William Hill’s finance chief Neil Cooper trades in horseracing for housebuilding at Barratt Developments June 18, 2015 Bookmaker William Hill yesterday said that its group finance director Neil Cooper is leaving after five years to join Barratt Developments. Cooper is going back to his housebuilding roots, having previously held the role of finance director at Bovis Homes before joining William Hill. His contract has a 12 month notice period, but his actual [...]
FTSE rises after a rally in metals boosts miners – London Report June 18, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index ended higher yesterday after slipping to a five-month low earlier in the session, with a strong bounce in miners and a rally in US equities helping the broader market. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index finished 0.4 per cent higher at 6,707.88 points. It earlier fell to 6,625.16, its lowest since late [...]
Walkie Talkie to smash City office records as top floor goes under offer June 18, 2015 The top floor of the City's towering 20 Fenchurch Street – nicknamed the Walkie Talkie – is believed to have smashed new rental records, after it went under offer to a mystery firm, City A.M. can reveal. Read more: A storey-by-storey breakdown of everything in the Shard The highest rent achieved in the [...]
RBS plans extra £150m a year spend on ailing IT systems after glitch affecting 600,000 payments at RBS, Natwest, Ulster Bank and Coutts June 18, 2015 Royal Bank of Scotland will spend another £150m a year on its ailing computer systems which this week caused havoc for RBS, Natwest and Ulster Bank customers after a glitch resulted in more than half a million missing payments. The bank's admin chief Simon McNamara today promised £150m of extra spending to make the bank's systems more [...]
MRSA superbug found in pork sold by Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Co-operative June 18, 2015 Pork sold by four major UK supermarkets has tested positive for MRSA CC398 – a variant of the superbug, which can cause skin disorders and serious infections in humans. Products from Sainsbury's, Tesco, the Co-operative and Asda all tested positive for the bacteria during an investigation carried out by The Guardian. Read more: Sainsbury's, [...]
Playtech share price tumbles as it seeks £250m placing to fund Plus500 deal June 18, 2015 Shares in Playtech have tumbled after it revealed a share placing to help fund its £460m purchase of Plus500. The online gambling firm is seeking to raise £250m through the placing, which may also be used to fund further acquisitions. Shares tumbled as much as four per cent in early trading. "Playtech's enviable M&A track [...]
Billion Poundland: Profits up 18.6 per cent for budget retailer in first year since IPO June 18, 2015 Poundland’s profits soared 18.6 per cent in the 12 months to 29 March as it passed £1bn in sales for the first time. Read more: Poundland brings forward competition probe into 99p Stores deal The figures Underlying pre-tax profit hit £43.7m, an 18.6 per cent increase on 2014’s £36.8m. Total sales rose 11.9 per cent to [...]
Government privatisations: Some key facts and figures June 18, 2015 In late May, George Osborne said that he’d like to privatise £23bn of government assets, and he raised the stakes last week by announcing the phased sale of the state’s stake in RBS. Here are some key facts and figures: ROYAL MAIL The government floated 60 per cent of the company in 2013 at [...]
TalkTalk moves to obstruct BT’s £12.5bn EE deal June 17, 2015 A fresh skirmish broke out between TalkTalk and BT yesterday, after BT published a consultancy report in support of its proposed £12.5bn takeover of EE. BT chief excecutive Gavin Patterson said the combination would create a “true UK digital champion”, while EE boss Olaf Swantee hit out at rivals who are trying to block the [...]
Berkeley says interest rates hike could ease London house price rises June 17, 2015 Housebuilding giant Berkeley Group Holdings said yesterday that the prospect of an interest rate hike may help ease the pressure on London’s rising house prices, which have been fuelled by a lack of available homes in the capital. Data from the Office of National Statistic yesterday showed that wages have risen at their fastest [...]