Aga Rangemaster share price leaps as it confirms £129m takeover July 15, 2015 Shares in posh oven maker Aga Rangemaster shot up almost 20 per cent in early trading, after it confirmed a takeover by US cooking equipment manufacturer Middleby. Under the deal, Aga shareholders will receive 185p per share, 77 per cent higher than the closing price on 16 June, the day before Middleby made its offer. [...]
First quarter sales lift at Burberry despite drag from Asian markets as chief executive Christopher Bailey braces for more shareholder dissent July 15, 2015 Having lowered full-year guidance in May, Burberry posted underlying retail sales for eight per cent in the three months to the end of June, up eight per cent from the first quarter of last year. The figures Burberry pointed out that the first quarter is "historically the smallest for retail", so that eight per cent uplift [...]
International Monetary Fund slams Greece deal, encouraging lenders to write down debt July 15, 2015 The International Monetary Fund (IMF), one of Greece's three key lenders, has heavily criticised a deal it reached with its creditors at a summit over the weekend, saying the country's debts have become "highly unsustainable". On Monday the Fund had said it "stands ready to work with the Greek authorities and the European partners" on [...]
Heads up, George Osborne: The tooth fairy gave £20m to children last year July 14, 2015 In George Osborne's quest for tax receipts, this might be one to investigate: it turns out the Tooth Fairy has given kids £20m in the past year. And it's all tax free… Yep – a study by The Magic Door Store, which (of course) sells miniature doors for fairies, showed the Tooth Fairy has become [...]
Why is Flash not working on my browser? Mozilla bans plugin on Firefox because of “vulnerabilities” July 14, 2015 It turns out Apple founder Steve Jobs, who banished Flash from all his devices, isn't the only campaigner against the software, after Mozilla blocked all versions of Flash on its Firefox web browsers last night. Mark Schmidt, the head of Firefox's tweeted overnight that the company had blocked the software, which is used to power [...]
A campaign to turn Greater London into the world’s first national park city, backed by Sir Terry Farrell, needs your help July 14, 2015 Alright, so London may not be an obvious example of the UK's general Green And Pleasant-ness – but one campaign still reckons the capital's, er, affinity with nature deserves recognition. The Greater London National Park City Initiative wants London to be named the world's first national park city – part nature reserve, part urban metropolis, [...]
Sir Howard Davies finally takes up his role on RBS’ board July 14, 2015 It's happened: Sir Howard Davies, erstwhile chair of the Airports Commission who had to put off his appointment to the board of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to put out his final, controversial, report, will finally take up his position with immediate effect, the bank said this morning. In a statement this morning RBS said [...]
Greece missed another IMF payment last night July 14, 2015 Raising virtually no eyebrows at all, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced last night that Greece has missed another payment – this time of about €456m (£323.9m). Lest we forget, Greece is already in arrears to the IMF, to the tune of €1.6bn, after it missed a payment at the end of June. A statement [...]
Oil falls as Iran agrees historic nuclear deal with Western powers – reports July 14, 2015 Brent crude oil fell 2.1 per cent to $56.65 a barrel in early trading as diplomats at talks in Vienna said they had agreed a historic deal with Iran on limiting its nuclear programme. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, dropped 2.3 per cent to $51. Under the deal, world powers including the US, [...]
Carillion trading stays strong despite pre-election jitters July 14, 2015 Carillion chief executive Richard Howson could be forgiven for sporting a slight smirk. After Balfour Beatty insisted it didn't need a £3bn merger with the construction giant last year, then issued a profit warning last week, it's a different story for its prospective benefactor, which this morning said it expected a significant increase in first-half revenue. It also [...]
