Glencore share price rises as it unveils increases debt reduction and cuts spending December 10, 2015 Glencore shares rose 5.7 per cent to 87.75p per share this morning, as investors cheered its plans for more debt reduction and spending cuts. In a statement released ahead of its annual investor day, the commodities miner and trader said it was now targeting net debt of between $18bn (£11.9bn) and $19bn by the end of 2016, lower than the previous [...]
Star fund manager Neil Woodford sells Rolls-Royce stake after profit warning in November December 10, 2015 Star fund manager Neil Woodford has sold his stake in Rolls-Royce, after a disappointing trading update from the engineering company last month. While Woodford didn not say how big the stake was, reports suggest that it was initially around 2.2 per cent of the company, or £232m. "Over the last couple of years, Rolls-Royce has become a more challenged [...]
Savoy parent company FRHI Holdings bought by French hospitality group AccorHotels December 9, 2015 Paris-based hotel group AccorHotels is buying FRHI Holdings, owner of the Savoy in London and the Plaza in New York. Accor is paying for the company, which owns the Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel chains, by issuing 46.7m new Accor shares and making a cash payment of $840m (£553m). The group is selling a 10.5 per [...]
EU-wide cap on credit and debit card fees could save businesses money – but customers miss out thanks to slashed rewards programmes December 9, 2015 A new EU-wide cap on credit and debit card fees intended to save consumers cash may have unforseen consequences, experts have warned. The cap on how much credit and debit card companies can charge retailers, which went into effect today, limits fees on credit card payments to 0.30 per cent of the transaction value. Fees [...]
At the close: FTSE 100 index closes down despite miners making gains December 9, 2015 The FTSE 100 index closed down today despite a number of miners shaking off a volatile start to the day to close higher. The index closed 0.14 per cent down at 6,126 points, even though gains were seen at companies including Glencore, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, as well as Ashtead Group. "It would appear that a weaker US [...]
US-based Computer Sciences Corporation set to buy Xchanging in £480m deal, beating out a previous offer from Capita December 9, 2015 Business technology and services provider Xchanging’s board of directors today agreed to be purchased by US-based digital consultancy company Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). CSC’s cash offer of 190p per share, which is worth about £480m, beat out an offer of 160p per share from outsourcing giant Capita, which had also shown an interest in buying [...]
BDO International posts double-digital revenue growth of 13pc and combined total fee income of $7.3bn for 2015 December 9, 2015 Global accountancy network BDO International today revealed combined total fee income $7.3bn (£4.8bn), which represents double-digit revenue growth of 13 per cent on a constant currency basis, for its year ended 30 September 2015. The network, which now operates in 154 countries, has also been involved in 19 mergers throughout the year, and has boosted its [...]
Begbies Traynor sees profits plummet to £0.6m amid difficult insolvency market December 9, 2015 Business recovery and property services consultancy Begbies Traynor today revealed profit before tax of £0.6m for its six months ended 31 October 2015, plunging from £1.5m for the same period last year. However, revenue for the company increased to £25.5m for the period, up from £20.8m in 2014. The company noted that the financial performance was in [...]
Dow Chemical and DuPont merger talks: Here’s what you need to know about the potential mega-deal December 9, 2015 Two of the world's biggest chemical companies are on the verge of joining forces – DuPont and Dow Chemical, each worth around $60bn (£40bn), could announce a deal before the end of this week. According to reports, the merger between the two American companies would result in the one of the biggest deals of the year. But [...]
Volkswagen share price rises on reduced count of cars with CO2 emissions inaccuracies December 9, 2015 Volkswagen has drastically reduced its count of how many vehicles' CO2 emissions were inaccurate, sending shares up more than three per cent. "Following extensive internal investigations and measurement checks, it is now clear that almost all of these model variants do correspond to the CO2 figures originally determined," the company said in a statement. "This means that these vehicles [...]
