Monte dei Paschi fails to attract anchor investors to its share offer December 21, 2016 The world's oldest surviving bank, Monte Dei Paschi di Siena, looks set for a multi-billion-euro government bailout after admitting late last night that an eleventh-hour private rescue plan was unlikely to succeed. Earlier in the day Italy’s parliament agreed a new €20bn (£16.8bn) bailout package for the country’s struggling lenders, with Monte dei Paschi expected [...]
Trump picks China hawk Peter Navarro to head his newly formed National Trade Council December 21, 2016 US President-elect Donald Trump today announced he has formed a White House National Trade Council (NTC) to be led by China hawk Peter Navarro. Navarro, an economist who has written books including "Death by China: How America Lost its Manufacturing Base" and "Crouching Tiger: What China's Militarism Means for the World", for years has urged a hard [...]
A UK research centre disproved the US Surgeon General’s claim of a link between the popularity of e-cigarettes and a desire to smoke among young people December 21, 2016 Electronic cigarettes were the 10th fastest growing product of 2016, growing almost £30m in sales, an increase of 20 per cent to £174.6m, a new study by Nielsen found. As the product's popularity surged, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released his first government review earlier this month. Murthy cautioned against the use e-cigarettes, saying they posed a public health concern for [...]
Port and sherry sales halved between 2005 and 2015 due to the high alcohol duty December 21, 2016 Sherry might be Santa's favourite drink, but new research suggests its popularity has slipped dramatically over the past decade. Port and sherry sales halved between 2005 and 2015, according to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA). In 2005, the equivalent of more than 82m bottles of fortified wines, which includes port, sherry and vermouth, were sold in [...]
London won’t lose its status as leading finance and legal centre after Brexit, professionals say December 21, 2016 Concerns over Brexit driving finance professionals out of London have been overblown, entrepreneur and investor Jim Mellon said today. "Clearly the finance sector is very important to the British economy but I don't think it's going to go away because the infrastructure in Canada is just so great, it's unparalleled," Mellon told the BBC [...]
Dong Energy’s share price jumped after it edged up its profit guidance December 21, 2016 Dong Energy's share price jumped more than four per cent after it said it would increase its group operating profit guidance to 24 to 25bn Danish krone (£2.7 to £2.8bn) from its previous outlook of between 20 and 23bn for 2016. The Danish utility and wind farm developer's share price is now up 3.54 per cent to 257.50. The group's [...]
UK employers expect to face a shortage of skilled workers in 2017, and one in three will be under “severe pressure” to find suitable employees December 21, 2016 Almost half of UK employers, 48 per cent expect to face a growing shortage of skilled candidates to fill permanent jobs in 2017, new research suggests. For the past six months, employers in the UK have warned of a skills shortage for engineering and technical jobs, and this month's JobsOutlook survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said [...]
Holiday delivery failures threaten to have a big impact on UK retailers’ bottom lines and tarnish reputations December 21, 2016 Delivery failures over the Christmas period are set to impact UK retailers' bottom lines as they could be missing out on more than £3bn, new research today revealed. In the UK, 16m consumers faced delivery delays over the 2015 holiday season, and 73 per cent of them still refuse to shop with the offending retailer this [...]
The Dow closed just shy of the 20,000 mark today, while the dollar reached a 14-year peak December 20, 2016 The US dollar hit a 14-year peak today, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq closed at record highs as global markets continued to monitor fallout from yesterday's attacks in Turkey and Germany. The Dow neared the 20,000 threshold today, but it stopped just short at a record closing high of 19,974.01, up 0.46 per cent. The strong dollar [...]
