Morgan Stanley caps off earnings season with record profit January 16, 2020 Morgan Stanley’s profit jumped almost 50 per cent in the final quarter of 2019, its results showed today, pushing the lender’s yearly earnings to a record high. The last of the Wall Street giants to report its fourth-quarter earnings, Morgan Stanley also achieved record revenue in 2019 as its bond-trading arm prospered. Profit rose 46 [...]
Crossrail 2 may already be facing delays, says Sadiq Khan January 16, 2020 Crossrail 2 may have been delayed before government approval has even been given, according to Sadiq Khan. The £41.3bn rail project – a new Tube line running from North to South London – is in limbo as it awaits for the Department for Transport (DfT) to deliberate on its business plan. Under the current funding [...]
Ukraine opens investigation into alleged surveillance of US ambassador January 16, 2020 Ukraine has said it will open a criminal investigation into allegations that the former US ambassador to Ukraine was put under surveillance by people working for President Donald Trump. In a statement today the Ministry of Internal Affairs said it was aware of materials published by investigators “related to possible illegal surveillance on the former [...]
BoE governor Mark Carney to advise PM on climate change January 16, 2020 Outgoing Bank of England governor Mark Carney is to be a key adviser to the government in the run-up to the UN climate change conference, COP26. Boris Johnson confirmed Carney in the role during a meeting at Number 10 today. The Canadian economist will help the UK government to “mobilise ambitious action from across the [...]
Smart meter firm Calisen confirms £1.5bn float plans January 16, 2020 Smart meter firm Calisen today confirmed its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange next month with the goal of raising £300m. The float will value the company at around £1.5bn. The energy company, which is backed by private equity firm KKR, said it would use the funds to pay down debt, support future [...]
M&C Saatchi merges with sister agency Lida after accounting crisis January 16, 2020 M&C Saatchi today announced it will absorb sister marketing agency Lida, as the troubled advertising firm looks to recover from a catastrophic accounting crisis. The media giant said the newly merged agency will offer a range of fields, including tech, partnership marketing, customer experience and data analytics. A period of voluntary redundancy at both M&C [...]
Retail health hits record low in 2019 January 16, 2020 Retail health hit a record low last year as high street stores battled weak consumer demand and faced pressure to slash prices. The latest Retail Health Index published by a KPMG and Ipsos think tank hit a record low of 74 in 2019 – the worst result since the tracker was established in 2006. The [...]
PSA suffers 10 per cent slump in sales for 2019 January 16, 2020 The parent company of Vauxhall and Peugeot suffered a 10 per cent slump in sales last year, as declining volumes in China, the Middle East and Africa came to bear on the car maker. PSA, which is part-way through a merger with Fiat Chrysler, saw sales decline by 2.5 per cent in its home European [...]
Amazon says UK tech tax could hit small businesses January 16, 2020 Amazon’s UK boss has played down concerns about a new tech tax, but warned the move could raise costs for small businesses using its platform. The government’s 11 March Budget is expected to include a digital services tax, which will charge a two per cent levy on the UK revenue of technology companies. Douglas Gurr, [...]
FSCS says it is ‘too early to predict’ London Capital & Finance compensation levels January 16, 2020 The financial services lifeboat said today it was “too early to predict” how much it would have to pay out in compensation to investors in collapsed mini-bond firm London Capital & Finance (LCF). Last week, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) said it would protect 159 LCF bondholders who switched from stocks and shares ISAs [...]