Debenhams shares continue to plunge on supplier woes in the run-up to Christmas November 15, 2018 Shares in embattled department store chain Debenhams have continued to plunge this morning on reports of supplier troubles in the run-up to Christmas. A number of high street suppliers have stopped working with the Debenhams after credit insurers reduced protection for suppliers, trade magazine Drapers reported. Its share price has dropped close to nine per cent this [...]
Banks and housebuilders fall sharply as Raab resigns over Brexit deal November 15, 2018 The UK's major banks and housebuilders have suffered this morning in the wake of a number of resignations following Theresa May's draft Brexit deal. Shares in Barratt Developments and Persimmon, both down more than seven per cent, were the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 in the aftermath of the cabinet's approval of the draft [...]
Big three eurozone investment banks Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and BNP Paribas face €11bn threshold after EU stress test November 13, 2018 Top European investment banks would have to raise €11bn (£9.57bn) to meet the informal threshold implemented by the central bank following a stress test. Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and BNP Paribas would need to raise the funds, according to Reuters calculations, after the European Central Bank (ECB) said eurozone banks with capital worth less than nine [...]
CYBG axes deal with former Barclays boss following Virgin Money merger November 12, 2018 The new owner of Virgin Money has cancelled the bank’s partnership with a technology company run by former Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins. CYBG, which also owns Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, axed the deal following its £1.7bn takeover of Virgin Money in September, Sky News reported. Virgin Money had hired Jenkin's fintech start up 10X [...]
Showdown: Barclays boss set to meet troublesome activist investor November 11, 2018 Ever since the activist investor Edward Bramson revealed his 5 per cent stake in Barclays in March of this year, the two sides have danced around each other. The bank's chief executive, Jes Staley, aspires to lead an investment banking powerhouse. Bramson, on the other hand, wants that operation scaled back – favouring, in its [...]
Barclays bosses to meet activist investor Edward Bramson over calls to scale back investment bank November 11, 2018 Barclays chief executive Jes Staley and chairman John McFarlane will meet activist investor Edward Bramson in New York this week over calls to downsize the investment bank’s markets division. The meeting comes as Barclays received backing from top shareholder James Lowen, who told the Sunday Times that a decision to scale back the division would [...]
City faces a Brexit ‘nightmare’ unless a deal is done by Christmas, says new lord mayor November 11, 2018 The new lord mayor of London has said banks and insurers will face an "administrative nightmare" unless a Brexit deal is secured by Christmas. Former Barclays executive Peter Estlin told the Sunday Times that there was a "huge amount" of anxiety in the City despite recent suggestions that the Prime Minister was closing in on a [...]
Barclays economists predict orderly Brexit and boost to UK stock markets November 7, 2018 An orderly Brexit is on the cards and could ultimately make UK stocks “more investable” to global investors, Barclays analysts have predicted. The bank's European equity strategy division has predicted a Brexit deal will be agreed by the end of the year accompanied by a rebound in the pound. But it said the relative performance [...]
Made in Britain: The entrepreneur helping UK firms realise their exporting ambitions in Asia November 5, 2018 I am at the National Liberal Club in London. Everything about this place – from the smoking room to the 1915 portrait of Winston Churchill – screams old-world British at me. And there’s nothing coincidental about Siddharth Shankar’s choice of meeting place. Surrounded by empty chesterfield sofas, Shankar seems to be in his element – [...]
UK plcs produce record-breaking profits after revenue soars beyond £2 trillion mark November 5, 2018 Profits at the UK’s publicly listed companies jumped nearly 14 per cent in the third quarter of the year, pushing total profits over the last 12 months to a record £217.9bn. UK plc pre-tax profits rose from £143bn in the same measure a year earlier. The previous record was set in 2012. Revenues over the [...]