Morrisons share price jumps as it agrees to sell 140 M Local convenience stores for £30m loss September 9, 2015 Morrisons has reached a deal to sell 140 of its "M Local" convenience stores, to a team led by retail entrepreneur Mike Greene. In a statement today, Morrisons said it will retain five of the strores, which are either on forecourts or will be converted to miniature versions of Morrisons' own stores. Read more: Morrisons' ill-fated [...]
Mike Ashley is the least popular director among Sports Direct shareholders September 9, 2015 Mike Ashley is the least popular director at Sports Direct among shareholders, according to votes taken at the retailer's AGM held yesterday. The multi-billion-pound business, which Ashley set up in 1982, comfortably passed all the requisite resolutions including the re-election of all its directors. But the numbers revealed by Sports Direct showed proportionately [...]
GSK share price hit by clinical trial failure of major new respiratory medicine Breo September 9, 2015 Today, GSK released disappointing clinical results for a new respiratory drug it hoped would bring in billions of pounds worth of sales. Breo, a treatment for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), managed to extend life expectancy by just 12.2 per cent among a patient sample size of 16,500 from 43 countries around [...]
Building bonanza at Barratt as profits jump 45 per cent September 9, 2015 Success in the housebuilding market continues apace, after Barratt reported another jump in profits. The figures This kind of fare has become standard among housebuilders in recent years: profit before tax jumped 44.8 per cent to £565.5m in the year to the end of June, while revenues rose 19.1 per cent to £3.76bn and basic earnings per share jumped 45.8 per [...]
Wanted: Chief takeaway tester for Just Eat September 9, 2015 Fast food afficionados JustEat are recruiting for a very special role just in time for the start of term: chief takeaway tester. The UK branch of the company, which has over 30,000 restaurants using the service, is calling on university students to apply for one of its six available tester roles. Successful testers will receive [...]
At least 13 injured after British Airways flight BA2276 catches fire in Las Vegas’ McCarran Airport September 9, 2015 At least 13 people have been taken to hospital with minor injuries after British Airways flight 2776 to London Gatwick caught fire at Las Vegas airport, airport officials said. In total 172 people, including 159 passengers and 13 crew members, were forced to evacuate the Boeing 777-200 on emergency slides. It is thought most of [...]
Goldman Sachs and UBS’s £1 RBS and Lloyds bank share sale fee baffles top MPs September 9, 2015 An influential committee of MPs was puzzled yesterday by the revelation that some of the City’s biggest firms had charged the government just £1 for handling the sale of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds. Top officials from UK Financial Investments (UKFI) – the body that manages the government’s stake in the lenders – [...]
EU data boost FTSE amid hope for China upturn – London Report September 9, 2015 The UK’S top share index rallied yesterday, extending its gains from the previous session with a boost from better-than-expected Eurozone second quarter GDP data and hope for further market stimulus on Chinese markets. The FTSE 100 was up 1.2 per cent at 6,146.10 points at the close, lagging blue-chip German stocks. The European Union’s statistics [...]
John McFarlane to staff: Leaked memo says Barclays needs to make “tough calls” to push up shareholder returns September 8, 2015 It's been just a couple of days since the traditional back to work season kicked off and already Barclays' boss John McFarlane has ruffled a few feathers with a memo sent to staff hinting at a cull. In a welcome back note sent to all Barclays staff this morning, City A.M. understands that the man famously [...]
Watch out Mike Ashley: Unite the union protesters to target Sports Direct AGM dressed as Dickensian workers over “Victorian” zero-hours contracts September 8, 2015 Sports Direct's AGM tomorrow is set to be an even more lively affair than usual. Unite the union has revealed plans for a protest outside the AGM with members dressed as Dickensian workers. They will be demanding "an end to ‘Victorian’ work practices at the retailer’s nearby Shirebrook warehouse and that the company pays [...]