Vivendi sells Universal Music Group stake to Tencent consortium December 31, 2019 Vivendi has sold a 10 per cent stake in Universal Music Group to a Tencent-led consortium, in a deal valuing the label housing Lady Gaga, The Beatles, and Taylor Swift at €30bn (£25.5bn). The deal allows both companies to expand in the recovering global music market, giving Chinese conglomerate Tencent more access to US artists, [...]
Huawei predicts ‘difficult’ 2020 as US sanctions bite December 31, 2019 Huawei has cut its full-year revenue forecasts, with the Chinese tech giant’s chairman saying 2020 is likely to be a “difficult year” for the company after US trade blacklisting disrupted growth and its ability to source key parts. The world’s biggest maker of telecom network equipment and second largest smartphone manufacturer said its full-year revenue [...]
National living wage set to rise over six per cent in 2020 December 31, 2019 Almost three million workers are set to receive a 6.2 per cent pay rise from April, after the government announced plans to raise the national living wage. The raise, which the government says will be “the biggest cash increase ever”, comes as prime minister Boris Johnson seeks yo shore up support from the working class [...]
Going, going, Ghosn: Ex-Nissan boss flees Japanese justice system to Lebanon December 31, 2019 Carlos Ghosn has fled what he described as “injustice and political persecution” in Japan to Lebanon, months before the ousted Nissan boss was due to stand trial over alleged financial misconduct. Ghosn’s abrupt departure from Japan for his native Lebanon, in breach of his strict bail conditions, marks the latest dramatic twist in a saga [...]
Brazil fines Facebook over data breach December 30, 2019 Brazil has fined US tech giant Facebook 6.6m reais (£1.24m) for improperly sharing data after the information of more than 400,000 users was made available to app developers. Brazil’s Ministry of Justice said it found that data from 443,000 Facebook users was made improperly available to developers of an app called “thisisyourdigitallife”. Read more: Facebook [...]
Mortgage approvals jump in November December 30, 2019 Mortgage approvals jumped 6.8 per cent last month, reaching the highest level in almost two years. Remortgage approvals soared 12.7 per cent during the month while gross mortgage lending dipped 3.3 per cent last month compared to the same month last year. Read more: First time buyer mortgage approvals increase in October EY Item Club [...]
Monzo closes in on £100m funding round December 30, 2019 Digital bank Monzo is close to securing up to £100m of funding to drive forward its growth plans. New and existing investors are involved in the ongoing fundraising talks, and the move could be followed by a larger funding round next year. Read more: Challenger bank Monzo launches loans The new investment, which was first [...]
Tesla delivers first electric cars made in China December 30, 2019 Electric car firm Tesla has delivered its first vehicles made in China as its billionaire founder Elon Musk targets a bigger share of the country’s car market. Fifteen Model 3 cars were handed over to employees at the firm’s Gigafactory near Shanghai, meaning deliveries have started just over a year after construction of the factory [...]
High street crisis: 16,000 shops closed in 2019 December 30, 2019 More than 16,000 stores have closed this year, according to the latest research, as retailers battle the ongoing challenges facing the high street. In total, 16,073 shops have shut down in 2019 – around 61 each working day – with the rate of store closures forecast to rise next year. Read more: All the big [...]
Mark Carney warns financial sector over climate change December 30, 2019 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has warned that the financial sector must stop investing in fossil fuels faster in order to avoid irreversible global warming. Carney, who will step down from his central bank role next year, said pension fund analysis showed that “if you add up the policies of all of companies out [...]