London Stock Exchange celebrates AIM’s 25th anniversary June 16, 2020 The London Stock Exchange (LSE) will this week celebrate the 25th anniversary of AIM, its sub-market for smaller and growing companies. Since its launch in 1995 over 3,800 companies have been admitted to AIM, raising a combined £118bn in equity capital, according to new research by audit firm Grant Thornton. In 2019, AIM-listed companies contributed [...]
US Air Force fighter jet crashes into North Sea off English coast June 15, 2020 A US Air Force pilot is missing after an American fighter plane crashed into the North Sea during a training mission. A search and rescue operation has been launched after the F-15C Eagle crashed at around 9.40am this morning off the East Yorkshire coast, the US Air Force said. “The cause of the crash as [...]
German economy to contract more sharply in second quarter than first, warns ministry June 15, 2020 The German economy will contract more in the second quarter than in the first, the country’s economic ministry said, warning that the recovery in the second half of 2020 would be sluggish. Europe’s largest economy went into lockdown in March, with many shops closing and factories halting production in a bid to limit the spread [...]
Softbank invested in Credit Suisse funds financing its Vision Fund bets June 15, 2020 Softbank has reportedly invested over $500m (£399m) into Credit Suisse investment funds that made large bets on startups backed by the Japanese tech investment giant’s Vision Fund. Softbank invested in the Swiss lender’s $7.5bn range of supply-chain finance funds, the Financial Times reported, citing three people familiar with the matter. The funds are marketed by [...]
Commerzbank set to cut more jobs and branches, says board member June 15, 2020 Commerzbank is set to announce “considerably” more branch closures and job cuts when it lays out its strategy review in August, a member of the German lender’s supervisory board said today. Stefan Wittmann, who represents labor on the supervisory board and is a trade union secretary at the Verdi union, also criticized a public campaign [...]
Chinese industrial production picks up but consumers remain cautious June 15, 2020 Chinese industrial production rose for a second straight month in May as factories began to recover from the coronavirus hit, but the weaker-than-expected gain suggested that the country’s recovery remained fragile. Data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics also showed sustained contraction in retail sales and investment, showing the continued pressure Covid-19 is placing [...]
Metro Bank confirms talks to buy peer-to-peer lender Ratesetter June 15, 2020 Metro Bank has confirmed it is in exclusive talks to buy the owner of peer-to-peer lender Ratesetter, but said that discussions are at an early stage. The challenger bank said there was no certainty that it would reach an agreement with Money Market, following a Sky News report that the pair were in talks late [...]
Over 1m ‘locked out’ of coronavirus income support schemes, MPs warn June 15, 2020 The government must extend its coronavirus income support measures to cover over a million people who have “fallen through the gaps” in the schemes, MPs said. In a report published this morning, the influential Treasury Select Committee (TSC) said large numbers of people were suffering financial hardship because they are unable to benefit from the [...]
UK economy: Five charts that show we face a long road to recovery June 13, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has plunged the UK economy into an unprecedented crisis, with GDP shrinking by a record 20.4 per cent April as lockdown measures hammered businesses. The Bank of England has warned that Britain could be heading for its deepest recession in three centuries this year. It is widely believed that April will mark [...]
FTSE 100 inches into green despite record plunge in UK GDP June 12, 2020 The FTSE 100 closed 0.23 per cent up on Friday, having spent most of the session inching higher despite data showing the British economy suffered the largest contraction on record in April. While the blue-chip managed to shake a four-session decline, it remained on track for its worst weekly drop in around three months. Cyclical [...]