Hope opera: Andrea Bocelli’s Milan concert breaks streaming record April 15, 2020 Andrea Bocelli has smashed multiple records after his live-streamed solo performance from the deserted Duomo in Milan racked up millions of viewers worldwide. The Italian tenor’s Music for Hope concert reached a peak of more than 2.8m live Youtube viewers on Easter Sunday, while the video received more than 28m views worldwide in the first [...]
Deloitte UK cuts partner profits 20 per cent and freezes salaries in response to coronavirus slowdown April 15, 2020 Deloitte UK will cut partner profits 20 per cent profit this year and staff across the business will have their salaries frozen in response to the coronavirus slowdown, the firm’s senior partner said today. The firm is also delaying the distribution of profits to partners to try and conserve cash. Senior partner and chief executive [...]
Coronavirus: GSK chief urges drug firms to work together to develop vaccines April 15, 2020 The chief executive of pharmaceuticals giant Glaxosmithkline (GSK) has urged companies to join together to speed the development of a coronavirus vaccine, warning that the world will need more than one treatment for the disease. Emma Walmsley’s words came after the firm announced it had partnered with French drugmaker Sanofi to make a vaccine. Clinical [...]
Goldman Sachs profit nearly halves as coronavirus hits investment April 15, 2020 Profit at Goldman Sachs dropped more than 45 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 compared to a year earlier as the coronavirus slowdown hit the Wall Street giant’s asset management arm, its latest earnings report showed today. Goldman’s net earnings for the January to March period were $1.21bn (£970m), down 46 per cent [...]
British AI startup Onfido in talks to provide coronavirus immunity passports April 15, 2020 British AI startup Onfido revealed a $100m (£80m) funding round today and confirmed it is in talks to provide so-called coronavirus immunity passports when lockdowns begin to ease. The entirety of Onfido’s new stake comes from US investor TPG Growth’s $45bn fund, and brings the digital identity startup’s total funding to $200m. Founder Husayn Kassai [...]
Tiktok owner Bytedance to hire 10,000 new staff amid lockdown boom April 15, 2020 The Chinese company behind hit social media platform Tiktok is looking to hire 10,000 new employees as it defies a wider downturn that has forced global tech firms to lay off staff. Bytedance has opened applications for the vacancies, with roughly a third of the roles in high-level research or software coding, according to an [...]
Bank of America profit nearly halves after it sets aside $4.8bn to cover bad loans April 15, 2020 Bank of America said today its profit for the first quarter was down 45 per cent on the same period last year as it set aside billions to cover expected loan defaults. The lender said its earnings for the three months to 31 March were $4bn (£3.2bn), compared to $7.3bn for the same period in [...]
London hotel market ‘set for strong post-coronavirus recovery’ April 15, 2020 London’s hotel market could make a complete recovery by the end of next year if coronavirus restrictions are lifted by the end of June, according to the latest research. Knight Frank research found that there could be a surge in UK investment volumes in the final months of 2020, and showed that the hotel market [...]
Standard Chartered bans staff from using Zoom and Google Hangouts April 15, 2020 Standard Chartered has become the first major bank to ban staff from using Zoom during the coronavirus crisis due to cybersecurity concerns. In a note to managers, seen by Reuters, chief executive Bill Winters last week also warned against holding virtual meetings on Google Hangouts. It comes amid growing scrutiny of Zoom’s security standards as [...]
Universal Credit boss promises improved payment delivery for new claimants April 15, 2020 A higher proportion of new benefits claimants will receive their payment on time than before the coronavirus outbreak, according to the boss of Universal Credit. In normal times, 87 per cent of new Universal Credit claimants get their first payment on time, which is after five weeks from applying, according to figures from the Department [...]
