Coke-a Cola left red-faced after 370kg of cocaine found in French factory September 1, 2016 The Coca-Cola Company has been left red-faced today after a huge stash of cocaine was found in one of its factories in the south of France. Employees found the stash of the white stuff, weighing 370kg, in a delivery of orange juice concentrate from Costa Rica at a site belonging to one of its subsidiaries. The sacks of [...]
AstraZeneca pays out $6m to settle US bribery case August 31, 2016 AstraZeneca will pay $5.5m (£4.1m) to resolve a foreign bribery probe in the US. The payment settles an alleged bribery case at the drugmaker’s Chinese and Russian units going back as far as 2005. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claims Astra staff made payments and gave other benefits to state-employed doctors and other [...]
Emerging markets have enjoyed a real comeback, but as expectations of another Fed rate hike grow, can it last long? August 30, 2016 At the beginning of the year, things looked dismal for emerging markets. Investor optimism had soured over the previous three to four years, thanks to a cocktail of tumbling commodity prices, a strong dollar and a Chinese slowdown which had shaken confidence in the sustainability of their growth. Nine months later, and the mood has shifted [...]
The UK has turned its back on the EU – we must not do the same to China August 29, 2016 It has been a little over two months since the EU referendum and data from the UK economy has continued to leave both sides of the Brexit debate wanting. Commentators were overly negative in July and now seem to be swinging excessively positive but the reality is we simply haven’t had enough data to work [...]
Audioboom’s share price jumps double-digits after celebrity investment August 26, 2016 Podcast provider Audioboom today raised £2.6m from the markets after successfully placing shares with former Neighbours star Holly Valance and her property tycoon husband. Nick Candy, himself a non-executive director of Audioboom and already a large shareholder, subscribed to the share issue through Luxembourg-based entity Candy Ventures Sarl. Shares in the Aim-quoted company leapt over 11 per cent in early trading. Although [...]
Apple is said to be planning three new iPhones for next year August 23, 2016 Beyond the upcoming iPhone 7 due to be unveiled soon, Apple is said to be planning three new smartphones for next year, including a premium device with a bold new design feature. The tech company will make a radical overhaul of the iPhone design with a curved screen on one of the models due in 2017, [...]
Merger Monday: Big deal developments spark hopes of M&A pick-up this autumn August 22, 2016 Global deals valued at nearly $65bn (£49.5bn) cleared a series of major hurdles yesterday, amid hopes of a renewed drive in worldwide mergers and acquisitions next month. US pharmaceutical company Pfizer agreed a $14bn deal for San Francisco-based Medivation, which specialises in cancer treatments. It came as a welcome boost to the pharma giant whose [...]
Theresa May’s Olympic praise sheds light on her industrial strategy vision August 22, 2016 Theresa May returns to Downing Street this week after a walking holiday in Switzerland, a reminder to anyone still basking in the sun with a bottle of rosé that autumn is now upon us. Unlike the rest of us mortals who spend the first day back in the office clearing out the inbox, the Prime [...]
Emerging markets funds hot, China not, for investors this summer August 22, 2016 Investors have turned away from China-only funds this summer, according to one online retail investment platform. But emerging markets funds have proved popular. Rplan.co.uk said that between 1 June and 15 August, it recorded a 75 per cent increase in flows to emerging markets funds compared with the same period last year. Meanwhile, China-only funds experienced [...]
For the love of bags: Jardine of London founder Mary Jardine talks music cases, the Queen, Brexit, and why she’s on the hunt for a partner August 22, 2016 "It felt like I’d always been the spectator. It dawned on me that I wanted to be the one taking part; the one driving something forward.” Mary Jardine, founder of handbag startup Jardine of London, was approaching her fiftieth birthday when she decided she was going to set up her own business. Jardine of London isn’t [...]