Are emerging markets really worth the risk? April 2, 2019 At a time when the US Federal Reserve has well and truly capitulated on its hiking path, some emerging markets are not showing signs of relief. Against the dollar, Argentina’s peso is close to an all-time low, the Turkish Lira is teetering near a year-to-date low, and the South African rand is creeping back to [...]
Channel 4 set to move into former nightclub building Majestic in Leeds April 2, 2019 Channel 4 is in advanced talks to move its national headquarters into the Majestic building in Leeds city centre. The broadcaster said it is in negotiations with real estate firm Rushbond to lease 25,000 square feet of office space over three floors in the former cinema and nightclub. Read more: Editor's Notes: Brexit: An Uncivil War [...]
UK construction sector shrinks for second consecutive month April 2, 2019 Britain’s construction sector contracted in March for the second month in a row, it was revealed today, as a slowing commercial market and Brexit uncertainty weighed on the sector. The construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stood at 49.7 in March compared to 49.5 in February, the first back-to-back fall in output since August 2016. A score of [...]
Ryanair traffic soars despite challenging results April 2, 2019 Ryanair’s traffic grew nine per cent year-on-year last month as passenger numbers hit 10.9m in March. Traffic is nine per cent up over all this year, as the rolling annual total is 132.1m, up from 130.3m in the year to March 2018. Read more: O'Leary hopes to 'reboot' Ryanair reputation by taking a step back [...]
Aviva and Sesame Bankhall invest £5m in new blockchain mortgage platform April 2, 2019 A new fintech mortgage platform has secured £5m seed funding from Aviva and Sesame Bankhall in a bid to transform the market. Acre – a next-generation mortgage and insurance platform – has announced £5m seed funding from insurance giant Aviva and financial advisor Sesame Bankhall Group (SBG). Read more: Monzo backer Accel stumps up $30m for Chainalysis' [...]
Ghosn requests separate trial from Nissan as inquiries heat up April 2, 2019 Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn will not get a fair trial unless he is tried separately from the car manufacturer, his lawyer has said. “No matter how you look at it, having Ghosn sit alongside Nissan at the trial would be peculiar, it would go against his right to a fair trial,” Junichiro Hironaka told [...]
Discounter Aldi ramps up market share as Easter approaches April 2, 2019 Cut-price supermarket Aldi continued its rise up the grocery food chain in March, achieving a record market share of eight per cent as it made ground on its rivals. The German-owned chain’s sales increased by 10.6 per cent in the 12 months to 24 March compared to a year earlier, pushing its market share up [...]
UK Asset Resolution sells Northern Rock loans for £4.9bn April 2, 2019 The UK Government’s “bad bank”, which was set up in the wake of the financial crisis, has sold £4.9bn of former Northern Rock loans to Citi. UK Asset Resolution, which took on the closed mortgage books of Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley after the crash, said that the fair treatment of customers was a [...]
Provident Financial questions Non-Standard Finance’s past dividends as it attempts to dodge its bid April 2, 2019 Doorstep lender Provident Financial blasted suitor Non-Standard Finance (NSF) today, questioning past dividend payments as it tries to evade NSF’s clutches. Provident put a series of questions to NSF, including questions on “specific concerns regarding certain historical dividend payments and share buybacks”. NSF put out its own stock market announcement today, trumpeting the fact it [...]
Cabinet prepares to meet as Michel Barnier warns no-deal Brexit ‘more likely’ April 2, 2019 Ministers are preparing for a five-hour cabinet marathon this morning after MPs again failed to agree a way forward on Brexit. Read more: Brexit deadlock: Parliament fails to agree new strategy Meanwhile Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, warned that a no-deal Brexit “becomes day after day more likely” as the UK’s extended deadline [...]