KPMG fined £3.5m for BNY Mellon report misconduct August 1, 2019 Big Four firm KPMG has been fined £3.5m and one of its directors £52,000 for misconduct related to a client asset report for Bank of New York Mellon in 2011. Watchdog the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) levied a fine of £5m against KPMG which was discounted by 30 per cent for admissions of misconduct. It [...]
Sterling tumbles below $1.21 on Fed rate cut and no-deal fears August 1, 2019 Sterling fell against the dollar today in reaction to the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates last night and continued fears over a no-deal Brexit. Sterling fell below $1.21 today for the first time since January 2017. At the time of writing, sterling had climbed back above $1.21 and was trading at $1.2106. Read more: [...]
Insurer RSA hails ‘solid’ first-half as it tries to get underwriting back on track August 1, 2019 Insurer RSA said today it had improved its underwriting performance in the first half of 2019, as it looks to re-energise its business following a slump in 2018. Underwriting profit fell from £171m in the first half of 2018 to £153m in the first half of 2019. Read more: RSA Insurance shares drop as firm [...]
London Stock Exchange seals $27bn Refinitiv deal in bid to build Bloomberg rival August 1, 2019 London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) said today it had sealed a deal to buy data business Refinitiv in a transaction worth $27bn (£22.3bn). LSEG is buying the business in an all-share transaction from Thomson Reuters and a consortium led by private equity firm Blackstone which includes an affiliate of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and [...]
Barclays boosts first-half profit 82 per cent to £3bn August 1, 2019 Barclays today posted first-half profit before tax of £3bn, an 82 per cent increase on the same period last year. Total income fell one per cent to £10.8bn. Return on tangible equity was 9.4 per cent, down from 11.6 per cent in the first half of 2018. The bank said it was targeting return of [...]
National Crime Agency secures fourth unexplained wealth order against Northern Irish woman with suspected paramilitary links July 31, 2019 The National Crime Agency (NCA) today said it had secured the fourth unexplained wealth order (UWO) against a Northern Irish woman with suspected paramilitary and organised crime links. The NCA said it suspected the woman is associated with criminals involved in paramilitary activity and cigarette smuggling. Read more: The UK’s newest weapon in the war [...]
Computacenter shares surge on bullish trading update July 31, 2019 Computacenter shares jumped 11 per cent today after said it expected its 2019 financial year results would be “materially ahead of current market expectations”. The computer services company said its adjusted profit before tax was marginally ahead of the first half of the previous year, which it said was a challenging comparison. Read more: Computacenter [...]
Listed law firm DWF riding high on Brexit-related litigation July 31, 2019 Law firm DWF said its maiden results to the stock market were improved by an increase in litigation caused by Brexit-related economic uncertainty. In its first full-year results since it became the UK’s largest listed law firm via a March float, the firm said revenue had increased 15 per cent £272m. Profit before tax fell [...]
Funeral firm Dignity suspends dividend as deaths slump July 31, 2019 Funeral firm Dignity suspended its dividend today as a fall in the number of deaths hit its results. In the six months to 28 June revenue fell 12 per cent to £153.3m compared to the same period last year. Operating profit nearly halved, falling 46 per cent to £28m, with basic earnings per share dropping [...]
Lloyds Banking Group misses profit targets as £650m PPI provisions weigh heavy July 31, 2019 Lloyds Banking Group has undershot analyst profit expectations for the first half, with a £650m provision for payment protection insurance (PPI) pay outs denting its earnings. The bank posted pre-tax profit of £2.9bn, falling short of the analyst consensus of £3.45bn. Read more: Lloyds to pay £140m to settle Standard Life Aberdeen row The bank [...]