Profit warning hits NCC’s share price in the wake of key contract cancellations December 13, 2016 Shares in cyber security firm NCC flopped over 14 per cent in early trading on news of a profit warning. The Manchester-based firm was forced to admit that's first half-year earnings failed to cut the mustard and a gap in earnings from its assurance division had "become too significant to fill in the second half". “Whilst [...]
Unicredit to slash 14,000 jobs as part of mammoth restructuring of Italy’s largest bank December 13, 2016 Italy's largest lender is to cull 14,000 jobs by 2019 as part of a huge turnaround plan. Announcing the cuts alongside a €13bn (£10.9bn) equity raise and flogging €17.7bn on non-core assets, Unicredit said the job cuts would save the firm €1.1bn. Read more: Unicredit pushes the button on Italy's largest ever rights issue Chief exec [...]
Unicredit’s international lenders commit to €13bn rights issue, as bank also ditches €17.7bn of non-core loans December 13, 2016 Italy's largest ever rights issue was announced this morning by Unicredit, the country's biggest bank. The lender pushed the button on a €13bn (£10.9bn) rights issue, in a balance sheet restructuring Unicredit hopes will pave the way for dividend payouts to recommence by 2019. A raft of international banks, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, and [...]
Lloyds Bank share sale raises further £0.5bn to repay taxpayer December 13, 2016 The government has sold off another slug of its shares in Lloyds Bank, meaning the state now has an interest of less than seven per cent. More than £17.5bn has been recovered of the £20.3bn forked out by the taxpayer, the Treasury said this morning. The sale follows the previous auction in November that took recoveries to [...]
Brent crude oil breaks $57 a barrel as deal with non-Opec producers triggers five per cent rally December 12, 2016 Oil prices shed earlier gains this evening after rallying more than five per cent during the day, as markets digested a landmark pact between oil producing countries and cartel Opec. Global benchmark Brent crude briefly rose above $57 a barrel for the first time since July 2015 in morning trading. This evening it was trading up [...]
Transport select committee chair reveals it needed to push the DfT hard to get details of Southern rail contract December 12, 2016 The government deliberately withheld details regarding the Southern rail contract from the scrutiny of a select committee, an MP has claimed, and has been accused of dragging its heels on dealing with the rail firm's operational failings. Transport select committee chair Louise Ellman revealed her frustration at the lack of action by the department for transport (DfT) in the [...]
Rebuffed by unions: The government did offer to get involved in the Southern dispute last week December 12, 2016 The trade unions at the centre of the Southern rail dispute refused to respond to approaches from the transport minister to avert this week's industrial action. Economics minister Simon Kirby today received a letter from Chris Grayling revealing the reticence by the unions to get round the table and the threats by drivers union Aslef for [...]
Southern rail tells customers not to travel tomorrow whether or not it manages to block one of the two sets of strike action December 12, 2016 Southern rail has decided to elevate itself to the same level of the great British institution of bad weather and told London's workers not to worry about rail strikes and simply take the day off. While bosses in the City may have been a little more sympathetic to a day of workers being stranded in their houses as [...]
Financial watchdog wants to know if the mortgage system is working to the detriment of consumers December 12, 2016 Britain's financial regulator has put the competitiveness of the mortgage sector under the microscope and launched a sweeping review into industry practices. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today announced it wants to focus on whether or not customers are getting the best deal from the commercial arrangements between lenders, brokers and other players. Read more: Remortgaging valuations boom [...]
Great Western Railway customers face fresh disruption as cleaners stage two one-day walkouts on run-up to Christmas December 12, 2016 Rail commuters are facing another layer of disruption after unions announced cleaners will go on strike on the run up to Christmas. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) today announced after a "massive yes vote" cleaners would walk out on 16 and 23 December – 109 members voted in favour of the action. Employees of [...]
