Budget 2017: Winners and losers of Philip Hammond’s Spring Budget March 8, 2017 Today, chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his first (and last) Spring Budget. Here are the day's winners and losers. Read more: Budget 2017: Philip Hammond's speech in full Winners Tech got quite the showing in Hammond's Budget. The chancellor pledged millions of pounds of fresh funding for disruptive new technologies like robotics, electric cars and biotech along with plans to [...]
Budget 2017: The full text of chancellor Philip Hammond’s speech March 8, 2017 Philip Hammond has delivered his first – and last – Spring Budget. Headline announcements included more cash for social care and punishing new rules for the self-employed – plus some vague comments on business rates. Read more: City A.M.'s TL;DR version of the Spring 2017 Budget Here's what he said: Mr Deputy Speaker, I report [...]
Budget 2017: Local authorities encouraged to tackle city congestion in £690m competition March 8, 2017 In the battle to tackle urban congestion, Philip Hammond will create a £690m competition for local authorities to address the issue and get local transport networks up and moving. He also repeated the £220m announced in the Autumn Statement that will be invested to tackle pinch points on national road networks – this includes £90m to the [...]
Tesco’s Dave Lewis: The Booker takeover means we can buy more and waste less March 7, 2017 Tesco boss Dave Lewis has said reducing food waste is a factor behind the supermarket’s £3.7bn takeover of wholesaler Booker. The tie-up will enable the combined group to buy a larger proportion of crops each producers. This allows it to both reduce its spend and ensure the residual food doesn't go to waste, Lewis said. Read more: Why Tesco could be [...]
BT says it has not overpaid after beating Sky to UEFA Champions League rights March 6, 2017 BT has won the battle to secure the UK TV rights for European Champions League football for the next three years in a deal that will cost the telecoms giant £1.2bn and dismissed suggestions it has overpaid for them The deal, announced this morning, means BT will continue its coverage of Europe's premier club football competition until the [...]
Which stock market sectors will benefit as inflation heats up? March 6, 2017 We wrote last year about our expectation that inflation would soon start to re-emerge in Europe, and that banks were likely to be among the chief beneficiaries. This scenario has indeed come to pass, perhaps even more quickly than we had anticipated. With signs of inflation becoming ever more apparent, which other sectors should investors [...]
21st Century Fox lodges Sky takeover with European Commission with government “minded” to scrutinise deal March 3, 2017 The government has indicated it will likely scrutinise the takeover of Sky by 21st Century Fox. The US media giant notified the European Commission today, which in turn referred the transaction to Culture, Media and Sport secretary Karen Bradley. While the Bradley has 10 days to decide whether or not she will review the deal, [...]
Actavis UK and Concordia accused of illegal deal to fix the market for hydrocortisone tablets by UK competition watchdog March 3, 2017 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has alleged that Concordia and Actavis UK signed illegal agreements enabling high prices for a life-saving drug to be prolonged. The two pharmaceutical firms have been accused of fixing the market for hydrocortisone tablets. The CMA alleges that between January 2013 and June 2016, Actavis UK incentivised Concordia not [...]
Tesco completes sale of its Kipa business in Turkey March 1, 2017 Tesco has completed the sale of its stake in Turkish supermarket chain Kipa, which it bought in 2003. The sale was first announced in June last year, part of Tesco's efforts to offload its underperforming assets and focus on its core supermarket business. Tesco has also sold restaurant chain Giraffe and its garden centre business [...]
The Financial Conduct Authority launches consultation over plans to reform IPO process March 1, 2017 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a consultation over plans to reform the initial public offering (IPO) process in the UK. The watchdog has voiced concerns that investors don't get enough information before new firms list on the stock market, posing risks. So it has drafted up proposals for investors to get independent research [...]