Foreign exchange firm Moneycorp spurred on by 50 per cent rise in half-year profits November 4, 2014 Foreign exchange firm Moneycorp yesterday said strong growth in its retail division helped the group to a 50 per cent rise in half-year profits. The firm, which was acquired by private equity house Bridgepoint in August, added 31 new bureaux de change at airports during the six months ending 30 June, helping to boost revenue [...]
Gain Capital boss Glenn Stevens reveals why he’s so keen on London-based City Index November 3, 2014 You can build it and hopefully they’ll come, or you can buy it and they’ll already be there,” says Glenn Stevens, chief executive of US online trading services firm Gain Capital. It’s an interesting take on the moral behind Kevin Costner’s all-American 1989 movie Field of Dreams. Why bother putting years into a labour of [...]
Office building supports boom in construction November 3, 2014 CONSTRUCTION activity is making a sustained recovery with the commercial sector providing a boost, new data released today shows. The Glenigan index, produced by construction analysts Glenigan, was four per cent higher for November than it was a year ago. The figure is up from three per cent in October and marks 17 consecutive months [...]
Seedrs swoops for US firm ahead of expected market expansion October 30, 2014 SEEDRS, the London-based equity crowdfunding service, says it is planning to expand into the US early next year after acquiring California-based Junction Investments yesterday. The firm, which recently completed its largest ever funding with more than 1,400 investors putting a combined £4m into the publicly-listed English winemaker Chapel Down, said the move would help it [...]
Intertek leads the way as FTSE buoyed by data – London Report October 29, 2014 BRITAIN’S top equity index yesterday rose to its highest level in nearly three weeks on the expectation that the US Federal Reserve would signal that it was in no rush to raise interest rates. However, late last night – after the London close – investors elsewhere in the world were betting that a US rate [...]
Nomura is big in Japan, but weak in Europe October 28, 2014 NOMURA’S shares shot up yesterday as investors welcomed healthy growth in the Japanese banking group’s profits. Net income came in at ¥52bn (£298m) in the second quarter of the bank’s financial year, up 39 per cent on the same three-month period of 2013. Revenues climbed five per cent to ¥373.8bn, while non-interest expenses increased six [...]
UK house price boom bolsters web shopping October 26, 2014 HOUSE price gains helped fuel consumer spending over the past year with new research suggesting a substantial rise in internet searches for home and garden products. Total search volumes for home and garden products grew by 15 per cent in the third quarter of 2014 compared with the same quarter in 2013, figures released today [...]
Tesco share price drops to its lowest in over a decade October 24, 2014 After a devastating few days for Tesco, it would be understandable if the supermarket’s head honchos woke up this morning thinking things couldn’t get much worse. Unfortunately, though, the misery continued this morning after Tesco’s share price crashed to its lowest price for over a decade. Shares in the stumbling retail giant fell [...]
FTSE recovers but Tesco’s woes drag down rival retailers – London Report October 23, 2014 BRITAIN’S top equity index recovered yesterday and ended slightly higher, tracking a broad rally in US stocks following some strong earnings results, although a slump in Tesco and Unilever capped gains. The FTSE 100 index ended up 0.3 per cent at 6.419.15 points, after falling as much as 1.4 per cent during the day. Troubled [...]
Islamic banking UK: Islamic Bank of Britain re-branded to Al Rayan Bank as number of non-Muslim investors grows October 23, 2014 The Islamic Bank of Britain has unveiled plans to change its name to Al Rayan Bank, as it aims to increase its presence in London and acquire a wider range of customers. It will also update its logo and all other aspects of its brand identity across its website and UK branches. As long [...]