Watches of Switzerland targets £660m London listing May 21, 2019 Luxury retailer Watches of Switzerland said today it is targeting a London float that could hit a valuation of £660m. The company sells luxury watch brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier and Hublot. Read more: Jaguar sues watchmaker Christopher Ward over D-Type watches It has 125 shops in the UK and 21 in the [...]
Barclays, Ruby Wax and mental health: How the banking giant is tackling stress in the City May 16, 2019 Square Mile careers are stereotypically fuelled by mantras such as "work-hard, play-hard", achieving "inbox zero", "surviving the rat race". All are excuses for raising your tolerance to stress. As a result the career pathways of the City are often littered with burned-out workers. Read more: Wellbeing should be top of the business agenda Unsurprising, stress [...]
Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland among five banks hit with €1bn fine for forex rigging May 16, 2019 The EU Commission has fined five banks €1.07bn (£940m) for rigging foreign exchange markets for 11 currencies, it announced today. Competition regulators fined Barclays, The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Citigroup, JP Morgan and MUFG Bank, while UBS was not fined as it revealed the existence of the rigging to the regulator. In the first [...]
Trainline owner mulls £1bn sale as IPO plans build up head of steam May 15, 2019 The owner of ticketing firm Trainline is reportedly exploring a sale of the company alongside plans for a £1bn stock market listing. Read more: UK's biggest travel booking app Trainline considers £1bn flotation US investment giant KKR, which has owned Trainline since 2015, has approached a number of private equity groups to gauge interest in [...]
Travelex owner Finablr launches London IPO at reduced price in tough market conditions May 15, 2019 United Arab Emirates-based payments company Finablr floated in London today at a reduced price to reflect difficult market conditions. The Travelex-owner said it would raise £306m to give the business a market capitalisation of approximately £1.225bn. Read more: Travelex-owner Finablr to raise $200m in London listing The offer price has been set at 175p, well [...]
Nationwide scoops £50m prize for small business lending May 14, 2019 Nationwide has won the latest round of funding from a high-profile grant designed to boost small business lending in the UK, pocketing the top £50m prize. Read more: Nationwide invests in ex-Barclays CEO's firm to boost business banking Investec and the Co-operative Bank were also named as winners, taking home £15m each. The awards, handed [...]
UK’s biggest companies pull away as profits for rest of pack plunge May 8, 2019 Average profits at the UK’s 40 biggest companies rose by 11 per cent in the first quarter of the year while those outside the group saw a fall of 18 per cent, new analysis has shown, laying bare a stark division in the fortunes of British companies. Read more: 'Zombie firms' dragging down UK economy, [...]
Lloyds Banking Group: Q1 results analysis May 7, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. After a stunning share price performance, do these 'hit and miss' results justify optimism? Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) investors, in need of a silver lining after an underwhelming earnings season from UK lenders, only have to look back 24 hours earlier to the surprise gift handed to the bank [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland undone by Brexit May 6, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. These were a 'noisy' set of Q1 results from RBS, but probably look 'worse than the reality'. Back in the dividend-paying ranks and with shares up by as much as 25 per cent in 2019, The Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE:RBS) provided investors with a reality check as the state-backed lender [...]
Morrisons in City spotlight for first-quarter results May 6, 2019 Investors will be hoping Morrisons can replicate recently-improved trading results from its supermarket rivals later this week when it looks set to extend a long spell of like-for-like sales growth. Read more: Morrisons granted permission for Supreme Court appeal over data ruling Following a largely better-than-expected financial performance from both Sainsbury’s and Tesco in recent [...]