London landlords left £1,869 out of pocket as vacant rental properties take almost three weeks to fill May 13, 2016 LONDON landlords are typically left with a 20 day vacancy between tenants, often amounting to lost income of £1,869, new research has shown. Despite the highly competitive rental market in the capital, letting agents claim that it takes almost three weeks to fill a property in London, although this is still two days less than [...]
Pharma is failing to spread the word about the millions of lives it saves May 13, 2016 Traders and canny investors take a keen interest in spread – the difference between the buy and sell price on any given market. They know that whatever they buy must bridge this gap before they can make a penny. Spreads are wider on stocks that are infrequently traded and, if they get too wide, traders [...]
Will Brexit knock house prices? Not in prime central London May 13, 2016 In a bid to sway voters, George Osborne is predicting Armageddon in every economic sector as the collateral damage of Brexit. This week he pointed the finger at property prices, predicting a significant dampening if the UK votes to leave. The chancellor is correct that the property market does stall in the face of investor uncertainty, [...]
Carney ignites recession row with Brexit warning May 13, 2016 Bank of England governor Mark Carney sparked an intense political row yesterday after he said that a vote to leave the European Union could plunge Britain into recession. Former chancellor Lord Lamont slammed Carney’s “unwise” choice of words, while two Conservative members of the influential Treasury Select Committee – which is appointed by Parliament to [...]
MPs warn that not enough is being done to protect consumers from mis-selling, and that the recently introduced pensions freedoms could spark a whole new scandal May 13, 2016 MPs are warning that the next financial scandal could be on the horizon, as too little is being done to address the cultural aspects that lead to wrongdoings, such as payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling, while a landmark pensions change has created new opportunities for such behaviours to flourish. A report released today by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) [...]
Public consultation launched by Committee of Advertising Practice could introduce sugar advertising crackdown following tax in March Budget May 13, 2016 A public consultation has been launched today on introducing new non-broadcast rules on how food and soft drink products are advertised to children. The body responsible for writing the UK Advertising Code, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), has launched the consultation in response to "wider societal concerns around childhood obesity". Introducing non-broadcast rules would not [...]
Why M&A activity leaves companies vulnerable to cyber criminals May 12, 2016 Global merger and acquisitions (M&A) activity reached record-breaking deal values in 2015 at over $5 trillion. Whilst these vast sums excite shareholders, they also attract cyber criminals who sense an opportunity via inherent weaknesses in the M&A process. In much the same way that insider trading can (if undetected) yield huge returns for the perpetrator, cyber criminals [...]
Oh No-rdstrom! Shares in department store company tumble 17 per cent after drop in first-quarter sales May 12, 2016 Department store company Nordstrom saw its share price plummet more than 17 per cent in after-hours trading on Thursday. The tumble came after it reported a drop in first-quarter sales at established stores and cut profit expectations for 2016. The figures Nordstrom reported revenue up 1.1 per cent to $3.25bn (£2.25bn), which was short of [...]
Flipping good (sort of): Shake Shack shares up – after plummeting 60 per cent in a year – with expectation-beating results May 12, 2016 Shake Shack’s share price rose nearly four per cent in after-hours trading with the fast food company beating analysts’ expectations. The figures Shake Shack’s quarterly revenue was up 43.3 per cent to $54.2m (£37.5m), above an estimate of $52.06m, according to Street Insider. Meanwhile, earnings per share (EPS) in the first quarter hit $0.08, above expectations of [...]
Seed company’s shares grow after news of $43bn takeover interest May 12, 2016 Shares in US company Monsanto grew by more than eight per cent today after it was reported to be the subject of takeover interest from Germany. It is thought the deal would create the world’s largest seed and farm chemicals provider. Read more: Syngenta agrees to takeover by ChemChina worth over $43bn German company Bayer has [...]