Customers can walk out of slow broadband contracts, Ofcom’s new rules say February 28, 2019 Broadband firms will have to be more honest about connection speeds before customers sign new contracts under new rules coming into force tomorrow. Read more: Ranked: The phone and broadband providers with the most complaints Regulator Ofcom's new protections will mean broadband providers have to give customers a minimum guaranteed speed at the point of sale. [...]
Moving parts: Jumbo jet engine charges hurt Rolls-Royce as manufacturer pulls out of Boeing bid February 28, 2019 Rolls-Royce’s share price moved down a gear this morning as it announced it had dropped out of bidding to supply engines for Boeing’s new midsize plane model because it could not meet the timetable. The company reported an operating loss of £1.2bn in its full year results, after being hit by one-off charges relating to [...]
Co-operative Bank returns to operating profit for first time in five years but heavy IT costs leads to overall loss February 28, 2019 The Co-operative Bank returned to operating profit last year for the first time since 2013 but heavy IT costs and PPI payments led to the bank to widen overall losses. The bank said the return to profit was a “key milestone” as it continues to recovery from a restructuring in 2017 but warned of challenges [...]
Housebuilder Bovis’s customer rating improves as profits reach all-time high February 28, 2019 Bovis Homes showed its best profits ever today as it recovered from a scandal in the quality of its building. The figures Revenue stood at £1.06bn in 2018, a 3.2 per cent increase on the year before, Bovis told shareholders this morning. Meanwhile pre-tax profits grew an impressive 47 per cent to £168m, ahead of [...]
British Airways owner International Airlines Group profits soar February 28, 2019 British Airway’s owner International Airlines Group’s (IAG) profit soared 9.5 per cent last year. The figures Shares lifted two per cent as the group reported that pre-tax profit for the year to the end of December was €3.2bn up from €2.95bn in 2017. Revenue was up 6.7 per cent from €22.8bn in 2017 to €24,4bn last [...]
US and North Korea summit ends abruptly after talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un break down February 28, 2019 A summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un has ended abruptly with no agreement reached. The pair were expected to conclude a second day of talks with a lunch and signing ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam. Read more: Chinese stocks leap as Trump signals tariff increase delay South Korean shares fell [...]
No more denial, Hezbollah has always been a terrorist group February 28, 2019 It is not often that a self-styled “Party of God” makes political waves in the UK. After all, this is the country where Alastair Campbell famously told Tony Blair “we don’t do God” in response to the then Prime Minister’s attempts to discuss his faith in public. But that is what happened this week, with [...]
Comrade Corbyn’s statist policies would tank the British economy February 28, 2019 The journalist Tom Bower has a new book: Dangerous Hero – Corbyn’s Ruthless Plot for Power. With all the current headlines about the Labour leader centring around his U-turn on a second referendum and the worsening crisis of antisemitism in his party, Bower’s biography is a timely reminder of Corbyn’s economic ideology. The leader of [...]
Aston Martin shares drop as it falls to a loss and sets aside £30m for Brexit February 28, 2019 Aston Martin fell to a £70m loss in 2018 as it counted the cost of floating on the stock market, it revealed today, capping a year in which its disappointing debut saw shares lose a third of their value. The figures The luxury car manufacturer fell to a £68.2m loss before tax last year, down [...]
Foxtons swings to a loss in weak London property market February 28, 2019 Foxtons swung to a loss last year as the estate agent struggled with a weakened London property market, the company announced this morning. The figures The estate agent reported a £17.2m loss in its 2018 full-year results this morning, down from £6.5m profit the previous year, in part due to a non-recurring charge of £15.7m [...]