UK banks risk financial meltdown if the long-term IT crisis remains unresolved January 16, 2014 ON THE busiest online shopping day of 2013, Cyber Monday, RBS faced an embarrassing IT system outage that left more than 1m customers unable to access their accounts for three hours. This wasn’t the first time. In 2012, an IT meltdown at RBS and its subsidiaries locked 17m customers out of their accounts for days, [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 16 January 2014 January 15, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Payday lenders to create database After repeatedly saying that it was impossible to create a database for payday loans the UK’s largest payday lenders are clubbing together to set one up. Wonga, Quick Quid, Mr Lender and ThinkFinance have all signed up to provide information to a real time credit-reporting system run by [...]
Shard to be joined by second tower January 14, 2014 One of London's most iconic landmarks, the Shard (pictured above), will soon be accompanied by a brand new 27-story tower, according to reports by the Financial Times. The architect behind the Shard, Renzo Pianzo, will design the structure as part of the London Bridge Quarter. The project is being spearheaded by Sellar Property Group in [...]
Apax edges towards Israeli float of dairy producer January 13, 2014 Israel's biggest cottage cheese producer took a step closer to floating on the stock market yesterday after its UK-based private equity owners approved plans to list the company. Tnuva, which has a stable of top selling brands ranging from kosher chicken to cheese spreads, has been controlled by London-based Apax Partners – owner of UK [...]
Chinese holidaymakers lead the charge over Christmas January 13, 2014 Wealthy foreign visitors helped keep Britain’s tills ringing over Christmas with spending up a record 40 per cent on the previous year. Chinese tourists led the charge, with spending up 52 per cent to around £741 per transaction in December, according to figures out today by tax-free shopping specialist Global Blue. While China accounted for [...]
London Report: Retailers reveal where tills rang for Christmas January 12, 2014 RETAILERS are expected to reveal where UK shoppers showed their Christmas cheer, with a round of results in contrast to last week’s gloomy December tidings. Figures out this week from retailers such as Argos, Asos, Dixons, Ocado and Primark are expected to show increased sales. The successes are in contrast to the sales dips seen [...]
Grafton selling more building supplies in Britain and Ireland January 9, 2014 BUILDERS’ merchant Grafton posted an eight per cent rise in annual revenues to £1.8bn yesterday, as demand for DIY and building equipment started to recover. Grafton, which moved its primary stock listing from Dublin to London in October, said its UK merchanting business posted a 3.2 per cent like-for-like rise in revenues, or a total [...]
London Report: William Hill and retailers weigh the FTSE down January 9, 2014 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 fell yesterday and underperformed shares in southern Europe, as a rise in the pound against the euro hampered prospects for the index’s exporters and most retailers fell after weak Christmas updates. The FTSE erased gains in the afternoon as the pound rose to its highest in a year against the euro on [...]
London Report: FTSE in negative territory for 2014 as retail stocks fall January 8, 2014 THE top share index fell yesterday, slipping back into negative territory for the year, after concerns about a smoking ban in China knocked back tobacco companies and following a cautious outlook from Sainsbury. The FTSE 100 closed down 33.67 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 6,716.16. It remains pinned in a 70-point trading range this [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 8 January 2014 January 7, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES UBS and Credit Suisse to pare back Switzerland’s two largest lenders are prepared to scale back their investment banking operations further if the country’s strict capital rules become even more onerous, their chairmen have said. UBS and Credit Suisse have made cuts of different magnitudes to their investment banks, but a heated political [...]