Seplat Petroleum expands production with £382m purchase of Eland Oil & Gas October 15, 2019 Nigerian oil company Seplat Petroleum is set to acquire London-listed Eland Oil & Gas for £382m. The West African oil group will pay 166 pence per share for Eland, which translates into a premium of 28.5 per cent from the company’s closing price on Monday. Read more: Afren in talks to recapitalise after Seplat deal [...]
Wework set to sack 2,000 employees as bosses weigh up rescue plans October 15, 2019 Wework is said to be preparing as many as 2,000 layoffs in the coming weeks as its new bosses battle to keep the company afloat. The troubled co-working giant is looking to cut roughly 13 per cent of its global workforce starting as early as this week, the Guardian reported. Read more: Softbank seeks control [...]
Royal Mail workers vote in favour of largest strike in a decade October 15, 2019 Royal Mail will face its first national postal strike in a decade after workers voted overwhelmingly in favour of a mass walkout. Read more: Parcel pandemonium: Royal Mail braces for Christmas strike chaos The motion was passed by more than 97 per cent of the votes following a ballot of roughly 110,000 Communication Workers Union [...]
London’s creative industries provides £40bn spending boost to economy: new report October 15, 2019 London’s creative industry sector adds £40bn a year to its various supply chains, according to a new report. Previous figures from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport indicated that creative industries boosted London’s economy by £52bn. Read more: Anna at the National Theatre review However, a new report – commissioned by mayor of [...]
JP Morgan shares rise as strong consumer trading boosts third-quarter profit October 15, 2019 Shares in JP Morgan rose almost 2.5 per cent this afternoon after strong trading in its consumer division helped drive third-quarter profit growth. The bank posted net profit of $9.1bn (£7.2bn) or $2.68 per share, up eight per cent on last year and ahead of analysts’ estimates. Revenue also rose eight per cent to hit [...]
Ofgem says it will cut National Grid’s Hinkley Point C funding by £80m October 15, 2019 Energy regulator Ofgem said today it would give National Grid £636m to build the transmission line for the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, lower than the £717m requested by the company. Ofgem said it rejected £40m in risk funding that National Grid has requested. The regulator said National Grid may be able to seek extra [...]
Bank of England’s Mark Carney defends move not to publish governor shortlist October 15, 2019 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has defended the application process to lead the central bank and suggested that too much transparency would discourage people from applying. Carney is due to step down in January and MPs and pressure groups have called on chancellor Sajid Javid to publish the short list of candidates to allow [...]
Blame game: Thomas Cook bosses point finger at government as MPs slam high pay October 15, 2019 Former Thomas Cook bosses have pointed the finger at the government for failing to stump up emergency cash to keep the firm trading last month, in a heated evidence session with MPs. Members of the collapsed holiday giant’s board, including chairman Frank Meysman and chief executive Peter Fankhauser, were today hauled in front of MPs [...]
Financial Conduct Authority clamps down on motor financing commissions October 15, 2019 The UK’s financial regulator is set to crackdown on motor financing commissions in an attempt to save drivers £165m a year. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced today it would ban how some auto dealers and brokers structure their sales commissions. Read more: Financial Conduct Authority sawn raids nearly doubled in 2018 The FCA said [...]
Goldman Sachs misses profit forecasts amid slump in advisory fees October 15, 2019 Goldman Sachs has missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit, amid fewer fees from advising on deals. Revenue at three of its four major business units fell in the most recent quarter, led by declines in investment banking due to fewer mergers and stock market floats. Goldman shares fell three per cent this afternoon. The [...]