Ireland shuts schools and colleges on coronavirus pandemic fears March 12, 2020 Ireland said today it was closing schools, colleges and public offices due to worries over the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking in Washington D.C., Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced the new tough measures to stop the spread of coronavirus. Varadkar said from 6pm today, all schools, childcare facilities, colleges and public offices would be shut. He [...]
Funding Circle to lay off 125 workers in Amsterdam and Berlin March 12, 2020 Funding Circle will lay off 125 workers in Amsterdam and Berlin as British the peer-to-peer lender retreats from Europe to its more profitable home market. The lender will maintain a staff of 25 based in London to run its German and Dutch businesses, chief executive Samir Desai told Reuters, with the divisions focusing on partnering [...]
Budget 2020: Growth forecasts ‘incredibly grim and far too optimistic’ March 12, 2020 The forecasts produced yesterday by the UK’s Budget watchdog managed to be both “incredibly grim and far too optimistic,” according to a leading think tank. The Resolution Foundation warned that the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) growth writedown – which did not even factor in the full effect of coronavirus – would make households in [...]
Arrow Global shares tumble as profit slips at asset manager March 12, 2020 Shares in Arrow Global slid this morning after the asset manager failed to hit the bullseye with its annual results, reporting a five per cent drop in profit. The figures Arrow Global reported a 5.2 per cent drop in underlying profit before tax, which slipped to £78.1m in 2019 from £82.4m the previous year. The [...]
Neil Woodford investors to share £141.7m payout March 12, 2020 Investors in Neil Woodford’s former flagship fund are in line to share a £141.7m payout as the liquidation of its assets continues. The capital distribution is the second since the process to wind up the Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF) began earlier this year. In January around £2.1bn was handed back to the 300,000 investors [...]
Tullow Oil swings axe at workforce after massive 2019 loss March 12, 2020 Low cost oil exploration company Tullow has warned it will cut over a third of its workforce as it reported a pre-tax loss for 2019 and warned of “material uncertainty” over its future. Tullow Oil unveiled a $1.7bn pre-tax loss in 2019, down from an $85m profit in 2018. And volatility in the world oil [...]
UK coronavirus: PM to launch tougher measures to delay spread of Covid-19 March 12, 2020 The government will officially announce tougher measures to delay the spread of the UK coronavirus outbreak today after failing to contain the Covid-19 crisis. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to chair yet another Cobra meeting this afternoon, in which it is expected he will confirm the shift into the second stage of managing the outbreak. [...]
NMC Health finds evidence of fraud as shares in sister firm Finablr collapse March 12, 2020 Beleaguered hospital operator NMC Health said an investigation into its finances had uncovered evidence indicating suspected fraud in some of its previous financial activities. NMC Health launched an external review into allegations over its finances after coming under attack from US short-seller Muddy Waters in December. Read more: NMC Health identifies $2.7bn in additional debt [...]
Work from home: Could coronavirus kill your commute? March 12, 2020 Next time you are sitting on the train, the bus, or the Tube, look around you. You will notice that the carriage is not as crowded as usual. If you are a clockwork commuter like me, you will notice that characters from your morning commute are no longer making their regular appearance. The chap with [...]
Berkeley suspends £455m shareholder payout over coronavirus March 12, 2020 Housebuilder Berkeley Group has suspended a £455m shareholder payout until there is more clarity on the economic impact of coronavirus. The property developer said there had been no noticeable impact on its own business so far, but warned that the effect on UK firms is still unknown. Berkeley Group said it was responsible to approach [...]
