An epidemic of fraud costs the UK economy as much as £125bn every year February 15, 2017 An epidemic of fraud since the global financial crisis has cost the UK economy £125bn every year, according to new research. Business losses from fraud and error have increased by 43 per cent since 2008, according to the research by Crowe Clark Whitehill and the University of Portsmouth’s Centre for Counter Fraud Studies. The research [...]
Real wage growth lowest since 2014 as inflation starts to bite February 15, 2017 Wage growth for British workers has slowed as inflation pushed down real earnings to their slowest increase since December 2014. Average weekly earnings grew by 2.6 per cent in the year to December before inflation is taken into account, according to the Office for National Statistics. However, when the increasing cost of living is added [...]
Heineken forecasts margin growth ahead of its Punch Taverns takeover February 15, 2017 Heineken, the Dutch brewing giant who is buying British pub chain Punch Taverns, today said it's expanded its margins despite challenging economic conditions. The figures Net profit fell 18.6 per cent to €1.54bn (£1.31bn), while operating profit increased by 9.9 per cent to €3.54bn excluding currency movement and one-offs. Sales in Heineken's premium segment increased 3.7 per cent, and [...]
Snake on a phone: Nokia is resurrecting the 3310 February 15, 2017 Remember the early noughties? A simpler time, when phones had keypads and the internet was something you did at home? It looks like a little slice of that is coming back – after it emerged the company behind Nokia phones is planning to resurrect the humble Nokia 3310 at this month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. VentureBeat has [...]
EU negotiator Guy Verhofstadt says Sir Winston Churchill would have voted Remain February 15, 2017 The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt yesterday accused the Brexit movement of destroying Sir Winston Churchill's legacy. Verhofstadt told MEPs in Strasbourg that Churchill would have voted to Remain in last June's referendum. "In May 1947, in the Albert Hall in London Churchill, the British Bulldog, made it very clear what he wanted. And [...]
Electronic broker’s boss doesn’t know what is Nex after success of Trump rally February 15, 2017 Trumped-up earnings at Nex, the fancy new name of financial broker of Icap, were not enough to stop its share price from sliding over two per cent this morning. Group revenue was up 11 per cent in the three months to the end of December on a constant currency basis, meaning its nine month performance was [...]
Artificial Intelligence to reveal the biggest secret in oil February 15, 2017 The EIA is, and will continue to be, the gold standard for reporting U.S. oil inventories, and the administration’s weekly reports have the power to immediately swing crude oil prices depending on builds or draws in oil stocks. But while the U.S. is a transparently reporting country, other nations are not revealing oil stocks data, [...]
Vodafone’s Indian merger with Idea could net investment banks a tenth of total annual fees in the country February 15, 2017 A raft of major investment banks are circling Vodafone in an attempt to secure bumper returns from advising on the telecoms giant's £10bn Indian merger with Idea Cellular, according to reports. BoAML, UBS and Standard Chartered are understood to be fighting among themselves to secure the mandate, sources told Reuters. And lucrative advisory roles could net them [...]
Jack Dorsey gave Twitter a really expensive Valentine’s Day present February 15, 2017 Twitter founder Jack Dorsey celebrated Valentine's Day with a big confidence boost for the social network. Dorsey bought just over $7m (£5.6m) worth of Twitter stock – and of course, tweeted about it, using the romantic hashtag #LoveTwitter. #LoveTwitter https://t.co/fELbw0ska7 — jack (@jack) February 14, 2017 The Twitter boss, who also founded (and is, controversially, chief executive of) payments company [...]
Softbank buys US fund manager Fortress for $3.3bn in next step of strategic redirection February 15, 2017 Japanese group Softbank has agreed to buy US fund manager Fortress in a deal worth $3.3bn (£2.6bn), as part of the telecom and technology firm's strategic redirection. Announced overnight, the deal is the first by Softbank into an investment fund and follows the an announcement last October by chief executive and founder Masayoshi Son that the group has [...]