Kainos announces special dividend after strong trading period July 27, 2020 IT provider Kainos has declared a special dividend after a resilient year of trading in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. The group said annual profit and revenue will be ahead of expectations as trading has been strong despite the impact of Covid-19. The figures Kainos said revenue for the year to the end of [...]
FCA launches probe into Woodford depositary Northern Trust July 24, 2020 The City regulator has launched an investigation into Neil Woodford’s depositary Northern Trust over the events that led to the gating of the flagship Equity Income fund last June. The investigation was launched in recent months following an ongoing probe into Link Fund Solutions, the firm supervising the Woodford Equity Income Fund. Last June the [...]
Goldman Sachs reaches $3.9bn settlement with Malaysia over 1MDB scandal July 24, 2020 Goldman Sachs has agreed to a $3.9bn settlement with the Malaysian government over the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal. The deal includes a cash payment of $2.5bn and a guarantee by Goldman to pay at least $1.4bn in assets linked to 1MDB bonds, Malaysia’s finance ministry said. “This settlement represents assets that rightfully belong to the [...]
EY prepared ‘unqualified audit’ for Wirecard last month July 24, 2020 EY reportedly prepared an unqualified audit opinion on Wirecard’s accounts in early June, just weeks before the company collapsed. The auditing firm delivered a draft version of its official audit opinion, according to the Financial Times. Accountants usually share a draft to give clients the opportunity to look over the numbers and assessments. The draft [...]
‘Zombie’ firms set to fail as pandemic leaves 527,000 businesses on cliff-edge July 24, 2020 A record 527,000 businesses were in significant financial distress at the end of June, an increase of 33,000 since the beginning of the year. It represents a seven per cent increase since the start of the year, and nine per cent year-on-year, according to new research from corporate restructuring firm Begbies Traynor. While the coronavirus [...]
Pearson swings to a loss as pandemic forces schools to close July 24, 2020 Education publisher Pearson swung to a first-half loss as the coronavirus pandemic closed schools and test centres, but said it is on track to recover in the second half of the year. Pearson, which has withdrawn guidance for the year, said underlying sales had fallen 17 per cent in the first half of the year [...]
Asian shares retreat as US-China tensions sour July 24, 2020 Asian shares sunk overnight from six-month highs as tensions between the US and China worsened, following the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu. China announced the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu, just days after Washington told Beijing to close its Houston consulate. Beijing said it notified the US embassy in Beijing and [...]
Former Wirecard boss Markus Braun arrested for second time July 22, 2020 The former chief executive of Wirecard has been rearrested as Munich prosecutors accuse him of committing a multiyear fraud. Markus Braun stepped down from the company last month after being accused of misrepresenting the payments company’s accounts and of market manipulation by falsifying income from transactions with so-called third-party acquirers. The Financial Times reported prosecutors [...]
How badly will the UK unemployment rate spike when furlough ends? July 22, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s furlough scheme has so far saved the UK unemployment rate from sharp increases during the coronavirus lockdown, but it is drawing to an end. Consequently job losses are set to spike after furlough concludes in October, according to economists. Currently the government is paying 80 per cent of over 9m British workers’ [...]
Invesco bond bosses step back amid fund reshuffle July 22, 2020 Invesco has reshuffled its fixed interest management team with bosses Paul Read and Paul Causer both stepping back from their management roles on a series of a funds. Read is stepping down as manager of the Monthly Income Plus fund but will keep his management role on the £49.2m Global Income fund. He and Causer [...]
