National Grid ordered by Ofgem to pay £18m towards Drax contract August 23, 2016 The energy watchdog has ruled that National Grid will have to pay almost £18m towards a contract with power firm Drax. National Grid had sought recovery of up to £113m in costs relating to contracts it signed with Drax and Fiddler's Ferry in April. The agreements would see the power stations help re-energise the grid [...]
Rank Group reports revenue and profit growth after rejection of William Hill takeover bid August 23, 2016 Casino operator Rank Group has reported "solid" results for the year to 30 June, less than one week after abandoning its takeover bid for William Hill. The figures Group revenue was up two per cent to £753m from £738.3m. Profit for the year dipped slightly to £74.7m from £74.8m in 2015, while pre-tax profit rose by [...]
Aim-listed explorer Europa Oil & Gas finds up to 600m barrels of oil off Irish coast August 22, 2016 Aim-listed Europa Oil & Gas said today that one of its licences in the Atlantic basins, just off the coast of Ireland, potentially contains between 300m and 600m barrels of oil equivalent. Europa has a 100 per cent interest in, and is operator of, seven licences in the Atlantic basins offshore Ireland including LO 16/22, which covers [...]
Southern Rail is still running its services based on the strike timetable August 11, 2016 Commuters may have breathed a sigh of relief yesterday, when the Southern Rail strike was called off – but it actually hasn't made much of a difference to service today. The rail company said this morning that it is still running services based on its strike timetable. Today's service will be based on the strike [...]
Tui Group says trading this summer is in line with expectations despite revenue tumbling due in part to impact of terror attacks in Europe August 11, 2016 FTSE 100-listed Tui Group reported a five per cent decline in revenue for the third quarter of 2015/2016, as its western region operations felt the impact of the terror attacks which took place in Brussels earlier this year. The figures Turnover at the German company was €4.6bn (£4bn) in the three months to 30 June, down [...]
G4S revenue inches up as profit and earnings increase August 10, 2016 Shares in outsourcing firm G4S have shot up by over 17 per cent after the company reported an uptick in earnings and revenue for the six months to 30 June. The figures Revenue was up to £3.53bn from £3.42bn in the first half of 2015. Profit before tax rose to £115m from £80m last year, and earnings [...]
Rail union RMT announces more strikes – this time on the Eurostar August 10, 2016 Rail union RMT has announced more industrial action, with Eurostar workers set to strike over seven days this month, including the Bank Holiday weekend – over their work/life balance. RMT said this morning that Eurostar train managers would strike for four days from 12.01am on Friday 12 August until 11.59pm on Monday 15 August, with a [...]
Bank of England suffers bond setback as QE kicks off again August 9, 2016 The Bank of England’s attempt to buy long dated gilts as part of its quantitative easing (QE) programme hit a rough spot today, with the central bank failing to attract enough offers from investors. The Bank's reverse gilt auction was only 96 per cent covered – it had planned to purchase £1.17bn of government bonds with maturities longer than [...]
CMA banking review pushes up banks’ share prices August 9, 2016 Shares in the UK's largest lenders rose this morning, after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its "shake up" of the UK's banking sector. Shares in Barclays were up two per cent at 160.6p in lunchtime trading, while RBS rose 1.9 per cent to 188.2p. Meanwhile, Lloyds and HSBC both edged up 0.5 per cent, to [...]
CMA puts plans for changes to account switching that could cost up to £10bn on the back burner August 9, 2016 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today released the final report on its retail banking investigation, with a big focus on making switching bank accounts easier for customers. One of the "more fundamental changes" to the switching process would be the introduction of account number portability (ANP), which would "mean that a customer would effectively take their [...]
