Top 10 Just Eat shareholder to vote against £9bn merger deal with Takeaway.com September 3, 2019 Just Eat’s proposed merger with Takeaway.com was dealt a setback this morning after a top 10 shareholder revealed it plans to vote against the tie-up. US asset manager Eminence Capital, which holds a 4.4 per cent stake in Just Eat, is set to oppose the British food delivery firm’s £9bn deal with Amsterdam-based rival Takeaway.com. [...]
Ferguson to split UK and US operations as chief executive heads for the exit September 3, 2019 Ferguson revealed plans to separate its UK and US operations this morning while also announcing the departure of its boss. The plumbing and heating giant said that it will demerge the company’s two arms, pending on shareholder approval, to create an independent listed company called Wolseley which will focus exclusively on customers in the UK. [...]
Online-only banks set for growth spurt but questions over profit linger September 3, 2019 The UK’s digital-only banks are set to treble their sales in the year ahead, as they ramp up their efforts to challenge high street rivals and disrupt the retail lending market. Despite widespread concerns over their long-term profitability, fast-growing online lenders are on track to amass 35m new customers globally over the next 12 months, [...]
Boss Christian Sewing to buy £19,000 of Deutsche Bank shares every month until 2023 September 2, 2019 The boss of embattled German lender Deutsche Bank will spend 15 per cent of his monthly net salary buying shares in the company. As part of a pledge earlier this summer, chief executive Christian Sewing will buy €21,250 (£19,339) of shares in the bank on the 22nd of each month until the end of 2022, [...]
Labour pledge to hand shares to workers ‘would cost investors £300bn’ September 2, 2019 A Labour government would effectively raise UK corporation tax to the highest in the developed world through radical share proposals that could cost investors hundreds of billions of pounds, according to a new report. Investors could face a £300bn hit from Labour’s “inclusive ownership fund” (IOF) plan to give employees a stake in their company [...]
Ally quits Neil Woodford’s namesake trust in latest blow for troubled fund manager September 2, 2019 A senior figure is stepping down from one of the largest investment trusts managed by Neil Woodford, as the embattled stockpicker’s current woes continue to cause ripples across his network. Steven Harris is to resign from the board of Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT), a major investment portfolio currently run by under-fire investor Neil Woodford. [...]
What is Zao? The Chinese ‘deepfake’ face-swapping app that’s gone viral September 2, 2019 A controversial face-swapping app has provoked a major privacy row after going viral in China over the weekend. Zao, a new app that can place anyone inside their favourite TV show or movie by using a selfie, has sparked fresh concerns over so-called deepfake technology in the wake of its swift rise to the top [...]
Facebook’s libra cryptocurrency could undermine European Central Bank September 2, 2019 The European Central Bank (ECB) has warned that Facebook’s plans to create a new currency could undermine its powers to set monetary policy. ECB board member Yves Mersch said this morning that the social media giant’s proposed currency, Libra, could potentially reduce the body’s control over the euro. Read more: What is Facebook libra? Your [...]
Auditor ranking race narrows as FTSE 100 firms spread out September 2, 2019 Prized FTSE 100 clients are now more evenly spread out among the Big Four accountancy giants than at any time in almost 15 years, with some of the UK’s top auditors losing out to their rivals after an intense year of scrutiny and high-profile failures. The blue-chip client league table for auditors has “never been [...]
Investigations into wealthy individuals boost tax coffers September 2, 2019 Taxes collected from investigations into wealthy individuals soared to a record high in the last year, with leaks from the Panama Papers and new global data sharing agreements boosting Britain’s Treasury coffers. HMRC’s yield from probes into wealthy individuals jumped 58 per cent to a record £1.9bn in 2018/19, according to new research from law [...]
