Heathrow issues €650m bond weeks before Brexit deadline March 6, 2019 Heathrow Airport has placed a €650m (£558.9m) bond with only weeks to go before the UK is due to leave the European Union. The 15-year bond was backed by current and new investors, which were mostly European, and reached an order book in excess of €2.8bn. Read more: Government extends 'no-fly zones' around airport runways after [...]
Three reasons why investors should consider the UK stock market March 6, 2019 | City Talk By Tom Bailey from interactive investor. UK shares are now at their 'cheapest' since the First World War, says JPMorgan fund manager. It's no secret that the UK market is out of favour right now, and has been since the EU referendum in mid 2016. Fearing the still-to-be-decided outcome of Brexit and the potential for [...]
The Innovative Finance Isa didn’t get off to a flying start – so how’s it doing now? March 6, 2019 When the Innovative Finance Isa and its not-so-catchy acronym, IFISA, entered the scene back in April 2016, it’s fair to say that it didn’t get off to a great start. This was partly because, compared to its Isa cousins, the IFISA didn’t get much publicity (admittedly, the UK was two months away from the EU referendum, [...]
Financial institutions beware – big tech is moving into banking March 6, 2019 Despite Brexit uncertainties and stock market collapses, British banks concluded their 2018 earnings season with improved performance. Profitability increased thanks to cost drives, while balance sheets strengthened through derisking assets. Banks’ ability to grow revenue, however, remains a perennial challenge. The quest to growth may be harder in the digital age. In a recent report [...]
Theresa May is delusional if she thinks she can win over Labour MPs March 6, 2019 Has the Prime Minister been reading “How to win friends and influence people”, by Dale Carnegie? It would make a change from “The bluffer’s guide to negotiating”. The thought came to mind when I read of Theresa May’s latest attempt to get Labour MPs to support her withdrawal agreement in the vote next week – [...]
Britain’s future is about more than its departure from the EU March 6, 2019 It will not come as news to readers of this newspaper that Brexit has exposed (if not exacerbated) certain rifts in British society: young versus old, metropolitan versus rural, graduates versus non-graduates. In fact, according to a poll by Opinium, 69 per cent of us feel that Britain has become more divided since the referendum. Today, [...]
‘Department wrecking ball’: Chris Grayling refuses to resign over £33m Eurotunnel fiasco despite fresh pressure from MPs March 5, 2019 Embattled transport secretary Chris Grayling has been hit with fresh calls to resign in the wake of the no-deal ferry contract fiasco that resulted in a £33m payout to the Channel tunnel operator. Read more: Grayling accused of 'misleading' parliament over Brexit ferry contracts In an emergency debate in the Commons, shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald [...]
Buckle your seatbelts for the next global recession – the world is not prepared March 5, 2019 A decade on from the global financial crisis, the world economy is not in good health. Britain is paralysed by Brexit uncertainty, the Eurozone – including its seemingly invincible German powerhouse – is stuttering, and China is experiencing its slowest economic growth since 1990. Read more: Eurozone economic confidence falls to fresh two-year low Even [...]
BMW warns production of iconic Mini could move out of Oxford in event of no-deal Brexit March 5, 2019 German car maker BMW has warned that production of its iconic Mini could be moved out of Britain if it leaves the EU without a deal. Peter Schwarzenbauer, who sits on the company board and is responsible for Mini and Rolls-Royce cars, told Sky News that the car giant would "need to consider" a production move [...]
Domestic M&A deal value reaches decade high in 2018 despite Brexit uncertainty March 5, 2019 Domestic merger and acquisition (M&A) value hit a ten-year high in 2018 despite Brexit uncertainty, according to the latest data. Acquisitions of UK companies by other UK firms rose from £18.8bn in 2017 to £26.5bn last year, the highest value since deals reached £36.5bn in 2008, research from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found. [...]