City watchdog signs deal for stratford HQ May 21, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority completed a deal yesterday that will see it move its 3,000 staff from Canary Wharf to new offices on the Olympic Park. The watchdog has committed to 425,000 sq ft at Lend Lease and London & Continental Railways’ £2bn International Quarter.
National Grid UK arm helps profit May 21, 2015 NATIONAL Grid beat market expectations to grow pre-tax profit by 11 per cent last year, up to £2.88bn from £2.58bn, following a strong performance in the UK. The utilities company said the UK business had benefited from its new operating model, which includes performance target initiatives, simplified processes and developments in design, planning, contracting and [...]
CMA updates the market on banking review May 21, 2015 THE COMPETITION and Markets Authority (CMA) will focus on difficulties customers face when trying to switch personal and business current accounts in its banking market investigation. The government body yesterday provided an update on its inquiry so far, and said it was focusing on three specific areas, the first being a look at the problems [...]
Ofgem inquiry over capacity auction claims May 21, 2015 ENERGY regulator Ofgem announced yesterday that it is investigating generators over the information they provided to National Grid during the December 2014 capacity auction. The watchdog said it is looking into whether the companies provided “false or misleading information” to the utilities network about planning consents for some of their proposed generating units. GF Power [...]
United Utilities sees benefit of improvements May 21, 2015 WATER company United Utilities increased revenue and underlying profit in the year to 31 March, and said progress over the past five years in operational performance and customer service helped to drive the numbers up. Revenue grew to £1.72bn from £1.69bn in 2014, while underlying profit went up by £30m to £664m. Chief executive Steve [...]
Rise in house building insufficient May 21, 2015 THE NUMBER of houses being built in the UK is climbing, but experts are warning that it needs to pick up further if affordability is to improve. Builders began work on 40,300 new houses in the three months ending a March, according to figures published yesterday by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Housing [...]
Abramovich ups stake in fuel firm May 21, 2015 ROMAN Abramovich’s Ervington Investments increased its stake in fuel firm Velocys yesterday. The Chelsea FC owner now owns over 18 per cent of the Aim-listed company.
Online gaming firm Bwin.Party close to takeover May 21, 2015 BWIN.PARTY, the online gaming firm, yesterday said it was entering the final stages on a takeover decision. In a statement, Bwin said: “The board expects to reach a conclusion over the coming weeks.” City A.M. has previously detailed the battle for Bwin, which is currently between a £1bn joint bid by GVC Group and Canadian [...]
Telecoms firm Daisy in talks with Phoenix IT May 21, 2015 TELECOMS company Daisy is in discussions with cloud IT firm Phoenix to take it over in a £180m cash deal. The bid is in conjunction with the private equity fund Toscafund, which helped Daisy de-list and go private in August last year. Phoenix said it “is in advanced discussions” with Daisy and Toscafund, at a [...]
Royal Mail profit hit amid fierce UK competition May 21, 2015 ONGOING brutal competition and declining letter volumes led to plunging profits at Royal Mail as Britain’s oldest delivery service continued to seek further savings. Admitting the trading environment “remains challenging”, Royal Mail reported stagnant revenue growth for the year ending 29 March, at £9.3bn. The top-line figures come as the company recorded a four per [...]
