One in three UK mortgage holders don’t know their interest rate, survey finds May 19, 2016 One in three UK mortgage holders do not know what interest rate they are on, according to a new study. YouGov and digital mortgage broker Habito, which launched last month with the mission of bringing the market into the "21st century", surveyed more than 1,200 mortgage owners. Some 33 per cent did not know what [...]
EU referendum: Ryanair wants people to back Remain so much it’s offering cheaper flights home to vote on 22 and 23 June May 19, 2016 Ryanair has made no secret of the fact it is one in a vast number of companies that wants the UK to remain in the EU. But it turns out the company wants the UK to reject Brexit so desperately that it's going to be selling cheaper flights back to the UK on the 22 and 23 June [...]
Malaysian PM’s stepson bought £23m house in London using troubled state fund 1MDB May 19, 2016 The stepson of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak reportedly bought a house in London for £23.25m using money from troubled state investment fund 1MDB. The property located in upmarket Belgravia is registered with Qentas Holdings Ltd., a company based in the British Virgin Islands. However, sources told the WSJ that Najib's stepson, Riza Aziz, is the beneficial owner. Read more: The [...]
Airline and holiday operators’ share prices fall in wake of missing EgyptAir MS804 flight May 19, 2016 Shares in airlines and holiday operators were suffering this morning in the wake of what appears to be another potential disaster involving a passenger jet. EgyptAir flight MS804 went missing overnight as it was travelling between Paris and Cairo, with 56 passengers and a further 10 crew and security members on board. Three of the people [...]
National Grid share price falls despite surging profits May 19, 2016 The share price of the National Grid fell first thing on Thursday morning, despite the company reporting a nine per cent surge in pre-tax profits. The figures The company reported a pre-tax profit in the year to 31 March of £3.14bn, up from £2.88bn in 2015. Its operating profit, meanwhile, was up six per cent [...]
Thomas Cook summer bookings down in wake of terror attacks May 19, 2016 Thomas Cook' losses have narrowed, but demand is still suffering as a result of the many terrorist attacks of the last few months. But Thomas Cook's share price was down more than 11.4 per cent in early trading – although this may in part be because it has released its results on the same day an EgyptAir [...]
Mothercare takes baby steps towards recovery with first statutory profit in five years May 19, 2016 Mothercare's share price has soared more than 10.3 per cent this morning after posting its first statutory profit in five years. The figures Revenues dropped 4.5 per cent worldwide to £1.15bn, with the international market continuing to be "challenging". However total UK sales were up 0.3 per cent to £459.7m, with like-for-likes up 3.6 per cent. Group [...]
Royal Mail’s share price fall on profits slump as turnaround continues May 19, 2016 Royal Mail's profits have fallen more than a third as the business ploughs money into the 500-year-old business' "transformation". The figures Adjusted revenues slipped one per cent to £9.25bn for the year to 27 March, while adjusted operating profits before transformation costs climbed five per cent to £742m. Royal Mail's margin fell 0.1 per cent to six per [...]
Burberry needs some raw executive talent May 19, 2016 Burberry, the iconic luxury fashion brand, unveiled a three-year turnaround plan yesterday, promising “to drive revenue growth, improve productivity and deliver at least £100m of cost savings.” With the company’s value down by more than 20 per cent over the last couple of months, the stock should have been ripe for a bounce – but [...]