FTSE 100 and 250 quarterly review takes effect as Hikma, Tullow Oil and Afren shuffle March 23, 2015 The shake-up revealed as a result of the quarterly review of the FTSE 100 and 250 takes effect this morning. Hikma Pharmaceuticals entered the blue-chip benchmark index, and its shares were down 2 per cent at £21.40. The pharmaceutical products manufacturer, which floated around ten years ago, has a market cap of £4.22bn. Hikma knocked out Tullow Oil [...]
London rent price growth stalls as regions outpace the capital March 23, 2015 London rental growth is being outpaced by the regions after prices in the capital stalled in the three months to February, according to a survey out today. HomeLet’s Rental Index found that rent prices rose across seven of the 12 UK regions, with the north east and south west of England leading the way with [...]
City boss Gerry Grimstone: The buck has to stop with board directors March 23, 2015 Who is to blame when a banker many tiers from the top of the firm misbehaves? The banker alone? Their manager? The boss of their division? The chief executive? It can be chaotic working out who should be punished in a vast organisation across dozens of countries and hundreds of thousands of workers. But there [...]
Eurozone to see lending pick-up after long slump March 23, 2015 MORTGAGE lending is predicted to hit an all-time high in the Eurozone this year, while business lending will grow for the first time in four years, according to forecasts from EY. The accountancy firm says the bloc’s recovery, combined with lower energy prices, will mean this year is a turning point after a decade-long lending [...]
Quindell March 22, 2015 The numbers Quindell has reported Here's why it's interesting Quindell recently issued close to 850,000 shares as it moved to takeover Navseeker, after a legal dispute with the company. In early March, the troubled insurance outsourcer settled a US litigation in which it was claimed that Quindell and others had “misappropriated the entire value of [...]
Ex-Moore Europe Capital employee Julian Rifat sentenced to 19 months for insider trading March 19, 2015 Former Moore Europe Capital employee Julian Rifat was sentenced to 19 months imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court yesterday for insider trading. Rifat has also been fined £100,000 for the same offences and ordered to pay costs of £159,402. He was the third individual to be sentenced for insider dealing offences since the launch of Operation [...]
Watchdog PRA puts up banks’ fees to pay for tough new regulations March 19, 2015 The Bank of England’s financial regulator is putting up its fees to the industry this year to cover the cost of a swathe of new rules. The prudential regulation authority (PRA) yesterday proposed a four per cent increase in its charges to £257.8m, up from the £246.8m it charged in the financial year 2014-15. The [...]
Why you’ll need to abandon your privacy to embrace the driverless car revolution March 19, 2015 Driverless cars have hit Britain’s roads. The BAE Wildcat, a modified military jeep developed by the aerospace company, has been seen out and about in Bristol, while autonomous Lutz pods have been driving around public areas in Milton Keynes and Coventry. By 2030, autonomous vehicles are expected to reach a level of safety and sophistication [...]
Is the ECB speaking too soon in saying that QE is already helping the Eurozone economy? March 19, 2015 Danae Kyriakopoulou, an economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, says Yes Central bankers in Frankfurt have been patting each other on the back as the euro has continued to slide. At first glance, why shouldn’t they? Their QE has sent the euro tumbling, making Eurozone exports more competitive and raising prospects for [...]
One chart showing how much the finance sector dominates the FTSE 100 March 19, 2015 The FTSE 100 is dominated by companies in the financial and retail sectors, with these making up 43 per cent of the UK’s top companies. There are 23 FTSE 100 companies in the financials sector – which includes 10 in insurance and five in banking. The largest of these companies is HSBC, with a market [...]