Shell swings to profit but remains cautious with an eye on low oil prices November 1, 2016 It's not a bad day for Royal Dutch Shell. It reported an 18 per cent rise in underlying net profit for the third quarter and beat analysts' forecasts in the process. Chief executive Ben van Beurden doesn't want anybody getting too ahead of themselves though – he says "the outlook remains uncertain" as lower oil [...]
Hillary Clinton accuses FBI chief of double standards November 1, 2016 The Clinton campaign has hit back at the FBI, accusing its chief James Comey of "double standards" for trying to hide evidence of Russia's backing of Republican nominee Donald Trump. Clinton's campaign manager said it "defied all logic" for Comey to reveal the investigation into Clinton's emails, while refusing to speak about Russia's alleged involvement with Trump's campaign because it [...]
Antony Jenkins’ fintech startup has revealed its first banking client November 1, 2016 The former boss of Barclays Antony Jenkins has revealed his new fintech startup's first client – and it's a well known name. 10x Future Technologies will build a digital banking platform for Virgin Money, the challenger bank founded by Richard Branson and boasting millions of customers. It will work on creating a digital platform for the bank [...]
The run on the pound hasn’t finished yet and will fall further when the PM triggers Article 50 November 1, 2016 Sterling will lose a further five per cent of its value against the dollar when Prime Minister Theresa May formally pushes the button to leave the EU. A poll of analysts revealed that the pound will most likely drop to $1.15 when May triggers Article 50, but Britain's currency will keep its nose above parity against the euro. [...]
BP beats forecasts but profit still drops nearly 50 per cent November 1, 2016 Falling crude prices have bitten BP hard. The oil giant has reported a 49 per cent drop in third quarter earnings – its ninth consecutive quarter of falls. The figures The oil giant reported third quarter profit of $933m (£762m) on an underlying replacement cost basis, up from $720m for the previous quarter, but down from [...]
HSBC calling? Dame Clara Furse steps down from Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee November 1, 2016 Dame Clara Furse has stepped down from the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee (FPC), fuelling speculation that she's being lined up for a top job at HSBC. “It’s been an enormous privilege to work with the governor, other FPC colleagues and Bank staff on developing the UK’s macro-prudential policy in its early years," said Furse. "I [...]
Republican governor John Kasich has voted for John McCain rather than Donald Trump November 1, 2016 It's all going on in the US presidential election, after John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio, stuck to his guns and plumped for the party's 2008 nominee John McCain instead of current nominee Donald Trump. After abandoning his own bid in May, Kasich vowed not to endorse Trump, or indeed vote for him. He voted [...]
So Moneysupermarket? Comparison site is on track for a “record year” November 1, 2016 It looks like the men in hotpants are working for Moneysupermarket.com, whose chief executive said today it is on track for a "record year". The figures The company's main site, MoneySupermarket.com, reported revenues of £76m in the three months to the end of September, up 13 per cent on the same time last year. That was pushed up by a 12 per [...]
Lending leaps at Virgin Money but it’s cautious over Brexit November 1, 2016 Challenger bank Virgin Money shrugged off post-Brexit vote volatility, increasing mortgage and credit card lending – although it warned it was exercising caution. The figures Gross mortgage lending rose 19 per cent to £6.5bn in the nine months to the end of September, putting its total mortgage balances at £28.9bn. That pushed Virgin's share of total mortgage lending up to 3.6 [...]
HMRC is after nearly £2bn in tax from the UK’s richest November 1, 2016 The UK's richest: beware. HMRC is on your tail (well it is if you still have tax to pay). The public spending watchdog said it's chasing almost £2bn that's potentially owed in taxes by the UK's richest people. The National Audit Office (NAO) said HMRC's specialist unit recovered £416m in 2015 from 6,500 "high net worth [...]