Flybe’s share price rises on promising results as budget airline’s turnaround plan gains momentum October 13, 2015 Flybe's share price soared today on the back of results suggesting the budget airline was gaining momentum in its turnaround. The figures There was a 13 per cent increase in passenger revenues over the three months to the end of September, but around a one per cent decrease in revenue per seat. Passenger numbers increased 1.7 [...]
The Volkswagen scandal gets the Hollywood treatment as Leonardo DiCaprio and Paramount are to turn it into a film October 13, 2015 The Wolf of Wall Street is turning his attention to saving the planet, after Leonardo DiCaprio snapped up the film rights to a new book on the Volkswagen emissions scandal. DiCaprio's film company Appian Way will be in the driving seat, turning an as-yet unnamed and unpublished book on the scandal by New York Times journalist Jack Ewing on [...]
Volkswagen scandal promts Axa IM and other European fund managers to demand car makers be more open about their environmental policies October 13, 2015 European funds managers, running more than £625bn in assets in total, have called for greater scrutiny of car manufacturers' lobbying activities in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal. European investment managers including Axa Investment Managers, Menhaden Capital run by Zac Goldsmith's brother Ben, and the Environment Agency's pension fund have called on car giants to be [...]
Legal sales of cannabis net Oregon shopkeepers $11m October 13, 2015 Money may not grow on trees, but it seems to be growing on cannabis plants on Oregon in the US. In the first five days since the sale of marijuana was legalised in the state, sales have reached an estimated $11m (£7.2m). The Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association reported that $3.5m was taken in the [...]
Leading fund Hermes Investment Management slams a lack of diversity in Britain’s boardrooms October 12, 2015 The glass ceiling is barely cracked, as the latest figures show that only 8.6 per cent of executive board positions are held by women, and female bosses earn around three-quarters of what their male counterparts take home. Only 23 per cent of institutional investors, including major pension funds, believe that gender-diversity on boards is important, [...]
Diageo looking better after a few shots (of cash) as Moody’s gives the seal of approval for its asset swap with Heineken October 12, 2015 Diageo's fortunes are looking up, after Moody's predicted the company's finances will recover over the next 12-18 months, boosted by its asset swap with Heineken last week. Diageo received £515m from selling its holdings in Jamaican brewer Desnoes & Geddes and Malaysian-listed GAPL to Heineken, in return for Heineken's 20 per cent stake in Guinness Ghana Breweries, which will increase Diageo's shareholding [...]
Less than 52 hours before the Megabrew deadline AB InBev raises SABMiller offer to £43.50 a share October 12, 2015 Anheuser-Busch InBev has increased its offer for London-based SABMiller to £43.50 a share, a 48 per cent premium. In a statement today, the company confirmed it has offered £43.50 a share in cash, with a partial share alternative (offering AB InBev shares instead along with £3.56 cash per share) for approximately 41 per cent of SABMiller, which [...]
Met police have stopped guarding Wikileaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London October 12, 2015 The Met police have stopped guarding the Ecuadorian embassy in London where Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been sheltering for the past three years. The Met police tweeted that they have removed the officers who have stood guard outside the embassy since Assange sought refuge in June 2012, citinga “strengthened overt plan at [the] Ecuadorian embassy”. [...]
PwC to be investigated over audit of collapsed company Connaught October 12, 2015 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has decided to act on complaints against accountancy giant PwC and its senior statutory auditor Stephen Harrison over the auditing of social housing maintenance firm Connaught. Connaught went into administration in September 2010. The FRC's report accuses the company and the account's lead audit partner Stephen Harrison, who retired in summer 2010, of "fail[ing] to [...]
PwC to be investigated over audit of collapsed company Connaught October 12, 2015 * caption could read: Connaught's property management arm, which maintained social housing, went into administration The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has decided to act on complaints against PwC and its senior statutory auditor Stephen Harrison over Connaught's auditing. Connaught is the social housing maintenance firm that went into administration in September 2010 and it is “alleged that [...]
