Government could pocket £2.7bn in profit if it sold Lloyds shares now August 8, 2016 The government could rake in more than two billion pounds in profit if it shed its remaining shares in Lloyds Banking Group today, new research has found. The analysis by Hargreaves Lansdown discovered, thanks to a cocktail of dividends, fees received for underwriting loans and previous share sales at higher prices, it could turn a profit of £2.7bn if it [...]
Going to the highest bidder: Shares in Sotheby’s soar as auction house reports income boost for second quarter August 8, 2016 The price is clearly right for Sotheby's investors, as the auction house's share price rocketed after it released its second-quarter results today. Sotheby's revealed net income of $89m (£68.3m), up 31.7 per cent from $67.6m a year ago, for the three months ending in June, with an annual contemporary art sales in London, which fell in the third quarter [...]
Banks got a boost from brokers’ ratings August 8, 2016 Banks were the kings of the stock exchange today after their shares received a valuable thumbs up. Barclays closed up 3.6 per cent at 157.40p, no doubt buoyed by Exane BNP upgrading it to outperform from neutral. [stockChart code="BARC" date="2016-08-08 12:22"] Barclays was the second-highest riser in the FTSE 100, following fellow bank RBS, which closed up [...]
Work and Pensions committee takes next step in inquiry into state of play of pensions August 8, 2016 MPs have today issued a call for evidence for an inquiry on the state of defined benefit (DB) pensions, with the roles of the pensions watchdog and lifeboat in particular thrust under the microscope. The inquiry by the Work and Pensions committee was sparked by its recent investigation into the pensions situation at BHS. The retailer had [...]
Businesses still smiling following Brexit vote, except for those in manufacturing August 8, 2016 Businesses remained relatively upbeat following June's Brexit vote, as figures out today show companies' confidence dipped less than expected. BDO's business output index for July, which measures expected orders for the three months ahead, has slipped from 99 to 98.2, while its business optimism index, which measures confidence about the six months ahead, fell from 98.9 to 97.9. The [...]
UK bosses’ pay packets soar 10 per cent to over £5m but pay ratio narrows August 8, 2016 The pay ratio between top bosses and their average employees has narrowed, according to new research published this morning. Figures from the High Pay Centre show that the pay ratio dropped from 148:1 to 140:1 between 2014 and 2015, even though the typical pay packet of FTSE 100 chief execs jumped from £4.96m to £5.48m. The data comes [...]
EMBARGOED UNTIL TOMORROW: London jobs end 38-month growth streak as market contracts post-Brexit vote August 7, 2016 NULL
That’s a wrap: Taxman wins big on film tax case August 7, 2016 HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had reason to celebrate late last week, when it won two tax avoidance scraps worth more than £820m combined in tax owed and interest. HMRC announced on Friday it had successfully argued a scheme by Ingenious Film Partnership had attempted to use artificial losses generated from investments in blockbusters, including Avatar, Life of Pi and [...]
Challenger bank Aldermore expected to show it can outpace the big players this Thursday August 7, 2016 Aldermore is expected to report a large leap in pre-tax profits when it reveals its half-year results on Thursday. Results released by banking's big players over the last fortnight have been rather gloomy, with HSBC and Barclays both reporting substantial slips in their profits and RBS revealing a £2bn loss. Meanwhile, even though Lloyds Banking [...]
