Land Securities snaps up former News UK Wapping headquarters November 20, 2014 Land Securities has bought the half stake it doesn’t already own in Thomas More Square, in Wapping, for £85.3m, the property firm announced yesterday. The building was home to News UK, publisher of The Times, Sunday Times and the Sun, until its parent company News Corp moved all of its businesses into new offices at [...]
Mild winter and lower use hit Centrica outlook November 20, 2014 BRITISH Gas owner Centrica yesterday reduced its earnings forecast, as milder winter weather cut into its revenues. The firm said the average residential gas consumption for the first 10 months of the year was 21 per cent lower than in 2013, while the average electricity consumption was down seven per cent. It added that the [...]
Des Naughton resigns from Nicoventures: British American Tobacco loses ecigarette managing director November 20, 2014 Des Naughton, managing director of British American Tobacco (BAT) ecigarettes subsidiary Nicoventures, has resigned from the group, it said in a statement yesterday. Naughton will leave BAT on 28 February 2015 after nearly 20 years with the tobacco giant, four of which has been on the management board. In that time, he has also been [...]
As RBS is fined for its 2012 computer failure, are IT meltdowns the biggest risk to banks? November 20, 2014 Paul Thomalla, senior vice-president and managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at ACI Worldwide, says Yes. The antiquated IT infrastructure of many of our biggest financial institutions is a ticking time bomb. The payments community has been warning for years that it isn’t up to scratch, but retail banks have been like [...]
Centrica shares fall on profit warning as winter gets off to a mild start November 20, 2014 We might be enjoying the milder-than-usual start to winter, but for Centrica it's been the source of lower-than-usual profits. The multinational utility company, which owns British Gas, admitted in a statement this morning that it had inaccurately read the meter on its earnings estimates issued earlier in the year, and that its profit estimates [...]
RBS slapped with higher-than-expected £56m fine for 2012 IT glitch November 20, 2014 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has agreed a £56m settlement with financial regulators for an IT system failure in June 2012 – £6m more than the £50m penalty analysts had expected. The glitch, which began during a software upgrade to the bank's payment processing system, left over six million of its customers unable [...]
RBS braced for £50m fine over 2012 IT systems failure November 19, 2014 RBS is today expected to receive a fine over its systems failures, which left millions of customers unable to spend or transfer money. The fine comes more than two years after the 2012 crash which watchdogs are investigating, and is expected to come to around £50m. City regulators have been investigating the 2012 failures, but it [...]
Royal Mail frets over Amazon taking business November 19, 2014 FIRST it was publishers, then high street retailers, now US giant Amazon is set to disrupt the business model for Britain’s postal service. Industry leader Royal Mail yesterday warned that the growing dominance of rival delivery offerings from Amazon would cut revenue growth in half at its key parcel delivery division. Royal Mail, which was [...]
Amlin share price dips but declining insurance rates fail to stop growing premiums November 19, 2014 Shares in insurance firm Amlin dipped by more than three per cent yesterday, as the company reported rate reductions across a range of its products during the first nine months of 2014. Average renewal rates were down by 2.5 per cent, although UK fleet motor rates were up by 5.7 per cent, while other UK [...]
CLS vacancy rates buoyed by markets November 19, 2014 CLS Holdings yesterday said the vacancy rate across the group reduced to 3.1 per cent by rental income from 3.5 per cent since the end of June, helped by the markets in London and France. CLS said demand from existing and potential occupiers was steady, with good interest in London and France. “Continuing signs of [...]