GVC Holdings appoint new chief product officer after acquisition of online sports betting firm bwin in February March 22, 2016 Sports betting and online gaming firm GVC Holdings has created a new chief product officer role following its acquisition of bwin.party digital entertainment. Liron Snir has been appointed GVC's first chief product officer, who will oversee product management and user experience on the company's digital betting platforms. Bwin.party, a B2B and B2C sports betting brand and owner [...]
Nearly three in four people say chancellor George Osborne is not up to the job of Prime Minister after Budget March 22, 2016 Nearly three in four people think chancellor George Osborne is not up to the job of Prime Minister, according to new YouGov figures out today. In just the latest post-Budget blow for the chancellor, YouGov found that only eight per cent of people think Osborne would be a good fit for replacing Prime Minister David Cameron. The proportion [...]
888 Holdings’ 2015 operational profits halve due to levies but operational successes boost share price March 22, 2016 The share price of online betting and gaming provider 888 Holdings rose as its announced its full-year financial results for 2015 today, emphasising operational successes despite a halving of its operational profit. The figures Operating profit for 888 Holdings, the owner of 888.com, halved from $80m (£55.5m) in 2014 to $40.8m (£28.3m) in 2015. The company saw gaming duties [...]
Moody’s: Conduct litigation charges for Lloyds, HSBC, Barclays, RBS and Santander UK rose 40 per cent to £15bn last year March 22, 2016 Legal fees and remediation costs for conduct issues will continue to pose downside risks for Britain's biggest banks, Moody's Investors Service is warning today. In a new report out this morning, the credit rating giant said conduct charges are on the rise – and will continue to constrain profitability at the UK's five largest lenders for years [...]
Imagination Technologies share price rockets after news Apple is in “advanced talks” to acquire British chip design company March 22, 2016 Apple is in "advanced talks" to acquire UK chip design company Imagination Technologies. The share price of Imagination has rose by more than 17 per cent to 217p this morning, taking to company's market cap to around £600m. Imagination declined to comment and Apple has not responded to a request for comment on the story, which was [...]
Shore Capital share price rises despite scrapping its dividend as chief executive warns the outlook for markets may not improve March 22, 2016 Shore Capital's share price has risen in trading today, despite the company axing its dividend and warning challenging markets could continue. The company reported strong profit growth in its preliminary results for its year ended December 2015, mostly due to the sale of a number of radio spectrum licences in Germany to Deutsche Telekom AG. The sale of six [...]
Clever cloggs: UK universities Cambridge, Oxford, Royal College of Art and Insitute of Education come top of the class for eight subjects in annual QS global rankings March 22, 2016 UK universities are the top places to study eight subjects including maths, languages, history and art, according to the annual QS global league tables. Four UK universities led the way across eight subjects, with the University of Oxford top for four subjects and the University of Cambridge coming top dog for three. UCL's Institute of [...]
London house prices 53 per cent higher than pre-crisis peak as UK price growth accelerates to 12-month high – ONS March 22, 2016 UK house prices climbed 7.9 per cent in January compared with the same month last year, the Office for National Statistics said this morning. It marks faster house price growth than December's 6.7 per cent. Price growth was driven by the South East and London where prices rose 11.7 per cent and 10.8 per cent respectively. [...]
Blow for chancellor George Osborne as government borrowing overshoots in February March 22, 2016 The government borrowed £7.1bn in February, down £0.5bn compared with the same month last year. It takes total borrowing for financial year to date (April 2015 to February 2016) to £70.7bn, according to the figures released by the Office for National Statistics this morning. The Office for Budget Responsibility, the government's fiscal watchdog, last week [...]
Ofcom puts forward “strict new rules” for BT’s Openreach division, including cutting charges and boosting installation times March 22, 2016 Ofcom has put forward "strict new rules" that BT must adhere to if it wants to avoid having to carve off its Openreach business. The regulator told BT it must improve its high speed business lines performance and "significantly" cut its wholesale charges for these lines, as part of its review of the market, published [...]