Saga on track to meet market expectations in full year results December 17, 2014 Insurance firm Saga issued a trading update yesterday and confirmed that the company’s new chief financial officer will take up his role in April 2015. The firm, which specialises in products and services for customers over the age of 50, announced that Jonathan Hill, previously at Bovis Homes Group, had been appointed to the position [...]
Jobless figures and MPC report at centre stage – London Week Ahead December 14, 2014 BY THE looks of this week’s economic calendar, traders thinking of taking off early for their Christmas holidays may be forced to rethink their travel plans. In the UK the minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) last meeting will also be scrutinised. However, the report which has the greatest potential to move markets is [...]
Candy Crush Commons saga: Investigation launched after MP Nigel Mills caught playing game in parliamentary meeting December 8, 2014 Would you rather talk about pensions or play a quick game of Candy Crush? We can guess most people’s choice, but it turns out politicians are no different to the rest of us. A Commons investigation has been launched after an MP admitted playing “a game or two” of the hit online game Candy Crush [...]
Mike Lynch vs HP: Autonomy founder says he will report HP to US regulator December 2, 2014 Is another chapter about to be written in the saga of Autonomy founder Mike Lynch versus HP? Lynch has said he is planning to report the US tech giant to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), after the botched takeover during which the company took an $8.8bn (£5.6bn) writedown on Lynch's business. The battle [...]
Candy Crush saga: King Digital chairman Melvyn Morris steps down November 26, 2014 We still don’t know if there is life after Candy Crush. King Digital, the company behind the hugely successful mobile game, has said Melvyn Morris, its chairman, has stepped down. Not only was Morris chairman, but he is also the company’s second-largest shareholder, after Apax, a private equity firm. He will be replaced by board [...]
What do Emily Thornberry and the deficit have in common? It’s all about narrative November 26, 2014 EMILY Thornberry has had a wretched week. The high-flying MP for Islington South resigned from her position as shadow attorney general, and was widely pilloried in both social media and conventional newsprint, for tweeting a picture of a white van and England flags during the Rochester and Strood by-election. Yet the saga tells us more [...]
After Saga and Toys R Us fiascos calls grow for IPO markets shake-up November 18, 2014 Banks and investors are calling on the City watchdog to probe the behaviour of independent advisers on stock market flotations, fearing the initial public offerings (IPO) market in Europe could become dysfunctional. They argue that advisers are distorting the market by putting pressure on banks’ analysts to put an unrealistically high price on [...]
Change is needed in the IPO market – Editor’s Letter November 18, 2014 As the recent flotation of Virgin Money proved, albeit after a false start, London’s window for new issues (or Initial Public Offerings, IPOs) isn’t absolutely closed, as it was a couple of years ago. But, after a stunning year, it’s damned close to it. There have been 121 IPOs in London and in general those [...]
Commons in chaos as Home Office faces cross-party rebellion on vote November 10, 2014 HOME Secretary Theresa May faced down a cross-party rebellion in the House of Commons last night after she pushed through a vote on just 11 EU measures instead of the full 35 MPs had expected, including the European arrest warrant. May’s decision not to allow time for a full vote on the 35 opt-in justice [...]
BT scores key win in battle for Sky Sports November 5, 2014 Britain’s largest pay TV broadcaster BSkyB was left bruised yesterday after a UK court ruled that it must make its flagship sports channels available to its biggest rival, a measure it had resisted for four years. The interim ruling is the latest episode in a four-year legal saga stretching back to an era when Sky [...]