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 [...]
Google UK employees earned £226,000 on average last year April 3, 2019 Staff at Google’s UK offices earned an average of £226,000 last year after the firm paid out more than £340m through its share scheme. The tech firm paid £829m to its employees in the year to the end of June, up from £657m the previous year. The company, which currently has three main offices in [...]
Digital advertising firm Teads posts revenue rise as it looks to fend off tech giants April 2, 2019 Digital advertising firm Teads has posted a 30 per cent jump in revenues for the full-year as it looks to win back market share from Facebook and Google. The media platform pulled in revenues of €365m (£314m) last year after extending its reach to 1.4bn global monthly users and more than 90 per cent of [...]
Is Uber the new Amazon? April 2, 2019 By Edmond Jackson from interactive investor. In a test of narrative power versus whopping financial losses, so-called “ride-hailing” or “ridesharing” giants Uber and Lyft have rivalled each other to list on the New York Stock Exchange – Lyft got there first. Both capture the spirit of the times, connecting taxi drivers to passengers via their [...]
MPs call for full breakup of audit’s Big Four in wake of scandals April 2, 2019 MPs have triggered a war of words in the City after calling for a radical breakup of accountancy’s Big Four firms. A highly-anticipated report by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) Committee, released today, said the audit and consultancy arms of Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC should be forcibly divided to drive up competition [...]