Cameron will delay the Autumn Statement to lead visit to China November 12, 2013 PRIME Minister David Cameron has announced a major trade visit to China, pushing back the timing of the chancellor’s Autumn Statement. Speaking at the annual Lord Mayor’s banquet last night, Cameron said that he would be leading an official visit to China, accompanied by UK business chiefs early next month. Though he did not confirm [...]
High street under pressure after Barratts and Blockbuster collapse November 12, 2013 BRITAIN’S embattled high street has been dealt a fresh blow ahead of Christmas after shoe retailer Barratts and film rental chain Blockbuster fell into administration yesterday. Advisory firm Duff & Phelps said it has been hired as administrator to Barratts after it collapsed for the third time in four years, placing more than 1,000 jobs [...]
Amazon plans Sunday deliveries in London as part of new service November 12, 2013 AMAZON will roll out Sunday deliveries across London by the end of November using its own trucks to complete the so-called last mile to customer’s doors, according to the Wall Street Journal. The project was announced as part of a US trial starting this week in which Amazon Prime customers can use their free two-day [...]
RSA shares dive after second profit warning November 12, 2013 SHARES in RSA Insurance plunged 11 per cent yesterday, making it the second biggest faller in the FTSE, after the group uncovered problems at its Irish business that led to its second profit warning within a week. Analysts downgraded their recommendations yesterday following the insurer’s warning after market closed on Friday that “issues” within Ireland’s [...]
Bottom Line: Pressure on dividend as investors hope bad news comes in twos November 12, 2013 INVESTORS are clearly concerned. Despite reassurances from RSA’s under-pressure management that the Irish investigation will not hit the group’s long term outlook or dividend policy, shareholders scarpered, wiping almost £500m off the insurer’s market cap yesterday. It’s no wonder they’re worried – the group has already altered its dividend twice this year – cutting both the rate [...]
StanChart to build bigger capital buffers November 12, 2013 STANDARD Chartered is set to raise its capital buffers as regulators look to tighten requirements again. The bank has comfortably passed authorities’ tests of its capital buffers. But now most big banks have hiked their capital levels in line with regulators’ demands, Standard Chartered expects the authorities to increase the requirements further. “We are aware [...]
Top funds grow assets by eight per cent in 2012 November 12, 2013 THE PILE of cash managed by the world’s biggest fund managers rose to near a pre-financial crisis peak last year, underscoring rapid change unfolding across the UK’s investing landscape. The world’s 500 biggest managers looked after $68.3 trillion (£42.7 trillion) of other people’s money at the end of last year, a rise of over eight [...]
Shire buys US rare drug firm in £2.6bn deal November 12, 2013 FTSE 100-listed drug manufacturer Shire yesterday said it had bought US firm ViroPharma for $4.2bn (£2.6bn) as it looks to strengthen its rare disease portfolio. ViroPharma is a high-growth biopharmaceutical company whose main product Cinryze treats hereditary angioedema (HAE), a devastating rare disease which causes episodic attacks of swelling. Shire called the deal an “excellent [...]
Big banks run cyber attack simulation test November 12, 2013 THE BIGGEST investment banks in the City are today meeting to run a mock-up of a cyber attack, to see how they would react in a major crisis. The simulation, dubbed Waking Shark 2, puts over 100 senior bankers, regulators and other financial staff in a single room to see how they work together. In this [...]
Split with Fox knocks News Corp revenues November 12, 2013 NEWS Corp’s split with Fox pushed down revenues unexpectedly quickly in its first quarter as a separate business, the firm revealed yesterday Revenues fell three per cent at the group, although net income attributable to common shareholders was $27m (£16.9m), swinging back from a loss of $92m in the same quarter last year. News Corp [...]
