Weaker French demand weighs on Kingfisher September 16, 2015 SHARES in Kingfisher took a hit yesterday after the B&Q and Castorama owner said weaker-than-expected demand in France offset a stronger sales performance in Britain. The DIY giant, which also owns Brico Depot and Screwfix, said adjusted pre-tax profits fell by 2.3 per cent to £384m in the six months to 1 August, blaming adverse [...]
Jeremy Corbyn’s betting odds: It was YouGov research wot shifted the dial on the Labour leaderership election September 16, 2015 Forget the old chestnut: “If you really want to know what is going to happen just look to the betting odds. Money is smarter than pollsters.” So when the next person trots out the tired old arguments about “the wisdom of crowds”, point them to Jeremy Corbyn’s victory in the Labour leadership contest. [...]
London is the top destination for overseas technology workers September 16, 2015 London is the most popular destination in Europe for technology jobs as the UK digital economy continues to grow. A new set of data from jobs site Indeed shows that 3.4 per cent of all overseas jobs searches are for London specifically, with the figure rising to 8.2 per cent for tech jobs. Nearly one-third [...]
Boff: Rent caps will cut housing supply by 50k September 16, 2015 A CONSERVATIVE City Hall hopeful has attacked Labour proposals for rent controls, saying such market interventions would reduce rental revenues and ultimately cut into the capital’s housing supply. Sadiq Khan – who was picked as the Labour party’s candidate for mayor of London last week – has pledged to “push the government to give the [...]
ARM share price rises after sales of new Apple iPhone 6S and Morgan Stanley note September 16, 2015 Chipmaker Arm Holdings yesterday saw its share price rise almost 3.5 per cent, helped by news of strong first-weekend Apple iPhone sales, and by recommendations from brokers including Morgan Stanley. Yesterday was the the first analyst day for new chief financial officer Chris Kennedy, who was poached from easyJet. Morgan Stanley noted that ARM has [...]
S&P: Politics of refugee crisis poses big risk September 16, 2015 THE RECORD surge of refugees into Europe is unlikely to hurt the economies of EU countries. However, European leaders’ inability to find “co-operative solutions” to the crisis could have long-term consequences for their sovereign debt ratings, a leading credit agency has said. In a new note, Standard & Poor’s says that an “elusive compromise could [...]
Fed rate hike expectations: Cheap oil and strong dollar blot outlook for Federal Reserve interest rates decision September 16, 2015 Clouds are gathering over the US economy as the release of bearish data spooks investors ahead of tomorrow’s highly anticipated Federal Reserve interest rate decision. Manufacturing output contracted by 0.5 per cent in August, according to Federal Reserve data released yesterday – the sector’s biggest output decline since January 2014. Industrial production, which includes [...]
Flexible working may be on the up but we’re not there yet September 16, 2015 It’s great that more men and women in the City are working flexibly. But could more work be done flexibly? I reckon that employers who are still blocking flexible working requests are missing a trick or two. Since June 2014 all employees with at least 26 weeks’ employment can make flexible working requests under a [...]
Government tax credit cuts get the stamp of approval from MPs September 15, 2015 CHANCELLOR George Osborne’s proposals to cut tax credits have been approved by MPs, despite strong opposition from Labour and the SNP. In his emergency Summer Budget, Osborne announced plans to lower the earnings threshold above which tax credits are withdrawn, and said he would speed up the rate at which the benefit is lost as [...]
LSE looks ahead after it sells tech company September 15, 2015 LONDON Stock Exchange Group yesterday confirmed the sale of its market data provider Proquote to IRESS, an Australian financial software firm. The group said Proquote, which it has owned since 2003, “was not central to its strategy going forward for the enlarged Information Services Division”. The Australian firm said the move was part of its [...]