Bidding war on the cards as Just Eat rejects £4.9bn hostile bid from Prosus October 22, 2019 Just Eat could find itself at the centre of a bidding war after rejecting a hostile £4.9bn bid from investment firm Prosus that threatens to disrupt its merger with Takeaway.com. The firm’s share price leapt 24 per cent to 732.8p despite the rejection in favour of its £8.3bn tie-up with the Dutch Takeaway.com as a [...]
Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal faces first of three crucial days October 22, 2019 Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal will face its first parliamentary hurdle today with the PM facing a tough battle to deliver his promise to take the UK out of the EU by 31 October. Johnson is attempting to push through the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which was published last night, in just three days. Read [...]
KPMG launches £100m cost-cutting programme October 21, 2019 KPMG has launched a £100m cost cutting exercise called Project Zebra. The accountancy firm has launched the efficiency drive amid a £200m investment in its audit practice. The investment in its audit practice followed a scathing audit quality report from watchdog the Financial Reporting Council in 2018 in addition to its role as auditor to [...]
Accountancy sector lagging behind business on diversity says watchdog October 21, 2019 The accountancy and audit profession is lagging behind business when it comes to the diversity of senior management, new research showed today. A report by audit watchdog the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) found a massive drop off between women at manager level and partner level at accountancy firms. Read more: Auditors slapped with rising fines [...]
SAP strikes three-year cloud computing deal with Microsoft October 21, 2019 Software company SAP said today it had agreed a three-year deal with Microsoft to help its large business customers move business processes into the cloud. The partnership, called Embrace, aims to help clients run operations hosted at remote servers supported by SAP’s S/4HANA database. Read more: Software giant SAP to buy Qualtrics for $8bn days [...]
Watchstone shares jump 40 per cent after it settles Slater & Gordon fraud claim October 21, 2019 Insurance firm Watchstone and law firm Slater & Gordon have settled a long running fraud claim just hours before a nine-week High Court trial was due to begin. Watchstone’s shares jumped 45 per cent today to 156p after the settlement was announced. The claim dates from listed Australian law firm Slater & Gordon’s acquisition of [...]
Sir John Kingman says lack of government action putting audit reform at risk October 15, 2019 The author of a report into the future of the audit regulator warned today that lack of government action risks letting the watchdog “drift on, half-reformed”. Former mandarin Sir John Kingman undertook the report into the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) following the failure of outsourcer Carillion in 2018. Kingman expressed his concerns in a letter [...]
Neil Woodford pulls plug on Woodford Investment Management after sacking October 15, 2019 Neil Woodford said this evening that he was closing down Woodford Investment Management after being sacked from his flagship fund earlier today. Woodford said: “We have taken the highly painful decision to close Woodford Investment Management. We will fulfil our fund management responsibilities to WPCT and the LF Woodford Income Focus Fund and once completed [...]
Ofgem says it will cut National Grid’s Hinkley Point C funding by £80m October 15, 2019 Energy regulator Ofgem said today it would give National Grid £636m to build the transmission line for the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, lower than the £717m requested by the company. Ofgem said it rejected £40m in risk funding that National Grid has requested. The regulator said National Grid may be able to seek extra [...]
Shares in under-fire drugmaker Indivior tick up after positive forecasts October 15, 2019 Shares in opioid addiction drugmaker Indivior rose today after it raised its full-year forecast on better-than expected sales. The firm’s share price has been battered this year after its best-selling drug Suboxone faced competition from cheaper generic rivals in the US. Read more: Indivior share price crashes 70 per cent after allegations of fraudulent drug [...]