M&S Marks and Spencer (MKS) likely to accelerate store closure plans this week May 20, 2018 Marks & Spencer is expected to accelerate its transformation plans this week, as it reports another decline in profits. The pace of change at the retailer could be “dialled-up”, according to analysts, who are forecasting a 6.6 per cent decline in profit before tax and adjusted items to £573m. The company said in November that [...]
Lloyds Bank share price rises after striking £4bn deal with Barclays to offload its loss-making Irish mortgage book May 18, 2018 Lloyds Bank today struck a deal to sell its multi-billion euro Irish property book to rival Barclays – a move that crystallises a £110m loss for the lender. Barclays, which is fronting the deal on behalf of a number of parties such as M&G Prudential, will pay £4bn for a mountain Lloyds’ residential mortgages from [...]
UK bank HSBC holds on to the title of Europe’s largest – but Barclays and RBS slip down the ranks May 16, 2018 HSBC has held on to the title of Europe’s largest bank once again, according to new data, as the top four remained unchanged. Ranked by total assets, HSBC tops the chart with €2.1 trillion (£1.8 trillion), research from S&P Global Market Intelligence showed. Unchanged from last year, the UK institution was followed by France’s BNP [...]
Outgoing Serious Fraud Office boss David Green QC in talks with magic circle firm Slaughter and May May 15, 2018 Former Serious Fraud Office (SFO) boss David Green QC is in talks to join magic circle firm Slaughter and May. Website Legal Week has reported that the former SFO director has made an application to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments which decides on the suitability of new jobs for former senior civil servants and [...]
Barclays: Activist Bramson met with Old Mutual Global Investors last month as he plots to shake up the bank May 10, 2018 Activist investor Edward Bramson met with Old Mutual Global Investors last month in a bid to gain support for his plans to shake up Barclays. According to Financial News, Bramson met the investment manager’s chief executive Richard Buxton to try and gain support for his plans. Bramson has amassed a 5.41 per cent stake in [...]
Morrisons earnings preview: Grocery chain faces uphill battle amid Asda-Sainsbury’s merger May 7, 2018 Grocery chain Morrisons is set to announce its first quarter trading results on Thursday, and the company may have a lot to prove. Analysts at Barclays forecast sales growth of 1.7 per cent, below the company’s figures for the fourth quarter of 2017. If so, it would be the lowest sales growth since the end [...]
Global M&A deal values are expected to hit a record high in the first half of 2018, says Deloitte, as the total has already bombed through $1.7bn May 4, 2018 A new record could be made in the first half of 2018, according to accountancy firm Deloitte, as the value of global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is set to soar to new heights. The value of deals announced in the first four months of 2018 has already surpassed $1.7bn (£1.3bn), the highest since total for [...]
Barclays Africa sacks KPMG amid allegations of links to South African corruption scandal May 3, 2018 Barclays Africa today withdrew its recommendation to reappoint KPMG as one of two joint auditors. The move is the latest chapter in a saga which has seen the Big Four accountant’s South African arm become embroiled in a conduct scandal. In mid-April South Africa’s auditor general stripped KPMG of all its central contracts amid allegations [...]
Markets brace for the latest Bank of England interest rate decision May 1, 2018 Following a decade without so much as a hint of a rate rise, expectations are high for the UK’s second increase in just seven months. Most economists expect the Bank of England to raise the base rate to 0.75 per cent this month, up from the current 0.5 per cent. The UK’s economic picture is [...]
Sterling falls after UK manufacturing growth continues to slow slashing likelihood of a May rate hike (USDGDP) May 1, 2018 UK manufacturing growth continued to slow in the second quarter, with the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index dropping to a 17-month low of 53.9 in April, down from 54.9 in March. Anything above 50 indicates expansion, and the PMI has signalled expansion in each of the past 21 months, but the reading was [...]