US economy gets off to a slow start to 2016, according to new business survey January 18, 2016 The US economy is undergoing a slow start to the year, according to a survey of businesses released today. The sales managers’ index (SMI) compiled by World Economics dropped to a score of 51.1 in January from 51.3 in the previous month. Scores above 50 indicate the economy expanded on the month. Firms also said [...]
Shell share price falls despite ditching major Abu Dhabi gas field project amid oil price rout January 18, 2016 Royal Dutch Shell today said that it's had to exit the multi-billion dollar natural gas project in Abu Dhabi, as it attempts to manage costs in today's low oil price environment. Oil prices skidded to a 2003-low today, after the lifting of Western sanctions on Iran. The 18-month rout has forced oil companies to delay, and even abandon, a number of [...]
Rolls-Royce share price down as outlook downgraded to negative by Standard & Poor’s January 18, 2016 Standard & Poor's (S&P) today downgraded its outlook rating for Rolls-Royce from stable to negative. The ratings agency, which has dropped its expectations over the manufacturer's profits and cash flow generation for 2016, pinpointed near-term business challenges, particularly in the company's civil aerospace and marine divisions, as the reasoning behind the downgrade. S&P, which affirmed its A/A-1 [...]
Accounting watchdog meeting to decide on KPMG investigation into the auditor’s role over HBOS collapse January 18, 2016 The accountancy watchdog could decide as soon as tomorrow whether to launch a formal investigation into the role of big four accountancy giant KPMG in the collapse of HBOS in 2008. The Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) conduct committee is set to meet tomorrow to make its decision, Sky News has reported. The conduct committee will [...]
Davos 2016: Economists say Oxfam claim that 62 people own as much as the poorest half of the world’s population is “meaningless and misleading” January 18, 2016 Economists have slammed Oxfam for claiming 62 people own as much as the poorest half of the world’s population, saying the statistics are “meaningless and misleading”. Oxfam, a global aid and development charity, issued a new report today, ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, claiming that the wealth of the [...]
Mazars merges with Chinese audit firm ZhongShen ZhongHuan January 18, 2016 Professional services firm Mazars announced today that it completed a merger with Chinese audit firm ZhongShen ZhongHuan in December last year. The newly-merged firm will operate in 77 countries, including 15 offices with 1,800 professionals in mainland China that were originally run by ZhongShen ZhongHuan. Mazars, which has had a presence in China for almost two decades, [...]
Oxfam’s pre-Davos wealth report says the world’s 62 richest people own half the wealth – but global inequality is actually falling January 18, 2016 Oxfam gets a lot of mileage out of its global inequality statistics. Back in 2014, we were told that the world's top 85 wealthiest people owned as much as the bottom half, 3.5bn. Now we’re told 62 own as much as the other half—you could fit them all on a coach, the Oxfam chief executive helpfully told us in [...]
Empyrean Energy share price rockets more than 50 per cent to the top of Aim January 18, 2016 Empyrean Energy shares soared to the top of the Aim today, on the sale of its stake in a US shale gas project for $71.5m (£50m) despite the oil price rout. The company's shares rose as much as 76 per cent to 8.8p per share this morning, after it announced the sale of its three per [...]
Tesco, Sainsbury’s and M&S are among most praised companies by NGOs but VW and Royal Dutch Shell make “naughty” list of most criticised January 18, 2016 Tesco, Sainsbury's and M&S are certainly not having the best of times on the high street these days, but there's one place their winning at least. The three are among several of the biggest global companies to make a "nice" list of companies which pressure groups and campaigners across the world, from the likes of Which? to Greenpeace, have [...]
Davos 2016: What the global elites will be talking about at this year’s World Economic Forum January 18, 2016 More than 2,500 of the world’s top business leaders, politicians, economists and celebrities from over 100 countries will descend on Davos this week, taking over the Swiss ski resort for the World Economic Forum’s 46th annual meeting. While the four-day meeting’s official theme is “Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution” – WEF’s way of describing the [...]
