Oil major debt climbs to record high as crude prices continue to wallow August 24, 2016 Some of the biggest global oil majors are being weighed down by record levels of debt. Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Chevron hold a combined net debt of $184bn (£138bn) — more than double their debt levels in 2014, according to analysis by the Wall Street Journal. The drop in the oil price [...]
BBC exec: It’s not in licence fee payer interest to know how much stars are paid August 24, 2016 A BBC executive has argued that it would not be in the interest of licence fee payers to know how much the corporation’s biggest stars are paid. Charlotte Moore, controller of BBC One, said this would inevitably drive fees up because all talent would want to be paid the top amount. Read more: BBC not happy [...]
OneSavings Bank chief executive explains why his business is safe as houses August 24, 2016 Despite worries the referendum would wobble housing demand, the boss of OneSavings Bank has found particular niches of the market to be quite lucrative. In particular, Andy Golding told City A.M. the bank was focusing on the "normal stock" side of the market in London – as opposed to the "high-end, crazy value stuff" – which was "still very [...]
The US is not happy about the EU’s crackdown on tech giants’ tax arrangements August 24, 2016 Top officials in the US have raised concerns over Europe's probes into the tax arrangements of companies such as Apple, an investigation of which is due to be wrapped up imminently and could result in a multi-billion pound bill for the tech company. The US Treasury argues it will create an "unfortunate" precedent in international tax policies and leave taxpayers [...]
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a flawed cyberpunk marvel August 24, 2016 The Deus Ex series is known for its open-ended cyberpunk universe, a sprawling virtual playground in which you – a cyber-augmented supersoldier – are free to approach mission objectives using your preferred style. Tune and upgrade your glistening cyberbod with noisy weapons and you can blast through the game. Spend your time learning to hack [...]
Sterling on the front foot as Jackson Hole approaches August 24, 2016 Sterling picked up a gear yesterday as the timing of a US interest rate rise was under the spotlight ahead of the annual central bankers’ Jackson Hole meeting. The pound rose to $1.3226, up 0.2 per cent before the gathering in Wyoming kicks off tomorrow evening. Fed chair Janet Yellen could use her speech on [...]
Sports Direct day: Mike Ashley is opening his company’s AGM to the public August 24, 2016 Sports Direct's founder Mike Ashley invited MPs to visit the company's Shirebrook warehouse while they were investigating working conditions at the site – and now he's inviting you too. Yes, that's right, Sports Direct is opening its annual general meeting (AGM) to the public so everyone can have a go at Ashley for paying his workers [...]
Jeremy Corbyn’s claims of support from Bernie Sanders have been rubbished by the Vermont senator August 24, 2016 Jeremy Corbyn is facing fresh embarrassment after Vermont senator Bernie Sanders rubbished the Labour leader's claims of sending a message of support. Speaking at a campaign event on Monday evening in East London, Corbyn claimed Sanders had contacted his team over the weekend. However, Sanders' camp have denied that there had been any message transmitted from [...]
Glencore launches new debt reduction plan but share price takes a hit as profits plunge on low commodity prices August 24, 2016 Mining and commodities giant Glencore announced plans to speed up cutting its net debt this morning but posted a two-thirds fall in profit for the first half of the year. The figures Lower commodity prices and trimmed production volumes pushed the company's net income down 66 per cent to $300m (£228m) in the six months to [...]
Pension funds want government help to hedge spiralling deficits August 24, 2016 The government has responded to calls for help from Britain's pension funds in managing their ever-growing deficits. The UK Debt Management Office released its latest consultations on Tuesday and concluded it would sell three tranches of index-linked debt within the third quarter of this year – one through a syndicated sale and two through an auction. Long-running pension scheme [...]