Merlin Entertainments revenue pushed up by Legoland performance September 18, 2014 Merlin Entertainments reported positive results for the 36 weeks to 6 September, with revenue growth 6.7 per cent higher than the same period last year. A strong sterling against the group's main trading currencies resulted in a total growth of 3.8 per cent over the full year, and profit growth was in line with [...]
Alibaba announces share price as it gears up for biggest IPO in history September 18, 2014 Tomorrow morning Alibaba will list on the New York Stock Exchange, in what could prove to be the biggest IPO in history. The Chinese e-commerce company has valued its shares at between $66 and $68 – an increased range that would give it a valuation of around $165bn at the midpoint. Analysts believe it [...]
Sony share price plummets on profit warning September 18, 2014 Shares in Sony fell by 12 per cent to ¥ 1,865.5 (£10.50) at the start of trading in Tokyo last night, following the release of a profit warning by the consumer electronics giant. It said that losses for the year ending March 2015 could reach as high as £1.32bn, which is four times bigger [...]
Scottish independence would be bad for whole of EU, says Rajoy September 17, 2014 The effects of a “Yes” vote would spread far beyond our shores – to the whole of the EU, according to Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy. At a meeting of MPs in Madrid he said independence referendums such as Scotland’s often result in “more economic recession and poverty”, and that they are bad for [...]
Elon Musk’s SpaceX wins Nasa commercial flight contract September 17, 2014 It’s a good day for PayPal founder Elon Musk; his SpaceX corporation has been selected by Nasa as one of the two firms to design crew capsules for transporting astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The Commercial Crew Development programme has awarded SpaceX and Boeing a combined sum of $6.2bn to develop the capsules. [...]
GSK share price shows immunity to Ebola vaccine September 17, 2014 The news GSK’s Ebola vaccine is to be trialled on humans failed to lift the company on the stock market this morning, with its share price falling 0.21 per cent to 1,438 pence. The experimental vaccine is to be tested on 60 healthy adults in Oxford, after it conferred resistance on a group of [...]
Smiths Group share price falls as profits drop six per cent September 17, 2014 Shares in engineering firm Smiths Group – whose businesses do everything from weapons detection to supplying medical equipment – opened 0.88 per cent lower this morning, after it reported a six per cent fall in underlying profit for the year ended 31 July, with a mixed performance across the different areas of its business. [...]
Cheaper houses, more expensive holidays: Five of the most important changes to the UK if Scotland votes for independence September 16, 2014 With the Scottish independence referendum just two days away, a question on many people's minds is what will happen to their finances if Scotland does decide to leave. Here are some of the ways in which those left in Britain will feel the effects. House price fall Online estate agency Emoov has [...]
UK universities rise in the world ranks with focus on science and tech September 16, 2014 The UK produced its best ever performance on the world's academic stage in 2014, with a record number of universities being included in the QS world university rankings. Six British universities made it to the global top 20 – more than ever before – while 19 made it into the top 100. 31 countries [...]
Why an independent Scotland could be faced with a huge £450m NHS funding gap September 16, 2014 Will the NHS in Scotland really be better off, as Alex Salmond has promised, if Scotland votes for independence on 18 September? Civil servants seem to think it will face a huge funding gap. It was reported today that the government has outlined a radical cost-cutting plan for NHS Scotland, presented to a meeting [...]
