Competition watchdog expresses concern over Rentokil and Mitie merger April 12, 2019 The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has warned Rentokil Initial it may have to investigate the company after its completed takeover of Mitie's pest control arm has severely reduced competition in the sector. The competition watchdog has given Rentokil a deadline of April 23 to outline how it will address concerns that prices could [...]
Competition regulator accuses Casio of preventing price discounts April 11, 2019 Britain's competition watchdog has accused electronics giant Casio of illegally preventing price discounts today. Casio was provisionally found to have broken competition law by "restricting retailer freedom to discount online" by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) this morning. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued a statement of objections to Casio Electronics which, as [...]
Home insurers make 100 per cent of profits from loyal customers April 10, 2019 Home insurance companies make 100 per cent of their profits from penalising loyal customers, new research shows. A study published today by Citizens Advice found home insurers make all their profits – amounting to over £1bn a year – from loyal customers holding policies for six years or more. The research showed that loyal customers [...]
Reforming audit will not be easy, but the latest report might be a place to start April 9, 2019 Sir Winston Churchill’s 1942 speech about the second battle of El Alamein contained one of his most famous quotes. It was not, he said, the end – nor even the beginning of the end – but it was perhaps the end of the beginning. One could be forgiven for harbouring similar feelings about the long [...]
Lloyds Bank stars as FTSE 100 rockets in Q1 April 9, 2019 By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. After a great first quarter for stock markets, we assess the best and worst blue-chips of 2019 so far. It’s been a storming start to 2019 for the FTSE 100 index, with popular interactive investor stocks including Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY), Next (LSE:NXT) and Tesco (LSE:TSCO) among those on [...]
Watchdog accuses three construction suppliers of forming a cartel to keep prices up April 9, 2019 The competition watchdog has found that three construction suppliers colluded to form a cartel and keep prices up. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said its investigation into groundworks suppliers MGF, Vp and Mabey Hire has provisionally found that the trio broke competition law. Read more: Game over? Watchdog to probe video gaming industry It [...]
KPMG examining audit spin-off in wake of damning report from MPs April 8, 2019 Big Four accounting firm KPMG is reportedly planning an overhaul of its UK business in the wake of political pressure and a wave of scandals. KPMG could split its UK audit practice from its wider UK business, The Times reported. Read more: MPs call for full breakup of audit’s Big Four in wake of scandals [...]
Game over? Competition watchdog to probe console video gaming autorenewals April 5, 2019 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today launched a consumer law investigation into the console gaming sector. The watchdog said the investigation would focus on the auto-renewal practice of Nintendo Switch, Playstation and Xbox. Read more: Astro Bot Rescue Mission is the PlayStation VR's killer app It said it was “concerned about whether some of [...]
Co-op boosts revenue and profit following Nisa deal April 5, 2019 Co-op has increased its revenue and profit strongly in the wake of its acquisition of retail chain Nisa in May. Looking forward the group warned of potential uncertainty over Brexit and said it was planning for various scenarios as best as it can. The numbers Revenue rose 14 per cent to £10.2bn and profit before [...]
Competition watchdog mulls probe into Visa’s £247m takeover of Earthport April 4, 2019 The competition watchdog is mulling an investigation into Visa’s proposed £247m takeover of UK payments firm Earthport. Visa outbid Mastercard earlier this year in an intense battle for the global payment network. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said today it was considering whether the deal would “substantially lessen” competition in the UK market. The watchdog [...]