London Sports Festival moves from 3×3 basketball success to pickleball at the City of London Corporation’s Guildhall Yard
David Cameron facing Tory backlash over plain cigarette packs January 22, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron is facing a bruising from his own party over proposals to have cigarettes sold in plain, unbranded, packaging, with a senior Tory MP telling City A.M. that “half the parliamentary party” could be against it. Several Conservative backbenchers were fuming at the proposals yesterday, put forward in a surprise announcement by [...]
Firing the bazooka down the road – Editor’s Letter January 22, 2015 Mario Draghi got stuck waiting for a lift on his way to announce the ECB’s bond-buying programme yesterday, which feels like a metaphor for something. Still, when he shouldered his bazooka at least its long-delayed bang did manage to be bigger than expected. But with European government bond yields already at historic lows, a grand [...]
RBS in new deal to provide loans to smaller firms January 22, 2015 SMALL firms rejected by banks are getting an extra chance to access finance, under a new deal between RBS and peer-to-peer lenders. If a business’ application is turned down – for instance if they are too risky for the bank or if they operate in a sector which the bank is cutting back on – [...]
Starbucks whips up strong results January 22, 2015 REVENUES went up by 13 per cent to $4.8bn (£3.1bn) at Starbucks during the first quarter of the 2015 financial year. The coffee chain’s chairman Howard Schultz said: “Starbucks record performance was exceptional by every metric and standard.”
Monitise on the block after sales targets missed January 22, 2015 ONCE one of London’s shining financial technology stars, Monitise put itself up for sale yesterday after issuing its third revenue warning in 12 months. Business giant IBM, a close partner of Monitise since 2013, was among the interested parties considering a bid for the firm yesterday, City A.M. understands. Monitise shares collapsed 25 per cent [...]
HSS Hire breaks the mould and publishes prospectus on time January 22, 2015 TOOL rental firm HSS Hire yesterday unveiled the prospectus for its forthcoming float alongside its price range – breaking the much-criticised convention of delaying publication until shares start dealing. Last year’s record flurry of flotations was accompanied by a widespread lag in the disclosure of information by companies coming to the market. HSS, which will [...]
Madagascar animator slashes jobs January 22, 2015 DREAMWORKS Animation SKG, makers of films Madagascar and Shrek, will cut about 500 jobs, more than a fifth of its workforce, and produce one fewer movie a year as part of a major restructuring after a string of box-office misses.
ECB’s €1tn QE plan: Economists surprised, but leaders warn on reforms January 22, 2015 European politicians have been warned not to ease off on economic reforms now that billions of euros worth of quantitative easing (QE) has been launched, while economists have been surprised by its scope. “Regardless of what the ECB [European Central Bank] does,” Angela Merkel said in Davos yesterday, “it should not obscure the fact that [...]
Eurozone policy dissenters back down on quantitative easing January 22, 2015 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank’s governing council – the team that decides on Eurozone monetary policy – finally came around to fully backing quantitative easing. ECB boss Mario Draghi said after the QE decision yesterday that the council had been “unanimous in stating that the asset purchase programme is a true monetary policy tool in a legal sense”. “That is [...]
ECB’s €1tn QE plan: Greek parties trade pre-election blows ahead of Sunday crunch time January 22, 2015 Political tensions simmered in Greece yesterday as the two main rival parties fretted over the country’s inclusion in Europe’s newly launched quantitative easing (QE) ahead of Sunday’s election. The European Central Bank (ECB) has said that countries who do not have investment grade bonds must stick to bailout conditions to benefit from its bond buying. [...]
