Quindell’s share price has doubled in the past week November 26, 2014 Investors in Quindell may well be asking themselves what's going on with shares now. The company opened another eight per cent lower this morning on news that finance director Laurence Moorse had failed to meet margin call on a controversial sale-and-repurchase agreement. Laurence, (now ex-) chairman Rob Terry and non-executive director Steve Scott entered into [...]
France suspends delivery of its first Mistral warship to Russia “until further notice” November 25, 2014 After much agonising by French president Francois Hollande, the decision's been made. The country has put off delivery of the first of two warships to Russia "until further notice". It can't have been an easy choice. That contract for the two Mistral helicopter carriers, due to be delivered this month, is worth €1.2bn (£951m) – [...]
Bard criticism? Tesco replies to popcorn complaint with a sonnet November 25, 2014 We've all experienced the frustration of a retailer discontiuing a line – but St Andrews University students Isabelle Bousquette and Tomi Baikie felt so emotional when their local Tesco stopped selling their favourite salted popcorn, they felt moved to write a sonnet, a sort of ode to popocorn. Then they sent it to Tesco chairman [...]
Mortgage approvals fall to their lowest in 17 months as unsecured borrowing leaps November 25, 2014 The Bank of England's Mortgage Market Review (MMR) continues to wreak havoc on mortgage lending. Figures published this morning showed approvals fell to 37,100 in October, their lowest level in 17 months in October. Analysts had expected the British Bankers' Association's (BBA) high street banking statistics to show a more modest fall from September's 39,300 [...]
Bumble: Tinder’s ousted co-founder has hit back with her own dating app November 25, 2014 Whitney Wolfe is the Tinder co-founder who departed in a hail of allegations and lawsuits earlier this year. At the time, she accused fellow founder Justin Mateen (who quit in September) of stripping her of her "co-founder" title because her age and gender was "damaging" to the company's brand. Ouch. The sexual harassment lawsuit that [...]
Mortgage lending falls at Nationwide as house prices cool November 25, 2014 Mortgage lending at Britain's biggest building society fell £900m to £13.1bn in the six months to the end of September, suggesting "cooling measures" introduced by the Bank of England are taking their toll on the market. Nationwide added that mortgage lending had "reflected a recent flattening of the housing market", caused by a combination of [...]
BT share price jumps as it confirms it wants to buy O2 back from Telefonica November 24, 2014 Shares in BT had risen 3.6 per cent to 393.9p in mid-afternoon as it confirmed it is in talks with Telefonica to buy its O2 UK mobile business. In a statement to the stock exchange this morning, the company said all discussions are at a "highly preliminary stage", adding that it is "continuing" to develop [...]
Petrofac shares plunge as it issues profit warning November 24, 2014 Shares in Petrofac plunged by almost 25 per cent in mid-morning trading after it issued a profit warning, saying it expects profits next year to be more than a quarter lower. The oil giant said that although it expected net profit to fall to the "lower end" of its $580m-$600m (£370m-£383m) guidance this year, it [...]
Transport for London is trying to make Stockwell Cross friendlier to cyclists: Here’s what it could look like November 24, 2014 Another day, another unveiling of one of Transport for London's (TfL) bright ideas for making some of the most dangerous junctions in London safer for cyclists. This time, it's Stockwell, which will be "transformed" as part of works due to begin next year. According to TfL, the number of cyclists travelling along the Cycle Superhighway [...]
Raycats and earworms: How scientists are using colour-changing cats and nursery rhymes to warn future generations of nuclear danger November 24, 2014 How do you warn generations 10,000 years into the future to stay away from nuclear waste repositories? It’s the conundrum facing scientists in the US – and some of the solutions have displayed some surprisingly inventive thinking. The problem is this: although we’ve found ways of storing nuclear waste fairly safely, it has an [...]
