LK Bennett sales boosted by online expansion but closure of some weaker UK stores dents turnover April 28, 2016 LK Bennett, the fashion retailer that counts the Duchess of Cambridge among its fans, said like-for-like sales grew by five per cent last year after winning over new shoppers through its growing portfolio of stores overseas. However, group turnover slipped as the high street brand shut down some of its loss making UK stores, falling by 1.8 [...]
US oil has edged over $45 per barrel again today as oil prices hit their highest since November April 27, 2016 A decline in US crude oil stockpiles has pushed global oil prices to their highest since November last year. Brent rose $1.33 a barrel to $47.05 in early afternoon trading in London, while West Texas Intermediate reached highs of $45.18 per barrel earlier in the day. Yesterday it was reported US supplies fell by 1.07m barrels last week, the [...]
Exxon Mobil has been stripped of its top-notch credit rating April 26, 2016 Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has busted Exxon Mobil down from its perfect credit rating. Exxon, the world’s largest publicly-traded energy group, has lost its top rating due to the problems caused by the collapse of the oil price. Exxon's rating has been reduced to “AA+” from “AAA” due to “low commodity prices, high reinvestment requirements, and large dividend payments”. Earlier today BP [...]
British American Tobacco posts revenue and volume growth in first quarter trading updates but warns profits are likely to come in second half of the year April 26, 2016 British American Tobacco posted healthy revenue and volume growth in the first quarter of 2016, but has warned its profits could be weighted to the second half of the year due to the impact of currency headwinds. The figures Revenue at the world's second largest cigarette company increased by 1.7 per cent at current rates of [...]
EU referendum: Influential government committee calls on civil servant to answer questions on his award-winning Brexit essay April 25, 2016 An influential committee of MPs has called upon an official at the department for business to answer questions on the EU following the publication of his award winning essay on Brexit. The group of MPs on the Treasury Select Committee want to see the civil servant, Iain Mansfield, who wrote the essay on how Britain [...]
City A.M. Unregulated podcast: Episode three – Multi-millionaire entrepreneur Jim Mellon on how he got rich – and his investment strategy April 22, 2016 Unlicensed and off-the-leash, this is City A.M. Unregulated. A no-holds-barred, uncensored look at the stories breaking the news and the markets across the globe. In the third episode of our podcast, multi-millionaire entrepreneur Jim Mellon joins presenters Emma Haslett and Zak Mir from his home in Berlin to explain how he made his money. From [...]
IEA predicts biggest non-Opec output fall in a quarter century April 21, 2016 The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects non-Opec output to fall this year by the most in 25 years. IEA chief, Faith Birol, added that low oil prices had cut investment by around 40 per cent over the past two years, particularly in the US, Canada, Latin America and Russia. In its medium-term report released earlier this month, the [...]
Alphabet shares plummet after it misses expectations April 21, 2016 Alphabet shares plummeted around seven per cent in after hours trading following a disappointing set of first quarter results. Google's parent company reported revenue rose 17 per cent to $20.3bn year-on-year in the first three months of 2016, slightly below analysts' expectations for an increase to $20.4bn. Earnings per share came in at $7.5 per share during this [...]
Russia’s Olympic Games participation set to be determined in June April 21, 2016 Crisis-hit Russia will only learn if the ban on its athletes is to be lifted in time for this summer’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro less than two months before the start of the Games. World governing body the IAAF announced yesterday that a decision on whether Russia has made enough progress in resolving its [...]
It’s crunch time for the European Union as multiple crises stretch union to the limit, says Economist Intelligence Unit April 21, 2016 The European Union is facing a multitude of crises that have pushed it to its limit, experts have warned. The region's problems are far from disappearing, and are instead being exacerbated by questions on issues such as freedom of movement, security and democracy. The report from Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) comes ahead of the UK's [...]