Linkedin share price shoots up as earnings and revenue for the first quarter beat expectations April 28, 2016 LinkedIn's share price shot up by over 15 per cent in after hours trading, as the company beat expectations in its results for the first quarter. The professional networking website posted revenue of $861m (£589m), well ahead of its own expectation for the three months of the year, and marking a 35 per cent increase compared to [...]
Blockchain just expanded even further into the public sector as Credits and Skyscape Cloud Services announce partnership April 28, 2016 Blockchain technology has made another inroad into widespread adoption by public services. Credits, a blockchain infrastructure provider, has partnered with Skyscape Cloud Services, a UK cloud services provider, to deliver "Blockchain-as-a-Service" to UK public sector organisations. Credits' platform enables organisations "to quickly and easily build robust blockchains" that address the challenges of establishing provenance and authentication faced by many [...]
Pharma consolidation continues with two new massive deals April 28, 2016 The latest round of consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry has seen a combined £24bn worth of potential deals. French phara giant Sanofi yesterday made a play for cancer therapy drug specialist Medivation with an unsolicited bid worth $9.3bn (£6.4bn). Sanofi has sent a letter to the head of Medivation offering to buy the company after Medivation [...]
EU referendum: Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney says risks around the EU referendum are the biggest facing the UK economy April 28, 2016 Risks surrounding the EU referendum are the biggest that face the UK's economy, the governor of the Bank of England has warned. Mark Carney said that while the economy is generally performing "pretty well", in the short term it appears to be slowing, which is likely to be related to issues around the referendum. "Our [...]
Danish Council of Ethics votes in favour of a climate change-focused meat tax April 28, 2016 Most of us by now have adjusted to news that a sugar tax is coming, but how would we react to a tax on meat? Denmark may have to consider just that question, after members of the Danish Council of Ethics voted in favour of a proposal that recommends placing a "climate tax" on beef initially, [...]
Virgin America reports better than expected results as lower fuel costs offset fall in revenue per available seat mile April 28, 2016 Virgin America, currently awaiting a green light on the merger with Alaska Air Group, has posted better than expected first quarter results, helped by low fuel costs. The airline posted first quarter net income, excluding special items, of $18.4m (£12.6m), an increase of 74.5 per cent from the first quarter of 2015. Earnings per share, excluding special items, [...]
It’s been a good year for PwC’s soon-to-be chairman Kevin Ellis April 28, 2016 Congratulations to bean-counting boss Kevin Ellis. The managing partner at PwC has just been elected as the audit firm's new chairman, and his bosses aren't the only ones who are impressed with his work. He will succeed Ian Powell, who retires from PwC on 30 June after 39 years of service with the firm. Read [...]
Live: The spring of shareholder discontent – Weir Group sees renumeration policy struck out, with only 27.6 voting in favour April 28, 2016 It's springtime, but executives may have felt a chill in the air as they headed off to their companies' AGMs this morning. Hermes Investment Management has said that it opposes the appointment of former chief executive Michael Dobson to the role of chairman at Schroders, remarking that such a move would undermine corporate governance. Although the measure [...]
Mark Zuckerberg added $4bn to his fortune thanks to Facebook earnings sending stock soaring April 28, 2016 Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has increased his wealth by a healthy $4.7bn (£3.2bn), despite taking home just a $1 salary. The social network's latest earnings pleased investors, sending stock soaring nearly 10 per cent and helping Zuckerberg add billions to his wealth. The additional cash in the bank (well, shares) helped the [...]