Sainsbury’s: Buyers bet that shares have seen the low April 26, 2019 By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. Trading within a whisker of a record low, a lot of bad news is already written into the share price. Yesterday’s humiliation of Sainsbury (J) (LSE:SBRY) and its boss Mike Coupe has not stopped investors from piling into the supermarket giant’s shares in the belief the chain can bounce [...]
Competition regulator blocks Sainsbury’s-Asda merger April 25, 2019 A planned tie-up between supermarket giants Sainsbury’s and Asda suffered a final blow from the UK’s competition watchdog, which said this morning that "it has decided to prohibit the merger in its entirety". Read more: Watchdog may block Sainsbury's-Asda merger Sainsbury’s, Walmart and Asda revealed today that they have mutually agreed to terminate the merger plans [...]
Half of motorists think charging loyal car insurance customers more should be illegal April 24, 2019 Fifty per cent of motorists think it should be illegal for insurers to charge existing customers more than new customers for the same cover, a new survey said today. The research by price comparison site Go Compare showed 61 per cent of participants felt insurers treat existing customers less favourably by charging those who renew [...]
FCA: UK could embrace ‘lower burden’ financial rules post-Brexit April 23, 2019 The City could benefit from a “lower burden” regulatory regime when the UK exits the European Union, the top financial regulator said today. Setting out his vision for the future of UK financial regulation, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) head Andrew Bailey said he thought the UK and EU would take contrasting approaches to regulation post-Brexit, [...]
Rentokil set to continue acquisition spree while organic growth continues April 18, 2019 Pest control expert Rentokil Initial said this morning it is planning to continue an acquisition-heavy strategy and is likely to spend between £200m and £250m on takeovers this year. The firm showed 4.9 per cent growth from takeovers in the first three months of the year, while organic revenue grew at four per cent. Read [...]
Business lobby groups slam competition watchdog’s calls for radical audit reform April 18, 2019 Business lobby group the CBI said reforms to the audit sector proposed today by the competition watchdog could “undermine confidence in corporate Britain”. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today called for the Big Four accountancy firm’s audit arms to be split from their non-audit arms with separate profit pool and management in a major [...]
Competition watchdog warns holiday booking sites over trip cancellation costs April 17, 2019 The UK’s competition watchdog has issued a warning to holiday booking websites to make customer terms and conditions clear. A total of one in five customers who had cancelled a booking in the past felt they had been treated unfairly, a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) survey found, as the regulator told travel businesses to [...]
Brexit to place ‘considerable demands’ on City watchdog the FCA April 17, 2019 Brexit will continue to place “considerable demands” on the City watchdog, it said today as the regulator unveiled its plan for the coming year. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) unveiled its business plan for 2019-20 and said Britain’s departure from the EU would continue to dominate its attention. Read more: Government provides £200m for small [...]
Amazon hit with thousands of fake five-star reviews, research finds April 16, 2019 Thousands of suspicious and unverified reviews have cropped up on Amazon for five-star rated tech products from unheard of brands. The reviews were often posted on the same day or in the same short period of time, according to consumer magazine Which, with identical reviews left for the same product on Amazon and in some [...]
Major companies could be exempt from joint audit rules in competition watchdog report April 14, 2019 The UK’s competition watchdog reportedly could exclude some major companies from a new rule that would require many business to appoint joint auditors. Sky News reported that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is set to publish its long awaited report into the audit sector this week. According to the report, the CMA has been [...]