Central London shops crowned “safe haven” investments – but prime residential prices continue to fall August 9, 2016 Central London shops have been a "safe haven" for investment after the Brexit vote – but prices for high-end homes in central London have been falling. Investors bought up £1bn worth of prime retail property in central London during the first half of the year, according to CBRE – and total investment is set to [...]
UK steel industry under pressure as global trade war heats up August 9, 2016 Analysts have warned that the UK steel industry will come under increasing pressure as a global trade war picks up pace. It came after reports suggested South Korean steel giant Posco is mulling legal action against the US government for imposing duties of 57.04 per cent on some of its steel products. Read more: China iron ore imports [...]
TfL offers weekend of free Santander Cycles access to celebrate sixth anniversary August 9, 2016 It is the "Boris Bike's" birthday this weekend, and to celebrate Londoners will be able to access the bicycles free of charge. Transport for London (TfL) and Santander are making the bikes free for use for this coming weekend for journeys up to 30 minutes. Read more: Santander and Blaze team up to make cycling on [...]
Lending Club second quarter earnings reveal further financial hurt August 9, 2016 Being the first company to tap into a new market often is hugely advantageous. For Lending Club this has been anything but the case as second quarter results released overnight indicate. The peer-to-peer lender widened its losses from $4m (£3m) to $81m, its loss per share was nine cents – worse than analysts expected – and Carrie Dolan, [...]
Worldpay shrugs off Brexit concerns as bumper earnings send shares higher August 9, 2016 Worldpay shares have nudged last year's peak today after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and declared a maiden interim dividend of 0.65p per share. The UK's largest payments processor reported a rise in first-half underlying earnings and pre-tax profit. It follows a disappointing first full year for the firm as a listed company. For the six months to [...]
Bank of England suffers bond setback as QE kicks off again August 9, 2016 The Bank of England’s attempt to buy long dated gilts as part of its quantitative easing (QE) programme hit a rough spot today, with the central bank failing to attract enough offers from investors. The Bank's reverse gilt auction was only 96 per cent covered – it had planned to purchase £1.17bn of government bonds with maturities longer than [...]
More sun on the way – London to hit highs of 32 degrees next week August 9, 2016 London has a mini-heatwave coming – after reports suggested the mercury in the UK is set to hit highs of 32 degrees early next week. The Met Office said temperatures of 30-32°C “look more likely than not across some southern parts of the UK on Monday and Tuesday”. Though this may not carry on through [...]
William Hill rejects £3.6bn takeover offer from Rank Group and 888 Holdings August 9, 2016 The William Hill board has unanimously rejected a takeover offer from Rank Group and 888 Holdings that it said "significantly undervalued" the bookmaker. In a statement, William Hill confirmed it received a £3.6bn proposal from a Rank and 888 consortium, which was first reported this morning. The offer, which valued William Hill at 364p per share, was at [...]
Facebook will stop users blocking adverts August 9, 2016 Facebook is the latest media company to fight the rise of ad blockers, by serving ads to those who use the software. It will force ads to appear on the desktop version of the social network even if they use the popular software, said Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth. It will also give users greater control over [...]
Former Deloitte chief and private equity house plot challenger to big four accountancy firms August 9, 2016 A former Deloitte executive is teaming up with a private equity house to launch a challenger to the big four accountancy firms. John Connolly, who was chief executive of Deloitte UK, is said to be plotting a string of acquisitions to take on his former employer along with EY, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG. He is working on [...]