Anglo American braces for investor revolt over executive pay April 20, 2016 FTSE 100-listed miner Anglo American is bracing for an investor revolt over execs' pay packets at its annual shareholder meeting tomorrow. Shareholder interest group, ShareSoc, has urged investors to vote against chief executive Mark Cutifani's reward package, which is worth £3.4m. Advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), representing about 20 per cent of shareholders in UK [...]
March of the challenger banks: Metro Bank share price edges up as its loss narrows April 20, 2016 First quarter figures from Metro, one of the UK's best-known challenger banks, suggest the march of the challengers isn't just hype. The figures Revenues at Metro Bank rose 11 per cent to £37.7m in the quarter to the end of March, from £34.1m in the previous quarter. That pushed its post-tax loss down to £7.9m, 23 per cent lower than last quarter's £10.2m. At this stage [...]
At the open: Oil and China bring FTSE 100 back to reality April 20, 2016 Buyers turned to sellers overnight as the feel-good factor across London trading floors evaporated and left the FTSE 100 to shed 0.4 per cent at the open – down to 6,378 from yesterday’s five-month high of 6,405. As trading books passed from London to New York, the States held on to gains – the Dow [...]
Kuwait oil strike called off, production increases and the price of Brent Crude tumbles April 20, 2016 Well, that was short-lived. After yesterday’s optimism, the markets have settled back into something a little more familiar – sell-offs – after the Kuwait strike ended and the price of oil slid back from yesterday’s close of nearly $44 (£31) a barrel. After a three-day general strike, the trade unions called off the action and [...]
Investor confidence defies market rebound, hitting fresh lows while public and corporate bonds turn negative April 20, 2016 Investor confidence has hit a record low for the second month in a row despite a recovery in markets almost across the board since February lows, according to the latest Lloyds Bank Investor Sentiment Index out today. The latest reading reveals that once again broad sentiment lags behind markets performance. Investor confidence may have been impacted last month by the surprise European [...]
Easter celebrations boost spending at pubs and restaurants in March April 20, 2016 Britons spent more time at the pub in March, new research shows, as the early Easter bank holiday helped boost spending on leisure activities by 10 per cent over the year. Greene King’s Leisure Spend Tracker found that the early Easter celebrations helped drive a positive increase and levelled out any uncertainty felt after a busy Christmas period and a rather [...]
London construction activity slows as Brexit uncertainty and planning delays hit growth April 20, 2016 London's construction market suffered a sharp slowdown over the quarter, despite recent government efforts to encourage more housebuilding and deliver more homes across the capital. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' construction market survey found that private housing workloads rose at their slowest pace since fourth quarter of 2012, with only 20 per cent more of those working in the [...]
FTSE fightback: Markets surge to reach fresh 2016 highs as optimism returns to the City April 19, 2016 The FTSE 100 enjoyed a spring rally today as stocks surged on the back of a rebound in the price of oil. The index of bluechip companies closed at its highest level since December 2015, up 0.8 per cent on the day at 6,405. It marks a far cry from the dark days of February, [...]
Yahoo revenue falls after four straight quarters of growth April 19, 2016 Yahoo's revenue fell for the first time after four straight quarters of growth, as the internet pioneer struggles to win back market share from younger rivals such as Facebook and Google. The firm's total revenue fell 11.3 per cent to $1.09bn (£757m) in the three months ended 31 March, slightly beating analysts' expectations for $1.08bn. After deducting [...]
Port Talbot steelworks set to be bought by management according to reports – while unions agree pay cut ahead of sale of Tata’s Scunthorpe steel plant to Greybull Capital April 19, 2016 The troubled Port Talbot steelworks may be saved as management step up with an offer. Stuart Wilkie, managing director of Tata Strip Products UK, is reported to be leading a management buyout of the plant. Tata's decision to sell its UK operations put 4,000 jobs at Port Talbot alone at risk, and some put the total [...]
