High commodity prices boost bin collector Biffa’s recycling revenues August 17, 2022 Waste collection company Biffa today posted “strong” financial results as high commodity prices bolstered the firm’s recycling business whilst offsetting far-reaching inflationary pressures. The High Wycombe headquartered firm said it had cut its statutory losses by 57 per cent from £40.5m in 2021 to 17.6m in 2022. The stronger financial performance came as Biffa’s [...]
Russian economy shrinks by four per cent due to impacts of Western sanctions August 13, 2022 The Russian is now four per cent smaller than it was a year ago, according to new figures from the country’s state statistics agency. Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) for Q2 2022 equals a sum equivalent to 96 per cent the value of the country’s economy in Q2 2021, the preliminary Rosstat statistics show. The [...]
Four million Russians to lose their jobs due to Western sanctions August 11, 2022 Four million Russians are set to lose their jobs due to the impacts of Western sanctions, according to new research from the Kyiv School of Economics. The sanctions are set to see Russia’s economy contract by up to 9.5 per cent this year, the study shows. High oil and gas prices have shielded Russia from the [...]
Mazars discriminated against XTX Markets’ Russian owner, lawsuit says August 8, 2022 London trading company XTX Markets is suing accountancy firm Mazars over claims it discriminated against its founder, Alexander Gerko, by refusing to work with the firm due to Gerko’s Russian citizenship. The algorithmic trading firm filed its case against Mazars over the accounting firm’s refusal to provide payroll services to its subsidiary, XTX Markets Technologies, [...]
OPEC+ hikes production targets by miniscule volumes of 100,000 barrels per day August 3, 2022 The OPEC+ coalition of oil producing countries today agreed to up its production targets by miniscule volumes of just 100,000 barrels of oil per day, in a hike that scuppered hopes for a more substantial increases that could have reversed the recent surge in prices that has wreaked havoc on the global economy. The [...]
Axa launches £840m share buyback scheme as higher earnings offset £250m hit from Ukraine August 3, 2022 French insurance giant Axa today said an uptick in earnings, driven by higher incomes from its investment portfolio, offset the €300m (£251m) hit to its business arising from the war in Ukraine. In reflecting its “robust performance,” Europe’s second biggest insurer vowed to buy back €1bn worth of its own shares from shareholders, after [...]
Claims globalisation has ‘had its heyday’ are premature, Lloyd’s chief executive says August 2, 2022 Claims the dual shocks of Covid and the war in Ukraine have halted the “all conquering forces of globalisation” are “premature,” Lloyd’s of London chief executive John Neal told City A.M. In an op-ed in this newspaper, the insurance chief said that while we will “rightly see a degree of retreat and retrenchment” in [...]
UK launches register of overseas property owners in clampdown on ‘corrupt elites’ August 1, 2022 Individuals that own UK properties via chains of “secretive” shell companies will from today be forced to reveal their true identities, after the UK government launched a new register of UK property owners today. The first-of-its-kind register will require those seeking to buy or own UK property via offshore entities to list the identities of [...]
‘A day of relief for the world’ as first grain ship leaves Ukraine port after Russia deal signed August 1, 2022 A ship carrying grain has left the Ukrainian port of Odessa under a new deal with Russia, in what officials have called “a day of relief for the world”. The vessel left Ukraine’s Black Sea port en route to Lebanon, in wake of a deal facilitated by Turkey to allow safe passage for ships. This [...]
Biden administration: 75,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured in Ukraine war so far July 28, 2022 Up to half the troops Russia has committed to the war in Ukraine have been killed or injured, according to classified information from the White House. Joe Biden’s administration officials told House lawmakers that 75,000 Russians have been killed or wounded during the ongoing war in Ukraine. Neither Russia or Ukraine have released official figures [...]