Still undecided on the London mayoral election? Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq Khan interviews – head to head May 4, 2016
Megabrew: AB InBev’s takeover of SABMiller bubbling along nicely, says company May 4, 2016 Anheuser-Busch InBev revealed today that everything is going swimmingly in its proposed takeover of SABMiller. As well as announcing its quarterly results, AB InBev reported that it was making "good progress" in getting the regulatory clearances it needs for the £71bn takeover deal and that it expected the transaction to close in the second half of 2016. [...]
Sales at Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s all drop for the first time in a year May 4, 2016 The supermarket sector has suffered yet another setback, with sales at all of the Big Four declining in the last quarter, while – you guessed it – Aldi and Lidl posted double-digit growth. Asda was the poorest performer of the biggest supermarkets, with sales dropping 5.1 per cent according to Kantar Worldpanel, followed by Morrisons, which dropped 2.6 per cent. Sales at Tesco [...]
City A.M. Unregulated podcast, episode 6: Zac Goldsmith vs Sadiq Khan – Who should have the City’s vote in the London mayoral election? May 4, 2016 From Bollywood blunders to accusations of racism from all sides: no matter whether Zac Goldsmith or Sadiq Khan wins, the next Mayor of London is going to take over after a divisive campaign. Who should the City be voting for? Chewing over the promises from both of London's main candidates, as well as what will dominate in the first [...]
Sainbury’s is going to start offering mortgages May 4, 2016 Sainsbury's is planning to start offering mortgages as early as next year. The supermarket confirmed its plans today, on the back of a strong performance from its banking arm. Underlying profit this year was up nearly five per cent to £65m, while total income was up over five per cent to £274m. The total accounts held [...]
Shell’s earnings slump by nearly 60 per cent, as warnings are raised over dividend May 4, 2016 Shell's earnings have slumped by nearly 60 per cent, with the energy giant freezing its dividend for the first quarter – prompting warnings that it could be "unsustainable". The figures Earnings attributable to shareholders, excluding identified items, dropped 58 per cent from $3.74bn last year to $1.55bn. It was also down on the last quarter of 2015, [...]
Societe Generale announces more cost-cutting measures, focusing on its global banking and investor solutions offering May 4, 2016 Societe Generale has revealed further plans to cut costs in its quarterly results today, focusing this time on its global banking and investor solutions unit. The new plans seek to slash €220m (£173.8m) from costs by the end of 2017, in an effort to offset rising taxes and generate more funds for investments. The bank has been [...]
Sainsbury’s beats forecasts on results, but profits and sales still slide as Mike Coupe warns of tough road ahead May 4, 2016 Sainsbury's share price fell this morning as full year profits came in ahead of analyst forecasts – but still show a hefty year-on-year decline as the price wars continue to take their toll. The figures The supermarket reported group sales of £25.8bn for the 12 months to 12 March – down 1.1 per cent on the same period last [...]
Ted Cruz bows out of Republican race as Donald Trump wins Indiana primary May 4, 2016 Republican hopeful Ted Cruz has bowed out of the Presidential candidate race, after rival Donald Trump claimed victory in the Indiana primary late last night. Businessman and reality TV personality Trump became the party's presumptive nominee after Cruz announced he was suspending his campaign. In the primary, Trump took home 53 per cent of the vote, according to [...]
No puppy love here: Mumsnet’s younger sister site Gransnet is pairing up with romantic novel peddler Mills & Boon May 4, 2016 If there's one thing we took away from last week's Mumsnet mayoral hustings, it's that users of the site are big fans of romance novels. Knowing its target audience only too well Mumsnet's sister site for tech-savvy matriarchs, Gransnet, is announcing a partnership with romantic novel peddler Mills & Boon. Gransnet says that the partnership "will see the [...]