Miliband wants annual review of banks and energy businesses January 20, 2014 CONSUMER lobby groups should conduct an annual competition audit on the government’s behalf, Ed Miliband will say today. The Labour leader argues that paying more attention to groups like Which? would improve competition and help consumers. But business groups attacked the idea. “The role of the Competition and Markets Authority is to act as an [...]
Capita cuts UK dividend forecast despite Vodafone payout boom January 20, 2014 GROWTH in dividends is set to slow this year, Capital Asset Services said today. The group expects underlying dividends to come in at £82.2bn, representing growth of 6.3 per cent on the year. However, that is £800m less than the analysts had previously forecast, after the prediction was cut because of weak payouts in the [...]
Hailo raises £17.5m to fuel expansion of smartphone taxi service January 20, 2014 THE FIRM behind the cab-hailing app Hailo has raised an extra $28.85m (£17.5m) to expand faster in the 16 cities where it operates. “It ensures that Hailo has sufficient financial firepower to continue to develop and expand its services across the multiple global markets the business now serves,” a spokesperson said yesterday.
Strong start to 2014 as growth raises optimism January 20, 2014 CONSUMER confidence has ballooned over the past 12 months, with positive sentiment about the housing market nearly doubling from the beginning of last year. Lloyds’ spending power report for December, released today, says that the number of people with positive perceptions about the housing market has risen from 23 per cent at the end of [...]
Vodafone and Sky in deal talks January 20, 2014 VODAFONE and Sky are holding high-level discussions on how the two companies could collaborate in order to curb BT’s growing reach in the broadband sector. The two firms have discussed options including a deal on Sky’s sports and movies channels or collaborating on a broadband service, people aware of the discussions told City AM. However [...]
HMRC sets new record for asset seizures from self-employed January 20, 2014 HM Revenues and Customs set a new high of 1,488 asset seizures over the last year from self-assessed taxpayers who could not pay bills. Tax officials took a harder line than ever, said finance firm Syscap, adding that the majority facing penalties were self-employed professionals such as accountants and solicitors. HMRC increased the use of [...]
Pinnacle owners in talks to revive scheme January 20, 2014 WORK on the Pinnacle skyscraper in the City could start again soon – more than two years after it ground to a halt – after it emerged this weekend that the consortium behind the project has struck up talks with potential new investors. Its owners, led by Arab Investments, are said to be in talks [...]
Saga tests water with customers for market float January 20, 2014 SAGA, the over-50s insurer, has appointed Bank of America Merrill Lynch to help plot a share offering for its 2.7m customers as part of a mooted £3bn stock market float. The cruise ship specialist, which is led by boss Andrew Goodsell, will test the water with customers this week to gauge interest in the plan [...]
Bottom Line: Just-Eat.com whets the LSE’s appetite January 20, 2014 THE HIRING of advisers by Just-Eat sounds like good news for Joanna Shields. In a surprise announcement at the end of last week, the former Facebook exec said she is becoming a non-executive director at London Stock Exchange Group, which is hungry for tech listings. She is stepping down as the chief executive of Tech [...]
Barclays ends free banking for most SMEs January 20, 2014 BARCLAYS is moving more than 500,000 business customers onto a new set of accounts over this year, the bank said yesterday, to consolidate its SME (small and medium enterprise) operations. Around 60 per cent will be better off or pay no more than £1.50 per month extra, the bank said. But that leaves 40 per [...]
