Severn Trent share price dips as water company prepares to slash 500 jobs after profits drop November 25, 2014 Water company Severn Trent is preparing to cut 500 jobs after reporting a 27.7 per cent reduction in profit before tax during the six months to 30 September 2014, dropping from £191m to £138m. However, underlying profit before tax was up 10.3 per cent to £156m from £141m, while turnover improved by 2.7 per cent, [...]
Selling public land is just the start: Three steps to solve London’s housing crisis November 19, 2014 WE HAVE got to the stage that, if you don’t know there’s a serious housing shortage in London, I’d assume you must be living in a cave. This shortage comes with increasingly obvious social and economic ramifications. London First recently published research showing that more than half of workers (56 per cent) have difficulties paying [...]
Save money with a currency specialist November 19, 2014 Many people still rely on their banks when they need to make an international transfer, but banks don’t typically offer the most competitive exchange rates. With City A.M. International Payments you could get an exchange rate which is 3-4pc more competitive than you can expect from your high street bank. So on a transfer of [...]
Save money on a property overseas November 14, 2014 NOW could be a great time to buy property overseas. The strength of the pound coupled with a depressed European housing market means that bargains are available on the continent. In Spain, for example, house prices are 35 per cent below their 2007 peak. And for UK based buyers the good news is that [...]
Drinks giant Diageo drops KPMG for PwC as new rules come in November 11, 2014 Diageo announced yesterday that it had replaced its auditor KPMG with rival PwC, to bring it in line with new regulations compelling companies to consider changing their accountants every decade. The alcoholic drinks giant – which produces Guinness – said PwC’s appointment would take effect for Diageo’s financial year ending 30 June 2016, subject to [...]
Financial Conduct Authority slaps payday lenders with price cap November 11, 2014 The UK’s 400 payday lenders could be hit by a new cap on lending due to come into force in January, after an investigation into the controversial payday loan market by the financial regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said firms will have to cap lending costs at 0.8 per cent per day, with a [...]
Banks argue over the future of free in credit current accounts November 9, 2014 Britain’s banks are split over the future of free bank accounts, with lenders arguing for and against the traditional accounts in submissions to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Barclays told the CMA, which last week launched a major probe into competition in the market, that free accounts impeded competition. “As standard current accounts in [...]
Bank competition is picking up speed – and this inquiry is a vital next step November 6, 2014 YESTERDAY, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it will be launching far-reaching investigations into the state of competition in the personal current account and smaller business banking markets. This is an extremely significant development, and one that the government welcomes. It is exactly why we created the CMA. A key part of our [...]
Big banks hurt by competition investigation November 6, 2014 INVESTORS fled the big banks’ shares yesterday as a major new investigation threatened to break them up or impose significant new costs. But small lenders cheered the probe as a chance to end the dominance of the giant high street banks. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the personal current account and the [...]
Pensions sales drive strong third quarter results for Royal London November 6, 2014 Royal London Group – the UK’s largest mutual life and investment company – posted strong third-quarter results yesterday, with pensions sales up 39 per cent year-on-year. Group pension sales were a key driver for company’s positive results, up 101 per cent to £1.72bn from the third quarter of last year. Individual pensions and drawdown sales [...]