Deutsche Bank denies reports it could raise €10bn for Commerzbank merger March 28, 2019 Deutsche Bank shares have slid further after the German lender was forced to deny reports it has discussed raising up to €10bn (£8.6bn) for its proposed merger with Commerzbank. Exploratory talks between Germany’s two biggest banks have been ongoing since contact was initially made earlier this month. Read more: Entire Commerzbank board paid slightly more than just one [...]
Ex-Autonomy finance chief Sushovan Hussain ‘did not have tech knowledge’ for alleged fraud, court hears March 28, 2019 Former Autonomy finance chief Sushovan Hussain was “a numbers guy” without the technological knowledge to carry out alleged fraud at the software firm, a court heard today. Hewlett-Packard is suing Hussain and Autonomy’s founder Mike Lynch for $5bn following its £8.4bn acquisition of the UK firm in 2011, alleging that the pair falsely inflated the [...]
MPs will vote on Brexit deal – but ‘meaningful vote’ process is torn up March 28, 2019 MPs will vote on half of Theresa May’s Brexit deal on Friday in what could be a final bid to get the UK out of the EU by May 22. The government tore apart the ‘meaningful vote’ process as it announced MPs would rule on the terms on which the UK leaves the EU – but not [...]
Brexit live: MPs to vote on May’s withdrawal agreement tomorrow March 28, 2019 Welcome to our Brexit live blog. Please manually refresh this page for the latest updates. Follow this page throughout the day for the latest Brexit news as the world reacts to yet another day of deadlock in parliament. MPs failed to reach a majority last night on a series of indicative votes intended to provide an [...]
New York sues Sackler family over transfer of funds from opioid maker Purdue March 28, 2019 The beleaguered billionaire Sackler family is facing fresh scrutiny after an amended lawsuit alleged it transferred funds from opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma. In the lawsuit New York attorney general Letitia James alleged Purdue, which produces the controversial Oxycontin product, transferred money to members of the Sackler family to protect the funds from ongoing litigation. Read [...]
Motor insurer Sabre unveils special dividend in first annual results since listing March 28, 2019 Specialist motor insurer Sabre declared a special dividend today in its first full-year results since listing on the London Stock Exchange. The insurer wrote £210m of premiums last year, a slight drop on the previous year which it said was a result of focusing on underwriting profitability over growth. Read more: Private equity firm BC [...]
Chinese offer comes in for LK Bennett days before administrators set to finalise deal March 28, 2019 A Chinese firm which supplies retailer LK Bennett has weighed in on the fight to buy the chain from administrators, as hopes grow the majority of its workers will retain their jobs. Byland UK, a newly incorporated company, has been set up with the objective of buying LK Bennett, Sky reported. Read more: Footwear chain [...]
Tesco boss accuses business rates system of ‘killing’ retailers March 28, 2019 The chief executive of Tesco, Dave Lewis, has harshly criticised the UK’s business rates system, saying it has become “a rising tax on investment” in a speech today. Lewis said that increasing business rates have come as retailers are squeezed by online competitors, and called for an online sales levy. He brushed off criticism that this [...]
Labour plans to nationalise industries will cause ‘profound harm’ to UK economy, says CBI chief March 28, 2019 Labour party plans to renationalise key industries such as rail would cause "profound harm to the economy", the UK's largest business group has said. Carolyn Fairbairn, the head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said the party's plans to bring rail, utilities and public services would "hurt the very people they are intended to help and [...]
Time Out looks to markets as audience reach hit by Facebook algorithm change March 28, 2019 Media company Time Out saw its audience numbers slashed by a third last year after a change to Facebook’s algorithm pushed its content further down users’ newsfeeds. The company reported an average global monthly audience reach of 144m, down 33 per cent on the year before, which it said was “primarily the result of a [...]