Begbies Traynor hails ‘strong financial performance’ as revenue surges July 21, 2020 Corporate restructuring specialists Begbies Traynor hailed a year of “strong financial performance” as revenue rose 17 per cent. Shares in the AIM-listed firm rose 0.6 per cent as markets opened. The figures For the full year, Begbies Traynor said that revenue rose from £60.1m to £70.5m, an increase of 17 per cent. However, profit before [...]
Physical? Hybrid? Virtual? Companies re-imagine AGMs for 2021 and beyond July 20, 2020 Could the annual general meetings (AGMs) of 2021 and beyond look and feel very different? As companies start to consider the future format of corporate set-piece events, so the possibility arises these often sparsely attended gatherings could begin to evolve into significantly more enlightening and engaging occasions. This year’s AGM season largely coincided with lockdown, [...]
More SMEs eligible for coronavirus loans under rule change July 17, 2020 An abrupt U-turn in lending rules means SMEs banks previously rejected for coronavirus loans may now be able to get the vital cash they need to survive. Small businesses with fewer than 50 staff and less than £9m in annual turnover will no longer be considered “undertakings in difficulty” under EU state aid rules amid [...]
Pizza Express draws up plans to close 75 restaurants July 16, 2020 Pizza Express is drawing up plans to close up to 75 restaurants around the UK as the pizza chain undergoes a wide-scale financial restructure as a result of the coronavirus crisis. The company is mulling the closure of “around 75” of its 470 UK outlets through a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), Pizza Express said today. [...]
FCA hires accountancy firm BDO to help monitor Wirecard July 16, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has drafted in a team of accountants to aid with its monitoring of Wirecard. The City watchdog has hired BDO to work on its response to the Wirecard crisis, according to Sky News. The FCA reportedly appointed the firm to ensure the now insolvent German firm complies with a series [...]
Wirecard executive ‘touted Russian nerve gas documents’ July 9, 2020 Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek reportedly touted documents about the use of a Russian chemical weapon in the UK and bragged about ties to the intelligence services. Documents, which have been reviewed by the Financial Times and used in meetings in the summer of 2018, include the formula for the world’s deadliest nerve agent, novichok. The [...]
Munich prosecutors arrest head of Wirecard’s Dubai unit July 6, 2020 Munich prosecutors have arrested the head of a Dubai-based subsidiary of Wirecard on suspicion of aggravated fraud. Oliver Bellenhaus is the second senior Wirecard employee to be arrested after the former chief executive Markus Braun last month, who has since been released on bail. The firm Bellenhaus ran, CardSystems Middle East, was the largest individual [...]
Audit shows Wirecard’s core business ‘has been lossmaking for years’ July 6, 2020 Wirecard’s core business in Europe and America has reportedly been lossmaking for years, raising questions about the economic health of parts of the firm not directly affected by the accounting fraud. The German firm filed for insolvency after an accounting scandal which saw €1.9bn missing from its balance sheet. Former chief executive Markus Braun was [...]
Head of German regulator calls Wirecard fraud a ‘massive criminal act’ July 2, 2020 The head of Germany’s financial watchdog has called the accounting scandal at Wirecard a “massive criminal act”. The German payments processing firm filed for insolvency after an accounting scandal which saw €1.9bn missing from its balance sheet. Former chief executive Markus Braun was last week arrested on suspicion of fraud and market manipulation. “It is [...]
The taxing question of unsustainable corporate debt July 2, 2020 Although we are by no means out of the danger zone, eyes are starting to turn away from how the UK’s businesses can survive the Covid-19 crisis and towards how to rebuild the economy in the longer term. However, there is a very real issue facing the UK economy as a whole: are our levels [...]