Premier Foods plays down Batchelors’ sale speculation January 15, 2018 Shares in Premier Foods are up two per cent this morning after the company played down speculation that it has had initial discussions with one of its shareholders about selling its Batchelors’ brand. The company confirmed in a statement this morning that it periodically had discussions with third parties including Japanese noodle company Nissin, which [...]
Red alert on Brexit risks to financial services given by City of London Corporation January 14, 2018 Top lobbyists at the City of London Corporation have upped their rating of the risks posed by Brexit, according to their latest audit of the risks facing the Square Mile. The Corporation’s report for a meeting this week of the risk and audit committee shows an updated “red” rating in its corporate risk register, an [...]
The City of London is bracing itself for a raft of UK retail collapses in 2018 January 12, 2018 Retailers painted a gloomy picture of the high street this week as several big names failed to cash in on the Christmas shopping season. Gloomy financial updates from household favourites such as Marks and Spencer (M&S), Debenhams, and House of Fraser prompted analysts to signal several retail collapses may be on the cards in 2018. [...]
Marks & Spencer (M&S) share price falls after saying sales slump could have been much worse, had it not been for a “better” Christmas January 11, 2018 Food and clothing sales at Marks & Spencer fell in the final three months of 2017, the firm announced this morning. Total third-quarter sales in the UK dropped by 1.4 per cent to £2.9bn. Shares fell almost three per cent in morning trades. Boss Steve Rowe labelled the trading returns for the quarter “mixed”. He [...]
British manufacturing records strongest output since 2008 January 10, 2018 British manufacturers sector produced its highest output since before the financial crisis struck at the end of last year, continuing their run of impressive growth over recent months. The three-month rolling average of the index of production reached 104.9 in November 2017, the highest since April 2008, when it was 105.5, according to the Office [...]
Facebook will take on Amazon Echo with smart home device Portal set for May launch January 10, 2018 Watch out Amazon, it looks like Facebook is about to muscle in on smart home territory. The social networking giant is poised to launch a device for chatting via video, according to a report, similar to Amazon’s Echo Show which is a smart speaker with a screen powered by the Alexa voice assistant. Read more: [...]
Bad day for bitcoin as it dives below $15,000 – as Ripple loses a third of its value January 8, 2018 What a difference a month makes. Having touched $20,000 in December, today bitcoin fell below $15,000 again, as fellow cryptocurrency Ripple lost a third of its value. Bitcoin’s almost 10 per cent fall, to just over $14,800, came a week before the first bitcoin futures were due to expire. In December the Chicago Board Options [...]
London Stock Exchange Group’s LCH clearing arm enjoys record year January 8, 2018 The London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group’s LCH clearing arm processed a record volume of derivatives over the course of 2017, ahead of an expansion further into servicing growing Asian markets. The notional value of interest rate derivatives processed by LCH reached over $873 trillion during the course of 2017, according to data to be published [...]
Donald Trump’s tax changes on agenda for JP Morgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) as US bank earnings season kicks off January 7, 2018 JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo are among the first of the US banking behemoths who will kick off a new earnings season in earnest this week, with analysts keenly awaiting updates on how US tax changes will affect the biggest lenders. The Republican party led by US President Donald Trump passed a wide-ranging tax [...]
Failed wholesaler Palmer & Harvey faces a grilling from MPs in Frank Field’s Work and Pensions Committee centred around its 2008 management buyout January 7, 2018 Failed wholesaler Palmer & Harvey (P&H), which collapsed into administration just weeks before Christmas, is set to be grilled by an influential Commons select committee. Former bosses at the 92-year-old company, which was the UK’s largest cigarette supplier, will come under the Work and Pensions Committee’s spotlight to give evidence on a 2008 management buyout. [...]