British American Tobacco boss made £4.5m last year March 22, 2016 British American Tobacco (BAT) today revealed that chief executive Nicandro Durante received a pay rise in 2015. The company's annual report shows Durante was paid a total of £4.52m last year, up from £3.62m in 2014. However, his remuneration has yet to climb back to the levels of a few years ago – in 2013 he was [...]
UK M&A activity experiencing a “major pause” due to looming EU referendum, market volatility and weakening pound March 22, 2016 The looming EU referendum, market volatility and the weakening of the pound have contributed to a fall in UK M&A activity, new research has found. Foreign spending on British acquisitions has dipped by nearly a third so far this year, according to Deloitte. Between 1 January and 8 March foreign buyers spent $24.4bn (£17.1bn) on acquiring British [...]
Johnston Press share price shoots up after newspaper publisher reports pre-tax profits rise of more than 20 per cent ahead of i deal completion March 22, 2016 Shares in newspaper publisher Johnston Press shot up this morning after the company reported a pre-tax profits rise of more than 20 per cent. The figures In the 52 weeks to 2 January 2016, Johnston Press reported a 6.8 per cent year-on-year fall in revenue, from £260m to £242.3m. But the company also cut its [...]
Eurozone economy avoids further slowdown in March – Markit PMI March 22, 2016 The Eurozone economy grew at a faster rate in March, according to survey data released this morning. Markit's purchasing managers' index rose to a score of 53.7. It marks a small rebound from February's 12-month low of 53. It also puts the PMI further above the 50 no-change mark, which implies the economy is growing faster. Growth [...]
EU referendum: Presidential hopeful Donald Trump believes “Britain may leave the EU” March 22, 2016 Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has said he believes the United Kingdom could vote to leave the European Union. The frontrunner for the Republican nomination said the UK was experiencing "a lot of problems" and so could end up voting for Brexit come 23 June. Speaking in Washington, D.C., Trump said his opinion was "based on [...]
Londoners spend almost a week of each year in traffic jams, new study from TomTom shows March 22, 2016 If you thought it took you longer to get a taxi to that meeting last week than it did a couple of years ago, you were probably right. New research from TomTom has revealed London's commuters are enduring an extra 39 minutes of travel time each day, or 149 hours a year, due to traffic [...]
Petrobras share price drops 5.5 per cent on news of net loss of £7bn in fourth quarter of 2015 March 22, 2016 Brazil's state-controlled, scandal-ridden oil company Petrobras posted its biggest-ever quarterly loss on Monday. The company, at the centre of a corruption scandal involving Brazilian lawmakers, booked a large writedown for oilfields and other major assets. The figures Petrobras posted a consolidated net loss of 36.9bn reais (£7.1bn) in the fourth quarter of 2015. This result pushed the company's full-year [...]
Thomas Cook flags a challenging summer ahead as terrorist attacks in Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt put off holidaymakers March 22, 2016 Thomas Cook has said its summer bookings for 2016 will come in below last year's levels, as holiday-makers are put off "certain key destinations". The figures For winter 2015/16, bookings in the UK are down three per cent, while Continental Europe is down eight per cent. Northern Europe was up four per cent, but its German [...]
Asian shares mixed on Tuesday as Chinese stocks dip modestly while Nikkei buoyed by weaker yen March 22, 2016 Chinese stocks slid on Tuesday as a weaker yen buoyed Japanese stocks after a public holiday on Monday. On a mixed day for Asian markets, Chinese decreased gains they made on Monday with the Shenzen composite down 0.41 per cent and the Shanghai composite lower at 0.78 per cent. Hawkish comments from two US Federal Reserve officials [...]
City Moves for 22 March 2016 | Who’s switching jobs March 22, 2016 RPC Consulting RPC Consulting – the insurance consultancy arm of RPC – has appointed four senior insurance actuarial professionals to its team in London and Cambridge. Pete Lee, James Norman and Tony Lovick all worked at EMB (now Willis Towers Watson). Natasha Regan joins from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Pete has over 25 years’ [...]