An ONS blunder means the trade deficit is £6bn bigger than we realised December 7, 2016 A blunder by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) means the UK's trade deficit was £6bn bigger than we realised, it admitted last night. The so-called processing error by the ONS means the trade deficit was £17bn in the third quarter of the year, up from the £11bn it had originally mooted. Read more: The [...]
Remortgaging valuations surge and drive rest of mortgage market as homeowners try to lock in low interest rate deals December 7, 2016 Homeowners scrambling to lock into mortgage deals before a rise in interest rates drove remortgaging valuations to surge almost 25 per cent year-on-year in November. Remortgaging outperformed all other mortgage market valuation activity last month, according to research from Connells Survey & Valuation, rising 4.9 per cent compared to October. Read more: Time to remortgage? [...]
EU antitrust authority approves Microsoft’s $26bn connection with LinkedIn December 6, 2016 The European Union has approved a $26bn (£20.5bn) connection request between technology behemoth Microsoft and professional networking site LinkedIn. The deal has already received the green light from antitrust authorities in the US, Canada, Brazil and South Africa. Having received the go-ahead from the EU’s competition watchdog, the deal is likely to close in the [...]
Fund manager Schroders gears up to appoint BAE Systems and Google Ventures heads as non-executive directors December 6, 2016 FTSE-100 listed asset manager Schroders will name Ian King, the chief executive of BAE Systems, and Avid Larizadeh Duggan, a Google Ventures partner, as non-executive directors this week. They could be officially appointed as soon as today, sources told Sky News. Read more: Schroders backs private equity firm's bosses as they fend off hostile bid The group [...]
These are the countries that will thrive in the post-Trump, post-Brexit era according to the new Indigo Index December 6, 2016 The UK is the fifth-best equipped country to thrive in the post-Trump, post-Brexit era, according to a new global ranking of states’ “entrepreneurial eco-systems” and future potential. Sweden comes top in the Indigo Index rankings, which measures 152 countries by five key metrics for doing business as economies move away from being powered by natural [...]
Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude prices slide as production in Russia and Opec member states booms December 6, 2016 A rise in crude output in most major oil-producing regions ahead of a landmark curb to production has driven down the price of the black stuff today. Production among the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries rose to another record high in November, according to a Reuters survey, reaching 34.19m barrels per day (bpd), up [...]
The number of British solicitors registering in Ireland has risen 11-fold since the Brexit vote December 5, 2016 A "tsunami" of British lawyers have flocked to register on the Irish roll of solicitors this year following the UK's vote to leave the EU. By the end of the year, the Law Society of Ireland will welcome a record 1,347 new solicitors to it books, beating the previous record set in 2008 by more [...]
A deal to prop up Tata Steel’s Port Talbot site is edging closer December 5, 2016 Tata Steel is thought to be close to agreeing a deal that will protect thousands of jobs at its Port Talbot steelmaking plant in Wales. The Indian conglomerate is edging towards a deal that will plough investment into the UK's largest steel plant and safeguard the roles of 4,500 employees, sources told Sky News. In return, [...]
BHP Billiton trumps BP in bid for the first ever joint venture offered by Mexican state oil firm Pemex December 5, 2016 BHP Billiton has outbid British oil major BP for a lucrative contract to develop the deepwater Trion oilfield off the coast of Mexico with state oil firm Pemex. The London-listed Anglo-Australian giant, which is better known for its mining than oil operations, submitted a $624m (£490m) cash offer for a 60 per cent controlling stake in the [...]
Institutional West End property sales sizzle to record high as investors capitalise on weaker pound and foreign interest December 5, 2016 Institutional sales of commercial property in the West End have topped £2.7bn in the year-to-date, the highest volume ever recorded, according to estate agent Savills. Standard Life, Aberdeen Asset Management, DTZ Investors, TH Real Estate, Blackrock and Aviva have each sold more than £100m of assets since January, with vendor institutions making up 55 per [...]
