Economic impact of Storms Eva, Desmond and Frank could hit £3bn December 30, 2015 The UK economy could be dented by as much as £3bn by damage from Storms Eva, Desmond and Frank. PwC said economic losses from the storms Desmond and Eva will be between £1.6bn and £2.3bn, while insured losses will hit £900m-£1.2bn. "Based on the currently available information, our understanding is that Desmond and Eva combined had at least 11,500 [...]
Pharmaceuticals giant KalosBios files for bankruptcy after firing “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli as chief executive December 30, 2015 KalosBios, the company which ousted self-styled "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli as its chief executive earlier this month after he was arrested on charges of securities fraud, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Reuters reported that the US pharma giant had listed assets and liabilities of between $1m and $10m in its filing with a court [...]
Facebook faces lawsuits over its growth forecasts ahead of IPO in 2012 December 30, 2015 A US judge has given the go-ahead to two lawsuits accusing Facebook of hiding concerns over growth forecasts ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) in 2012. Facebook floated around three-and-a-half years ago at $38 per share. But initial investors would've lost out after its share price fell as low as $17.55 a few months later, and stayed below the [...]
New buy-to-let rules are the biggest reason for rent rises in 2016 December 30, 2015 New rules introduced by the government for buy-to-let investors are the biggest reason that rents will rise next year, new research reveals. Nearly half of landlords surveyed by flatshare website spareroom.com said they will raise rent in 2016, with more than a third of them saying it was down to the increased costs incurred from new legislation, the [...]
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway heading for worst year relative to rest of the US stock market since 2009 December 30, 2015 The Oracle of Omaha is set for his worst investment year since 2009. Shares in revered investment guru Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway are down 11 per cent, in the same year Buffett celebrates his golden anniversary running the company. Berkshire Hathaway has suffered as a number of investments were hit by falling oil and gas prices. While the company doesn't [...]
Barclays share price falls as wealth management arm Barcap is slapped with $13.75m penalties December 30, 2015 Barclays shares slumped 0.7 per cent to 220.95p per share this morning, after a US regulator found its former wealth and investment management arm made unsuitable mutual fund switches between 2010 and 2015. The US financial industry regulatory authority (Finra) ordered Barclays Capital to pay more than $10m (£6.7m) in compensation to the customers affected, and a [...]
Sterling outperformed four out of five currencies this year – but exotic holidays to the Seychelles and the Maldives became more expensive December 30, 2015 The strong performing UK economy, a global commodity rout and the economic slowdown in China led to sterling outperforming four out of five currencies in the past year, giving British holidaymakers more bang for their buck when they're abroad. The pound increased in value against 48 of 61 currencies, including the euro, Brazilian real, Turkish lira and Australian dollar, [...]
CIPD: The Bank of England and the Office for Budget Responsibility are wrong about wage growth in 2016 December 30, 2015 Wage growth next year won't be as optimistic as the Bank of England and Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) anticipate, the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) has warned. Despite the introduction of the National Living Wage, wage growth will remain at two per cent in 2016, the organisation said – much lower than [...]
FTSE 100 index opens down on miners and oil companies December 30, 2015 The FTSE 100 index opened lower this morning, led by mining and oil companies which extended losses made yesterday. The UK's top blue-chip index opened 0.51 per cent lower at 6,280 points, with BHP Billiton and Glencore leading the pack lower. The pair fell 1.47 per cent to 764.8p per share and 1.57 per cent to [...]
Moody’s slices Noble’s rating to junk as commodity rout deepens December 30, 2015 Moody's downgraded Asia-focused commodities trader Noble to junk status with a negative outlook yesterday, due to concerns about the company's profitability in the face of the plunging commodities prices. Moody's cut Noble's senior unsecured bond ratings to Ba1, which is junk status, from Baa3. It also gave a Ba1 corporate family rating to Noble, despite its cost-cutting efforts such as [...]
