Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley is being scrutinised again after shareholders called for a board review August 25, 2016 Shareholder group Investor Forum today issued a statement to Sports Direct demanding an "independent and comprehensive review" of the board's governance practices. That again? Following rumours yesterday evening a statement was on its way, the group – which represents 12 per cent of share capital and 27 per cent of independent shareholders – took what it admitted was [...]
British car manufacturers have rolled out the most cars for 16 years August 25, 2016 With the uncertainty from the Brexit vote, political ding-dongs over train seats and finding out the weakened sterling could have led to our holidays costing us a bit more than we had bargained for – Britons have a bit to moan about. But one sector that has provided a welcome burst of good news to the general public is the nation’s car [...]
OneSavings Bank chief executive explains why his business is safe as houses August 24, 2016 Despite worries the referendum would wobble housing demand, the boss of OneSavings Bank has found particular niches of the market to be quite lucrative. In particular, Andy Golding told CityAM the bank was focusing on the "normal stock" side of the market in London – as opposed to the "high-end, crazy value stuff" – which was "still very [...]
Pension funds want government help to hedge spiralling deficits August 24, 2016 The government has responded to calls for help from Britain's pension funds in managing their ever-growing deficits. The UK Debt Management Office released its latest consultations on Tuesday and concluded it would sell three tranches of index-linked debt within the third quarter of this year – one through a syndicated sale and two through an auction. Long-running pension scheme [...]
Costain’s share price jumps five per cent following “excellent” half-year results August 24, 2016 Shares at the construction company at the centre of the London Bridge station regeneration leapt five per cent this morning after releasing half-year results and shrugged off concerns about the Brexit vote. Speaking with CityAM, Costain's finance chief Tony Bickerstaff hailed the results and said that "we see as many opportunities coming out of Brexit as concerns." "It is [...]
One Savings bank shares are up nine per cent after releasing “another strong set of results” August 24, 2016 Shares in specialist lender One Savings bank jumped over nine per cent this morning after it released half year resilient results that it said were meeting all its targets. The figures Although statutory profit before tax leapt from £46.6m to £100.0m, underlying profits were less dramatic, increasing from £47.6m to £64.6m. New lending increased by 25 per [...]
Pfizer makes its second chunky purchase of the week – And it’s only Wednesday August 24, 2016 Astrazeneca has agreed to sell one of its antibiotics businesses to American rival Pfizer in deal that could net the Cambridge-based company up to $1.6bn (£1.2bn). Pfizer will pay $550m upon completion of the deal to purchase the small molecule antibiotics division with add-ons and royalties to follow. Astrazeneca said that the sale will to support its [...]
Let’s get a move on with climate change, say institutional heavy hitters August 24, 2016 Institutional investors representing nearly £10 trillion of assets have urged G20 leaders to ratify a climate deal to shift away from fossil fuels. Six coalitions representing 130 investors – including the BT Pension Scheme, CBRE Global Investors, HSBC Global Asset Management and L&G Investment Management – clubbed together and wrote to world leaders ahead of the G20 summit, due [...]
Small businesses lost £6bn last year from not chasing bad debts August 24, 2016 Success is hard enough for Britain's small businesses but new research indicates that they are losing billions of pounds each year by writing-off unpaid debts. During the 2015/16 financial year small and medium sized enterprises wrote-off £5.8bn of bad debts according to data prepared by Direct Line. This against a backdrop where separate research by Fintech firm [...]
Falling ratios are far from critical according to Fitch August 23, 2016 A top ratings agency has given the UK's life insurance firms a vote of confidence, despite recent tough market conditions. The fall in bond yields over the first half of 2016 may be squeezing solvency ratios at Britain's leading life insurance companies but the decline is not enough to worry ratings agency Fitch, which said they "remain strong". Under Solvency II, insurers [...]
