Another sign that stamp duty deadline sent buy-to-let investors into a buying frenzy April 7, 2016 More proof George Osborne's stamp duty wizard wheeze served to push up prices in the run-up to the deadline, after new figures showed UK house prices rose by the most in at least a year in March. Halifax's house price index, published this morning, showed prices rose 10.1 per cent in the year to March, [...]
Wikileaks goes on tweeting bender, accuses everyone from George Soros to the US government of being behind Panama Papers leak April 7, 2016 It's no secret Wikileaks is pretty put out by the fact it wasn't the one to leak the Panama Papers. The organisation, which has been behind some of the biggest whistleblowing data leaks over the past few years, has spent much of the past week making it known how disgruntled it is, with tweets like "WikiLeaks didn't lead [...]
Pfizer confirms it has has scrapped its $160bn merger with Allergan – but UK pharma is dancing on its grave April 6, 2016 It looks like new tax inversion rules killed the M&A star, after Pfizer confirmed it has killed off its plans for a $160bn (£114bn) merger with Irish botox maker Allergan. In a statement today, the company said the decision had been driven by new US rules aimed at preventing so-called tax inversions, announced on Monday. “Pfizer approached this transaction [...]
Demand for homes in London is falling as prices keep rocketing – except in these two boroughs April 6, 2016 It looks like rocketing house prices are having a demotivating effect on London home buyers, after new figures suggested demand for homes has fallen across many of the capital's most exclusive boroughs. The figures, by online estate agent Emoov, found demand for homes in Southwark fell 50 per cent between the final quarter of last year [...]
The UK’s car buyers might be beginning to forgive Volkswagen April 6, 2016 Forget this month's Tesla mania. It seems the UK's car buyers finally forgiving and forgetting: after a tough(ish) few months for the marque in the UK, in March sales inched up – but only by a tiny bit. The figures, from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), suggested the brand sold 38,394 vehicles in March, 0.02 [...]
From the new state pension to the new lifetime allowance: Here’s everything you need to know about three pension changes taking place today April 6, 2016 Callooh, callay: it's the day a raft of changes to the pensions regime come into force. A week after the last tranche came into effect. Yep – on top of pension freedoms and various Isas, chancellor George Osborne has decided to make even more changes to the system. Confused? From the new state pension to the lifetime allowance, here's [...]
Barclays share price slides as it warns on investment banking performance in the first quarter April 5, 2016 The board of Barclays "does not expect as strong a performance from its investment banking operations" as it experienced in March last year, the bank has warned. In a statement this afternoon, the bank said while income in January and February this year were "broadly in line" with its performances last year, current market conditions [...]
Touchdown: Twitter share price bounces as it unveils plans to stream Thursday night NFL games April 5, 2016 Shares in Twitter jumped more than three per cent in pre-market trading after the company said it had won the bidding for digital rights to stream American football league games on Thursday nights. Shares were up 3.4 per cent, at $17.10, after the news was announced by National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell (on Twitter, natch). This [...]
Panama papers law firm founders begin damage limitation April 5, 2016 The founders of the law firm at the centre of the Panama papers tax evasion scandal have begun damage limitation, calling the investigation a "media witch hunt". In an interview with the Financial Times, Mossack Fonseca founder Ramon Fonseca said the disclosure was undermining legitimacy of offshore companies. Fonseca blamed hackers, and adding that in the [...]
Hit the brakes: Petrol prices rose in March (but won’t hit 2012 levels again anytime soon) April 5, 2016 Wallet feeling a little lighter after the great Easter getaway? That'll be because petrol and diesel prices rose in March for the first time since July last year. Bad news for drivers, slightly better news for oil investors. Figures from RAC Fuel Watch showed petrol suffered a "sudden and unwelcome" 3p-a-litre rise in March – [...]
