Anglian Water remains on track after business transformation December 3, 2019 Anglian Water enjoyed steady revenue growth for the first half of 2019 after becoming the first UK water company to officially reset its business along environment and community protection lines. Read more: Water industry set to announce new boss ahead of nationalisation fight The figures Revenue at the water giant rose 2.8 per cent in [...]
Asian stocks slump after Trump slaps tariffs on Brazil and Argentina December 3, 2019 Asian stocks slipped today after US President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on imports from Brazil and Argentina to spike global trade tensions once again. Soft US manufacturing data compounded the problem for world markets and saw global stocks fall into the red as trading opened today. Read more: European stocks have worst day in two [...]
The woes of the IPO market show the problems with the stock exchange model December 3, 2019 A lot has changed since the early 1600s. For a start, we’ve stopped burning people at the stake for suggesting that the world is round. But some things have remained surprisingly similar over the past 400 years — like the stock exchange. Today, most exchanges remain similar in format to the very first stock market, [...]
Scottish Power tops list of slowest energy companies for call waiting times December 3, 2019 A fifth of UK energy suppliers keep customers on hold for an average of more than 10 minutes, according to new data from consumer champion Which?. The worst provider was Scottish Power, which left customers waiting 21 minutes 24 seconds on average, 20 minutes slower than the quickest company, So Energy, which answered calls in [...]
European stocks have worst day in two months after fresh Donald Trump tariffs December 2, 2019 European stock markets suffered their biggest fall in two months today, after US President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on Brazil and Argentina and fears were raised over a trade-war escalation with China. Britain’s FTSE 100 finished 0.8 per cent down, hitting a one-week low. Germany’s Dax index and France’s CAC 40 both tumbled two per [...]
UN climate change summit opens in Madrid amid last chance warnings December 2, 2019 The UN Climate Change conference is underway in Madrid, as governments come together to take the next steps in the climate change process. Against a backdrop of a year of especially severe weather, the two weeks of talks offer delegates the chance to resolve outstanding issues from the Paris accord, such as rules for carbon [...]
Stubborn Boris could scupper 2020 GBP recovery December 2, 2019 | City Talk As we enter the final pre-election stretch, markets are faced with a number of potential consequences; from a Conservative-led Brexit, to a referendum and potential withdrawal of article 50 under a Lib/Lab/SNP alliance. However, one thing is for sure; there is a huge amount of uncertainty irrespective of the outcome. Should Corbyn manage to enter [...]
Institutional tranche of Saudi Aramco IPO twice oversubscribed December 2, 2019 The institutional tranche of Saudi Aramco’s upcoming initial public offering (IPO) is more than twice oversubscribed, according to the sale’s managers. Investors have put in 144.1bn riyals (£29.7bn) worth of bids since 17 November, around 4.6bn shares. Read more: Saudi Aramco IPO on track as retail tranche oversubscribed The institutional tranche closes at the end [...]
Are we witnessing the US dollar’s fall from grace? December 2, 2019 | City Talk November’s multi-asset chart of the month highlights how a global shortage of US dollars could be reversing. This could signal the beginning of a weak phase for the currency. A world in which money is scarce might appear to be a far-fetched idea. But for US banks in the business of taking deposits and making [...]
EU finance chief warns UK to stay closely aligned post-Brexit December 2, 2019 The European Union’s finance commissioner has warned the UK that the City could be cut off from continental markets after Brexit if its regulations do not stay closely aligned. Valdis Dombrovskis, who is set to become a vice-president of the European Commission, said access to the EU’s markets will require Britain not to “engage in [...]