Persimmon profit falls as it tries to tackle quality complaints August 20, 2019 Persimmon has reported a drop in profit for the first half of the year as it spent heavily on schemes to aimed to counter complaints over the quality and fire safety of its homes. The figures Britain’s second largest housebuilder reported a 1.4 per cent drop in pre-tax profit, which fell to £509.3m for the [...]
Energy group Wood to sell nuclear arm for £250m August 20, 2019 British energy services firm Wood is to sell its nuclear business for about £250m ($301m) to a subsidiary of US company Jacobs in a drive to reduce its debt. Read more: EDF seeks guarantee for nuclear project The firm made the announcement as it released its half-year results, which showed a rise in pre-tax profit [...]
Sainsbury’s shares lifted by strong performance but hottest day fails to revive flagging grocery sales August 20, 2019 Sainsbury’s led FTSE 100 risers this morning following the news the supermarket had put in its strongest performance since November 2017. The supermarket put in the strongest performance of all the big four grocers, but still saw its market share slip 0.6 per cent over the past 12 weeks, according to Kantar data released this [...]
Bolt from the blue: Grid blames lightning strike for power cut which switched out the lights in 1m homes August 20, 2019 National Grid today said a bolt of lightning was to blame for a power outage which left over a million homes without power and knocked out trains, a hospital and an airport. The listed grid operator said that a bolt strike on a power line in Cambridgeshire tripped two generating plants. Read more: Government sets [...]
Italy’s return to political chaos leaves investors in wait-and-see mode August 20, 2019 A furious global hunt for yield has helped to spark a significant repricing of fixed-income markets. The consequences of last week’s major market moves were by turns high-profile and obscure. One oxymoron-inclined senior White House adviser to President Donald Trump insisted that the inverted curve that appeared briefly in US Treasury yields was in fact [...]
Bureaucratic boroughs risk holding London back in the 5G race August 20, 2019 Despite the hype around the latest handsets and a commitment from the new cabinet to prioritise connectivity, London risks losing out on the 5G opportunity. Much has been made of the country’s struggles to keep up with international competitors in the race to deliver world-class connectivity, while our imminent departure from the EU places greater [...]
DEBATE: Are the Operation Yellowhammer warnings about no-deal likely to be exaggerated? August 20, 2019 Are the Operation Yellowhammer warnings about no-deal likely to be exaggerated? Ruth Lea, economic adviser to the Arbuthnot Banking Group, says YES. The Yellowhammer warnings have a weary familiarity to them. As with Project Fear Mark 1, prior to the 2016 referendum, any possible negativities have been ramped up out of all proportion. In 2016, [...]
Give Corbyn some credit – he helped to deliver Brexit August 20, 2019 When the history books are written, Boris Johnson may well be remembered as the man who delivered Brexit. But there is someone else who would deserve almost as much credit for Britain’s departure from the EU: Jeremy Bernard Corbyn. Admittedly, Corbyn’s current role in enabling Brexit is mostly involuntary. It turns out that he is [...]
Has Priti Patel thought through the implications of abruptly ending free movement? August 20, 2019 Priti Patel, fresh from announcing that she wants criminals to feel “terror” at the thought of breaking the law and following last week’s Home Office brainwave to print anti-knife messages on the packaging of products from chicken restaurants, has a new plan. The home secretary has revealed her intention to end freedom of movement from [...]
City Moves for 19 August – Who’s switching jobs at Morgan Lewis, Saranac Partners and Sativa? August 20, 2019 Today’s City Moves includes Morgan Lewis, Saranac Partners and Sativa. Morgan Lewis Morgan Lewis has appointed corporate lawyer Ayesha Waheed, who focuses on international energy and infrastructure transactions, as a partner resident in London. Ayesha has significant experience throughout Europe and in emerging markets in Africa and Asia, particularly south east Asia. She arrives from [...]