Johnson & Johnson will begin testing its Ebola vaccine in January October 22, 2014 US drug giant Johnson & Johnson will begin human trials of its Ebola vaccine in January, it said today. The company said it will spend $200m (£124m) on speeding up its research programme, and will begin testing the drug on subjects in America, Africa and Europe early next year. Why has Ebola spread so rapidly [...]
Bank of England’s MPC still split 2-7 on interest rate rise as eurozone and China pressures take their toll October 22, 2014 Minutes of September's meeting of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) show its members have become more pessimistic about the chances of raising interest rates early, as the impact of wobbles in China and the eurozone began to be felt in the UK. Policymakers said headwinds facing the economy – such as weak [...]
Competition and Markets Authority chastises HSBC over small business loan “bundling” October 22, 2014 HSBC is one of two banks chastised by the government's new competition watchdog over the way it sells loans to small businesses. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said today it had previously warned banks over "bundling", the practice of forcing small and medium-sized firms taking out a loan with them to open business accounts, [...]
Public sector borrowing: Five charts that perfectly sum up what’s happening to the UK’s finances October 21, 2014 The Office for National Statistics' (ONS) latest public sector borrowing figures make for uncomfortable reading, particularly if you're in the business of running the country. Having entered government vowing to eliminate the budget deficit entirely by 2015, figures published this morning by the ONS showed the UK's budget deficit has risen since last year, from [...]
Another IPO bites the dust as webuyanycar.com owner BCA Marketplace pulls its listing October 21, 2014 Is this the end of London's short-lived IPO boom? Used car auctioneer BCA Marketplace – the owner of webuyanycar.com – has become the third company in two weeks to cancel its IPO, saying volatility in global equity markets has put it off. The news follows much-publicised shelvings of IPOs by challenger banks Aldermore and Virgin Money, [...]
Carpetright share price rises as it finally hires a new chairman to replace Lord Harris October 21, 2014 Carpetright chairman Lord Harris can finally look forward to slowing down, after Carpetright announced it has appointed a new chairman. Shares in the retailer rose 1.2 per cent in mid-morning trading as it said Mitchells & Butler non-executive chairman Bob Ivell, who is also a senior independent director at Britvic and Aga, will take over [...]
Hurricane Gonzalo’s wet and windy weather creates travel chaos: Heathrow flights cancelled, trains delayed October 21, 2014 A battering by the remnants of hurricane Gonzalo has caused travel chaos across the UK, with some flights cancelled and trains delayed. Heathrow warned passengers the strong winds and rain may mean flights are subject to delays and cancellations, saying the 20 largest carriers had made "proactive flight cancellations to give customers as much time [...]
Chaps payments resume as Bank of England fixes its RTGS error October 20, 2014 The Bank of England said this afternoon it has fixed its real-time payment system, after it was down for most of the day. The Bank suspended its Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, which is responsible for large transfers, this morning, after it discovered an error. That caused the Clearing House Automated Payments System ("Chaps" [...]
Shares in French nuclear giant Areva slide as chief executive Luc Oursel resigns October 20, 2014 Shares in French state-controlled nuclear group Areva, which is overseeing the decommissioning and clean-up of Sellafield, slid 0.4 per cent today after its chief executive announced he has stepped down. Luc Oursel cited health reasons, adding that "despite my very strong commitment to Areva, I have had no choice but to hand over my responsibilities [...]
Warren Buffett’s second “huge mistake”? IBM shares slide 7.5 per cent in pre-market trading as it admits fall in profits October 20, 2014 It has only been a few days since Warren Buffett admitted buying nearly four per cent of Tesco was a "huge mistake", but now another one of the legendary investor's big gambles is looking shaky. IBM said sales fell four per cent to $22.4bn (£13.9bn) in the three months to the end of September – [...]
