$179.5m (£105.5m) for the year to 30 June, up from AU$77.6m the year before. Net revenue was up [...]
Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland in firing line in Australian rate rigging case brought in the US August 18, 2016 Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland are all in legal hot water after a case was filed in the US against a slew of banks on allegations they rigged a key Australian benchmark rate. The US lawsuit claims the lenders manipulated the bank bill swap rate (BBSW), a benchmark used mainly in Australian [...]
RMT union backs Night Tube – and its members – after having striked on pay August 18, 2016 The RMT has remarkably now decided to support the beginning of services on the Night Tube, claiming its workers deserve the "praise and the credit". The union, which has disputed the implementation of the Night Tube and voted for strike action, has now changed tact and started to back the commencement of services, with the caveat that staff [...]
Not so grim up North: Theresa May has committed herself to former chancellor George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse strategy August 18, 2016 Theresa May has committed her government to the Northern Powerhouse, saying the region will be a key part of her industrial strategy. Previously championed by David Cameron's government, doubts had emerged over May's commitment to the Northern Powerhouse plan to develop infrastructure and hand more powers to city regions. However, writing in the Yorkshire Post today, [...]
Brexit-and-see: ECB dangles possibility of further action August 18, 2016 The European Central Bank (ECB) has paved the way to unleash further economic stimulus following the UK's shock vote to leave the European Union. The central bank said it was too early to assess the full extent of how the Brexit vote will hit the Eurozone, though it hinted it was considering adopting an even [...]
Newspapers still benefiting from Brexit bounce despite July circulation dip August 18, 2016 National newspapers appear to have maintained some momentum from their Brexit bounce. The circulations of several paid-for newspapers jumped up in June, the month of the EU referendum. The total circulations of the UK’s 19 paid-for national newspapers jumped 1.5 per cent from 12.34m in May to 12.52m in June, according to figures from ABC. Read [...]
Kingfisher brushes off Brexit with strong performance in UK – but has been struggling in France August 18, 2016 Brits are doing all the heavy lifting for Kingfisher's sales, as the business has brushed off Brexit – but faces trouble on the other side of the channel. The figures Kingfisher's like-for-like sales were up by three per cent but, as retail anaylst Nick Bubb points out, the results are "very mixed". In the UK, overall sales were up 7.2 [...]
Asda just had its worst quarterly performance on record August 18, 2016 The supermarket price war is hurting Asda, as it emerged today that sales for the company fell by 7.5 per cent in the three months to 30 June – its worst quarterly performance on record. Doug McMillon, chief executive of parent company Walmart, said: "In the UK, the competitive environment and food deflation continued to challenge the market, significantly [...]
Three fire engines attend as track fire shuts Moorgate station August 18, 2016 Moorgate station has reopened after a "small track fire" closed its national rail station. A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said it had sent three fire engines after it was called to a track fire at 10.50. The Northern, Hammersmith and City, Circle and Metropolitan Lines were running as normal. However, Great Northern trains were delyed, with [...]
Argentina to scoop $3bn windfall from hidden foreign cash August 18, 2016 Argentina's public finances could receive a $3bn (£2.3bn) boost from a landmark scheme to uncover hundreds of billions in hidden cash. The Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) said today it expects around $35bn of money stored overseas by Argentinean nationals to be declared, under the amnesty offered by President Mauricio Macri as part of his attempts to haul [...]