Profit falls steeply at Halfords in face of ‘fragile’ consumer confidence May 21, 2019 Halfords said profit before tax fell 24 per cent in 2019 to £51m. The figures The company said revenue remained broadly flat on £1.138bn, but profit fell sharply. It said underlying profit before tax fell 17.9 per cent to £58.8m, with underlying basic earnings per share down 17.2 per cent on 24.5p. Read more: Halfords share [...]
More than £27m lost in forex and crypto investment scams last year May 21, 2019 Over £27m was reported lost to cryptocurrency and forex investment scams in the last financial year, figures published today show. Victims lost an average of £14,600 according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Action Fraud. Reports tripled compared to the previous year to over 1,800. The FCA said fraudsters use social media to promote [...]
Millennials increasingly pessimistic about the economy, finds Deloitte May 20, 2019 Pessimism among younger people about the economy is growing in the UK and worldwide, according to a comprehensive new survey of millennials and generation z workers. Read more: Insolvencies among millenials soar as housing costs shred ‘cash cushions’ Only 26 per cent of respondents said they expected the economies in their countries to improve in [...]
Loopholes in anti-money laundering law could be exploited by criminals, MPs and Lords say May 20, 2019 A joint parliamentary Committee today raised concerns that criminals could exploit loopholes in a new bill aimed at clamping down on laundering money through UK property. The joint Committee on the draft Registration of Overseas Entities Bill welcomed the legislation, but said in its current state it could be circumvented by criminals. Read more: EU [...]
Game of Thrones fans rage at Chinese tech firm Tencent after episode delayed May 20, 2019 Chinese Game of Thrones fans expressed their outrage with tech firm Tencent this morning after it postponed the airing of the final episode of the fantasy series. Tencent Video which owns the broadcast rights to the HBO show in China was scheduled to air the episode at 9am Beijing time (1am GMT). However, an hour [...]
Ryanair shares drop as profits suffer 30 per cent hit on falling ticket prices May 20, 2019 Irish budget airline Ryanair said today its full year profit fell 29 per cent year on year to €1.02bn (£890m), blaming a fall in fares and issuing a "cautious" warning on profit for the year to come. Shares fell nearly six per cent to hit €10.16 in early trading. The figures The airline said traffic grew [...]
Exiles on St Mary Axe: Turkish law firm fleeing Erdogan regime establishes itself in London May 20, 2019 After the failed July 2016 coup against Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one of the country’s largest law firms was closed by police amid a wider crackdown that saw journalists jailed, judges detained and generals purged. The firm had formerly been the Turkish arm of international legal giant DLA Piper, and its founding partners were [...]
Revenue falls at Foxtons as tough London housing market takes toll May 20, 2019 Estate agents Foxtons said revenue fell in the first quarter which it blamed on challenging conditions in the London property market. Foxtons, which has its annual meeting today, said sales volumes continued to be at record lows and Brexit uncertainty is impacting on consumer confidence. The company also said chief financial officer Mark Berry is [...]
‘Another day of failed politics’: Businesses react to Brexit talks collapse May 17, 2019 The cross-party talks between the Conservatives and Labour collapsed today in acrimonious circumstances. Read more: May blames Labour divisions for failure of Brexit talks Prime Minister Theresa May blamed divisions within the Labour for the failure of the talks, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the instability of May’s government meant the talks were unviable. [...]
May blames Labour divisions for failure of Brexit talks May 17, 2019 Prime Minister Theresa May said today that a lack of unity within the Labour party helped contribute to the failure of the cross-party talks on Brexit. Speaking at a Conservative EU election event in Bristol, May said: “We haven’t been able to overcome the fact there isn’t a common position in Labour about whether they [...]