One in three female lawyers sexually harassed at work, comprehensive survey shows May 15, 2019 A comprehensive report launched today by the International Bar Association has unveiled the scale of sexual harassment and bullying within the legal sector. The survey of nearly 7,000 lawyers worldwide, found one third of female lawyers had been sexually harassed and one-in-two had been bullied. Read more: Lloyd's of London will ban drunk staff from [...]
Positive markets help Standard Life Aberdeen boost assets in first quarter May 14, 2019 Assets under management at Standard Life Aberdeen increased by three per cent in the first quarter, helped by positive market movements. The company said assets under management hit £568.9bn, up from £551.5bn at the same point last year. Read more: Standard Life Aberdeen wins £100bn asset dispute with Lloyds It said positive market movements were [...]
Insurance giant Allianz posts first quarter profit boost to beat expectations May 14, 2019 German insurer Allianz said today its net profit for the first quarter rose slightly, ahead of market expectations. Its results were boosted by lower claims for natural disasters but it said high expenses due to investments had led to a decline in operating profit in its asset management business. Operating profit increased 7.5 per cent [...]
Renishaw shares dive after second profit warning May 14, 2019 Renishaw shares crashed more than seven per cent this morning after it unveiled its second profit warning in two months. The Ftse 250 healthcare technology group said adjusted profit before tax in the nine months to 31 March was down 18 per cent at £79.6m. Read more: Renishaw shares plummet as it issues profit warning [...]
US investor fires opening shot in battle for control of transport company Firstgroup May 13, 2019 Transport company Firstgroup said today that activist investor Coast Capital has requisitioned a general meeting in an attempt to take control of its board of directors. US investment management firm Coast Capital, which owns 9.77 per cent of the company’s shares, wants to remove six of the eleven current directors and replace them with seven of [...]
Watchdog hits accountancy firm with £825,000 fine over failings in Laura Ashley audit May 9, 2019 Accountancy watchdog the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has fined Moore Stephens successor firm MSR Partners for failings in its audit of Laura Ashley. MSR Partners is a successor business of Moore Stephens – which merged with BDO in February. Read more: KPMG stung with £5m fine for Co-op Bank audit failures The FRC fined MSR [...]
Insurer RSA’s profits up after mild weather in the first quarter May 9, 2019 RSA said milder weather in the UK and Ireland helped boost its profit in the first quarter, sending its shares higher. On a constant currency basis, operating profit rose in the first quarter, staying flat on a reported basis. Shares rose 2.2 per cent today to close at 546p. RSA said that milder weather in [...]
Provident Financial says hostile bidder Non-Standard Finance is overvalued May 8, 2019 Provident Financial today said it had concerns about the valuation of Non-Standard Finance (NSF) which is trying to take it over. Provident said it had concerns NSF was undercapitalised, it said NSF’s business was facing “significant headwinds”, it said there was an overly positive perspective on NSF’s headline financial performance and said NSF was overvalued [...]
Keystone Law beats market expectations in first full-year results since listing May 8, 2019 Keystone Law today posted a 35 per cent increase in revenue in its first full-year results since it became the third English law firm to float in November 2017. The firm beat market expectations with revenue of £42.7m and adjusted profit before tax of £5.1m. Keystone, which launched in 2002, operates a platform model, recruiting [...]
Tesla closes $2.7bn offering as it raises cash to fuel expansion plans May 8, 2019 Electric car company Tesla said today it had closed its $2.7bn (£2.08bn) offering of stock and convertible notes in an offering it said was oversubscribed. The fundraise gives Tesla some much needed cash as it tries to boost production. Tesla sold about $1.84bn in debt and $860m shares, with underwriters exercising their option to buy [...]