Drax aims to be world’s first carbon negative company by 2030 December 10, 2019 Drax, the UK power generation company, will this morning become the world’s first company to announce its ambition to become carbon negative by 2030. Chief executive Will Gardiner will tell the Madrid climate conference that scaled-up deployment of new technology like bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (Beccs) will enable Drax to remove more carbon [...]
Tiger cuts Juul’s valuation in half to $19bn December 9, 2019 E-cigarette maker Juul has had its valuation slashed in half to $19bn (£14.5bn) by investment firm Tiger Global Management. According to the Wall Street Journal, the writedown happened at the end of September, as investors continue to cool on one-time Silicon Valley darlings. Read more: Vaping backlash hits Altria for $4.5bn Fellow investors such as [...]
Amazon sues Pentagon over claims Trump to blame for failure to win $10bn defence contract December 9, 2019 Amazon has opened legal proceedings against the Pentagon, alleging that the online giant was denied a $10bn (£7.6bn) US defence contract due to US President Donald Trump’s personal vendetta against chief executive Jeff Bezos. In a court filing made public today, Amazon claimed that its failure to secure the contract was result of improper pressure [...]
Softbank taps Goldman for Wework debt financing plan December 9, 2019 Wework saviour Softbank has approached Goldman Sachs for financing as it attempts to reinvigorate the flexible working space provider. The banking giant is securing a $1.8bn (£1.4bn) line of credit, the first stage in Softbank’s $5bn debt financing package for Wework. Read more: Wework names four new executives and outlines six point plan for profitability [...]
Opec production cuts compliance could push oil price to $70 December 9, 2019 The combination of strong compliance of Opec and its allies with production cuts and a US-China trade deal could push the price of Brent crude to $70 by the second quarter of 2020. According to a note from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, last week’s agreement to curb production by an additional 500,000 barrels a [...]
Number of UK strikes up 45 per cent in last year December 9, 2019 The number of strikes in the UK rose 45 per cent last year, due in part to a growing number of protests over zero-hour contracts. According to data from law firm EMW, there were 96 cases of direct action across the public and private sectors in 2018/19, up from 66 in 2017/18. Read more: Rail [...]
UK business output hits 17-month low, BDO says December 9, 2019 Declining output across the UK’s services and manufacturing sectors has caused BDO’s output index to fall to its lowest level in 17 months. In November the index, which provides a snapshot of business productivity through analysing data from the UK’s business surveys, fell by 0.65 points to 96.04. Read more: Private sector output suffers worst [...]
Saga to sell care operations under Elliott break-up threat December 8, 2019 Travel and insurance company Saga today put its care business up for sale, under pressure from activist US hedge fund Elliott Advisers. The FTSE 250 firm is working with accountants Grant Thornton on the sale of live-in care brands Patricia White’s and Country Cousins, which brought in £4m in revenue last year and have 1,500 [...]
New buyers on standby for British Steel if Jingye deal falls through December 8, 2019 Business secretary Andrea Leadsom has reassured the steel industry that back-up buyers are ready to swoop in for British Steel should Chinese firm Jingye’s deal fall through. Last month the Insolvency Service confirmed that Jingye would purchase British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, along with its Teeside and French assets, for £50m, in a move that will [...]
RBS under fire over fake reviews for new app December 8, 2019 Natwest-owned Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has come under fire for writing fake reviews of its new online banking app Bó. Eagle-eyed users noted that a string of five-star reviews, some of which were published months before Bó’s 27 November launch, praised the app for features including design and notifications system. Read more: RBS launches [...]
