Virgin Money owner CYBG share price falls as it warns of softer full-year margins July 30, 2019 Shares in CYBG are down over 11.5 per cent this morning after the challenger bank warned that net interest margins (NIM) were likely to be at the lower end of its forecast. Read more: CYBG to rebrand as Virgin Money to ‘disrupt status quo’ of UK banking The group, which owns Virgin Money, stood by [...]
Neil Woodford’s flagship fund to stay frozen until December July 29, 2019 Beleaguered fund manager Neil Woodford has apologised to investors after the announcement that his flagship Equity Income Fund will remain suspended until at least December. “I understand the frustration, inconvenience and anxiety the continued suspension of the fund will be causing you and I am extremely sorry for putting you in this situation,” Woodford said [...]
Neil Woodford defends share sell-off as he faces removal from namesake fund July 29, 2019 Embattled stock picker Neil Woodford has defended his decision to sell the majority of his stake in his investment trust as it considers whether to replace him as manager. Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) announced this morning that Woodford had sold 1.75m shares, 60 per cent of his stake, to “meet personal financial obligations” including [...]
AIM delistings fall to lowest level in over a decade July 29, 2019 The number of companies delisting from the stock exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) dropped to the lowest level for a decade last year. Just 66 companies delisted from AIM during the year ending 30th June, according to research by accountancy group UHY Hacker Young. This is down from last year’s figure of 82, and represents [...]
FCA tries to take consumers back to the nineties ahead of PPI deadline July 29, 2019 The animatronic head of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the eight-time world memory champion have been enlisted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to help consumers remember if they were mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). With a month to go before the deadline for making PPI complaints to providers, the FCA has launched a campaign that aims [...]
SFO cuts spending on lawyers as conviction rate falls July 28, 2019 The serious fraud office’s (SFO) spending on staff and external counsel fell last year, while its conviction rate crumbled to just over 53 per cent. The figures, released in the SFO’s annual report, show spending on staff fell 2.4 per cent to £30.6m last year, with spending on external counsel dropping 5.7 per cent to [...]
Private equity firms eye up challenger accountancy firm Cogital July 28, 2019 Several private equity groups are reportedly preparing bids on UK-based accounting firm Cogital, in a deal that could value the company at £1bn. European firms BC Partners, Permira, and PAI are preparing final bids alongside US-based Hellman & Freidman, according to the Financial Times Cogital was set up in 2016 by former Deloitte partner John [...]
Woodford sells shrimp shares on the stock floor July 2, 2019 Neil Woodford has slashed his fund’s stake in Benchmark Holdings, a genetics firm that develops disease-resistant shrimp, offloading £23m of shares as his asset selling spree continues. The stockpicker’s company, Woodford Investment Management, cut its stake in Benchmark from 12.5 per cent to under 2 per cent in a transaction last Friday. Read more: Neil [...]
Funding Circle share crash ‘brutally punishes’ IPO investors July 2, 2019 Analysts have accused Funding Circle of failing to deliver on the promises of its IPO after the lender’s shares crashed today following a revenue warning. Small business lending platform Funding Circle’s shares slumped today after it halved its revenue growth projection to 20 per cent following poor demand for its loans. Read more: Funding Circle [...]
Johnson will demand EU talks over free trade says campaign chair July 2, 2019 Boris Johnson is willing to make an offer to the European Union over post-Brexit free trade, but if his offer is rejected, Britain will leave the EU without a deal, the head of his Tory leadership campaign has said. Iain Duncan Smith, Johnson’s campaign chair, told Sky News his candidate would tell the EU Britain [...]