General Election 2015: Nicola Sturgeon vows the SNP will block a raise of the state pension age in the UK April 7, 2015 The SNP will block planned raises of the UK pension age, if it wins enough seats in the General Election to do so, Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday. The Scottish first minister, argued Scots will be disadvantaged by the rises, as they have the lowest life expectancy in the UK. A baby girl can expect to [...]
Vivendi confirms bid for YouTube rival Dailymotion April 7, 2015 Vivendi has confirmed a bid for Orange-owned YouTube rival Dailymotion. The French media group, which owns Universal Music and Canal+, confirmed reports it was in talks to buy a majority stake in the video site, in a deal thought to be worth €250m (£182.6m) for a 75 to 80 per cent share. Earlier, Hong Kong telecoms [...]
Advfn seeks to fend off “sinister” activist investor April 7, 2015 Financial market information specialist Advfn is looking to fend off an activist investor, which it claims has used a “sinister and opaque operation” to attempt a hostile take-over. Last month Advfn revealed it had received communication regarding a requisition for a general meeting in which the investor would seek to remove all directors and appoint [...]
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras flies to Russia as talks with Brussels drag on April 7, 2015 The Prime Minister of Greece will fly into Moscow today for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid ongoing concern that the Mediterranean country will run out of money this month. Alexis Tsipras' meeting had originally been scheduled for May, but has been brought forward, raising suspicions that Greece plans to gain funding from [...]
KPMG tells banks – Slash costs to get back to healthy profits April 7, 2015 Britain’s big banks must slash their bloated cost bases if they are ever to return to sustainable profitability, analysts at KPMG warned today. The largest lenders are all struggling to make steady returns. Despite improvements in profits last year, none of the big five made returns on equity of above eight per cent. That is [...]
Michael Bloomberg’s mayor of London bid played down by former New York deputy and colleague Howard Wolfson April 7, 2015 Will he or won’t he? That’s the question people are asking about Michael Bloomberg after suggestions he might be lining himself up to run as the Conservatives’ candidate for mayor of London. The whispers began after it was reported that friends of Bloomberg, founder of the financial news agency, were urging him to consider the [...]
Spring has finally sprung for the workers in the City April 7, 2015 LONDONERS basked in glorious spring sunshine yesterday as temperatures soared across the capital on a warmer-than-average Easter Monday. People flocked to the city’s parks and green spaces to make the most of the good weather. Sunbathers laid out in St James’s Park as temperatures reached 16°C. Today and tomorrow, however, City workers are likely to [...]
General Election 2015: George Osborne says Labour raised taxes by £2,000 as tax row escalates April 7, 2015 Goerge Osborne will today claim that New Labour hiked taxes on earnings for an average household by £1,895 a year in real-terms, as the row between the parties over tax escalates. The new figures come from the House of Commons library. The Tories say they hint at what Labour would do if it wins the [...]
Ex-director Ingram puts pressure on both Alliance Trust and Elliott April 7, 2015 BOTH sides in the row between Alliance Trust and Elliott Advisors need to make a better case to investors, former Alliance non-executive director Tim Ingram said yesterday. Activist investor Elliott is pushing to have three new non-executives added to FTSE 250 investment firm’s board at its annual general meeting this month. Ingram argues the shareholder [...]
Shoppers shun the high street after Easter Bank Holiday wash-out April 7, 2015 Retailers were dealt a major blow this weekend as the Easter Bank Holiday wash-out caused a slump in visits to the high street, according to figures released yesterday. Data company Springboard said that footfall across high streets, shopping centres and retail parks fell by two per cent between Good Friday and yesterday at midday compared [...]