One in five home insurance claims is rejected, although almost all motor claims are paid out, finds insurance industry body ABI January 26, 2016 One in five (21 per cent) of claims on home insurance during 2013 and 2014 was turned down, according to figures out today from the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The first set of insurance payout statistics ever published by the ABI also revealed that 99 per cent of motor insurance claims were accepted, as [...]
Another Royal Dutch Shell shareholder Allianz Global Investors backs its takeover of BG January 26, 2016 Another Shell shareholder has thrown its weight behind the oil giant's takeover of BG. Oil prices have nearly halved since Shell made the £47bn bid for BG in April, subjecting the deal to increased scrutiny. One shareholder subsequently warned the deal no longer makes sense with the oil price so low. But Chris Wheaton, an oil analyst [...]
Purplebricks, the Neil Woodford-backed property company, sees its revenues and profits soar up 814 per cent January 26, 2016 Purplebricks, the hybrid online estate agent which floated on AIM in December, has announced interim results for the six months ending October this morning. The figures Gross profits rocketed up 814 per cent, to £4.1m from £400,000 the year. Revenues were up to £7.2m, from £800,000 his time the year before, a 777 per cent increase. Despite [...]
London office rents Tube map: Here’s how much desk space costs across the capital in one simple map January 26, 2016 In the ever wonderful world of things you can map across the routes of the London Underground (other than stations) comes the price of renting a desk across zone 1 in the capital. It’s the newest of all lines, the Jubilee, where office rents cost the most, coming in at £793 for the average office desk each [...]
Tesco “seriously” breached grocery code, says supplier watchdog Groceries Code Adjudicator January 26, 2016 Tesco has been given a slap on the wrist over its relationship with suppliers during the lead-up to the accounting scandal which rocked the supermarket in 2014. Supplier watchdog the Grocery Code Adjudicator (GCA) said Tesco seriously breach of the code of practice, prioritising its own finances over treating suppliers fairly and acting unreasonably when delaying payments to suppliers, often for lengthy periods [...]
Goldman Sach’s head of commodities research Jeffrey Currie: More oil price volatility as storage hits capacity January 26, 2016 The global supply glut means millions of barrels of oil are sitting in tanks at oil fields and ports waiting for export across the world – but Goldman Sachs has warned storage space is running out. There’s no precise figure on oil storage capacity, with very little data outside of the OECD. But Goldman's head of commodities research, Jeffrey Currie, [...]
Say what? It turns out the London doesn’t have the world’s most unaffordable homes – Hong Kong does January 26, 2016 First-time buyers across the London may be struggling to get their hands on a property – but it turns out we don't have the world's most unaffordable homes. That dubious accolade belongs to Hong Kong, where the average home is 19 times people's annual incomes – compared to just 8.5 times in London. Pah. The figures were [...]
Carphone Warehouse to close 134 stores as Dixons Carphone merger success continues January 26, 2016 More than 130 standalone Carphone Warehouse stores are to be closed, as the business continues to merge its retail arms. Parent company Dixons Carphone said it had decided to roll its three-in-one store format, which includes PC World and Currys alongside the phone specialist, out across the whole UK and Ireland market having received a big thumbs up from customers [...]
Google tax deal: Taxing companies is after all just a stealthy way to tax people January 26, 2016 Another day, another deluge of headlines about a multinational’s tax affairs. It seems that Google’s £130m payment is motivated, in part at least, by concerns over George Osborne’s “diverted profits tax.” He claims it’s a great success, others describe the amount is “derisory .” Both miss the point spectacularly. We shouldn't be taxing companies in [...]
CMC announces the price range for its February IPO, giving it a market capitalisation of more than £730m January 26, 2016 Spread-betting company CMC Markets has announced it is looking at a price range of between 235p and 275p when it floats on the London Stock Exchange in February. At the midpoint of the range, the company would have a market capitalisation of £736m, and is offering 90.4m ordinary shares, representing 31 per cent of the company's [...]
