Institute of Directors appoints new chair as its bids to move away from racism scandal September 2, 2018 The Institute of Directors (IoD) announced today it has appointed corporate governance expert Charlotte Valeur as its new chair, following the ousting of previous chair Barbara Judge amid bullying and racism accusations. Valeur, who founded private equity firm Brook Street Partners in 2003, has a background in finance with stints at Societe Generale, BNP-Paribas and SG Warburg. [...]
TSB plunges to bottom of banking customer service poll following IT meltdown August 31, 2018 TSB has plummeted from 4th to 11th in a banking customer service poll following its recent IT disasters. Forty nine per cent of those who graded TSB’s service in the MoneySavingExpert.com poll rated it as “poor” with just 23 per cent describing its service as “great”. Read more: TSB forced to delay switch from Visa to [...]
India’s economy just had its best quarter in two years August 31, 2018 India’s economy had its best quarter in two years in the three months ended in June, growing at a powerful 8.2 per cent. The surge was fuelled by consumer spending and a strong manufacturing performance. It is the country's highest performance in a quarter since the 9.3 per cent growth India experienced in the January-March [...]
Lloyd’s exits continue as chief commercial officer departs August 31, 2018 Exits from the C-suite at Lloyd’s of London are set to continue with the insurance market today announcing that its chief commercial officer Vincent Vandendael is leaving to join Everest Insurance as chief executive of international insurance. Vandendael’s resignation follows that of chief executive Inga Beale who is leaving Lloyd’s early next year and chief financial [...]
Donald Trump threatens to pull the US out of the World Trade Organisation August 31, 2018 US President Donald Trump has threatened to pull the US out of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In an interview in the Oval Office with Bloomberg News Trump said: “If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO”. He said establishing the WTO, which was set up in 1995, was the “the single [...]
John Laing Infrastructure Fund boosts profit ahead of £1.45bn takeover August 31, 2018 John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF) today announced a spike in pre-tax profit for the half-year, ahead of its takeover by a consortium for £1.45bn. Earlier this month JLIF agreed to a £1.45bn takeover by a consortium which includes Dalmore Capital and Equitix Investment Management. Read more: GAM Holding sets out plan to pay back investors [...]
UK house prices suffered their biggest drop month-on-month since 2012 in August August 31, 2018 In August UK house prices suffered their greatest month-on-month fall since July 2012, according to new data released today. Building society Nationwide's house price index showed prices fell by half a per cent in August, as annual house price growth slowed to two per cent. The average price of a house slipped to £214,745 in [...]
Insurer Chesnara’s profit falls in first half on Italian bond exposure August 30, 2018 Insurance and pensions administrator Chesnara said today its profit in the first six months of the year had fallen by nearly half, which it blamed on its exposure to Italian bonds. Chesnara posted profit before tax of £26.5m, which was a fall of 48.6 per cent from £51.6m in the same period last year. Read [...]
Pernod Ricard toasts strong growth in India and China August 29, 2018 The world’s second-largest drinks maker Pernod Ricard announced six per cent sales growth in the last financial year, boosted by strong sales in China and India. The French company, which owns brands such as Jameson whiskey, Martell cognac and Beefeater Gin, posted revenue of €8.987bn (£8.148bn) for the 2017-18 financial year. Read more: Rising prices [...]
Grant Thornton hit with £3m fine for Vimto audit failures August 29, 2018 Accountancy firm Grant Thornton has been fined £3m for misconduct in the auditing of the owner of soft drink Vimto and the University of Salford. Regulator the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) fined Grant Thornton and four of its senior auditors for what it said were “widespread and serious inadequacies”. The fines relate to the audits of [...]
