Daisy Group is reported to be considering stock market float February 26, 2017 Daisy Group, the telecoms company which went private two years ago, is reported to be considering a stock market comeback either this year or in early 2018. According to The Sunday Times, the company is plotting a £1.4bn market return, after private equity firms Toscafund and Penta Capital taking Daisy Group out of public hands [...]
Pension deficits hit a record year-end high as experts warn on implications January 3, 2017 Britain's pension gap almost doubled during 2016 to the highest ever year-end level, according to data released today. The aggregate deficit of defined benefit pension schemes leapt to £434bn, according to JLT Employee Benefits, up from £233bn, 12 months before. Although deficits have pared back from all-time highs of over £500bn in August, experts predicted bumper pension [...]
BT pledges double-digit dividends until 2018 as full year profits and revenues climb May 5, 2016 Revenues and profits at BT have risen during a "landmark year" for the business – the best performance in seven years – and pledged double-digit dividends as far as 2018. Investors were pleased with the news: BT's share price was up 3.2 per cent in early trading. The figures Revenues for the full year climbed [...]
Ofcom: BT’s share price rises as telecoms giant avoids Openreach spin-off – for now February 25, 2016 BT's share price climbed this morning after it narrowly avoided being forced to spin off Openreach into a separate company by the industry regulator. Ofcom has said BT must open up its network to competitors and reform Openreach "to better serve UK customers and businesses", but it stopped short of insisting it would have to carve up [...]
TalkTalk accuses Ofcom of dodging BT Openreach decision after digital review demands better access for rivals, sending BT’s share price soaring February 25, 2016 TalkTalk boss Dido Harding has slammed Ofcom for “kicking the Openreach can down the road”, after the telecoms regulator decided not to split off the infrastructure arm from BT. Ofcom yesterday released the results of its once-a-decade industry review that stopped short of demanding Openreach be hived off from BT, but said the option was still [...]
The speaking clock will have a Scottish twang for the first time ever November 9, 2016 Wednesday 9 November is a date that will go down in history. Telecoms history, that is. For the first time in its 80 years of existence, the BT speaking clock is to have a non-English voice, after Dundee's Alan Steadman was chosen to lend his celtic tones to notify callers of the exact time. A nationwide competition was launched earlier this year [...]
BT plays catch up to Sky over on-demand TV March 20, 2016 Telecoms giant BT is looking into gaining further control over on-demand TV service YouView from TalkTalk in an attempt to build up its market share of the premium TV industry and catch leader Sky. BT has held informal talks with TalkTalk over the future of the joint business venture, which would allow BT to pour [...]
Who’s afraid of the big, bad pensions deficit? Contrarian stock-pickers can find hidden value in companies with large holes in their defined benefit pension funds November 30, 2016 For some UK companies, having a large pension deficit is like a proverbial albatross around the neck – unsightly and foreboding. This can make the shares appear cheap on some measures. But valuing stocks with large schemes is difficult, due to the enhanced complexity of pension accounting. Actuaries and trustees make numerous assumptions regarding future [...]
Editor’s Notes: Tory immigration policy will harm the City and our economy, Corbyn’s deleted Chavez past and City AM founders included in Change Makers series May 26, 2017 Back when George Osborne was chancellor and Theresa May was home secretary, the pair would argue over the wisdom of seeking dramatic reductions in net migration. May was obsessed with the idea, and clearly still is, whereas Osborne was instinctively more comfortable with the view that immigration was nothing to worry about and the benefits [...]
Inmarsat reveals $3bn savings through embracing its satellite technology March 7, 2017 Satellite firm Inmarsat said today its technology has saved airlines $3bn by enabling planes to fly closer to one another, among other things. The FTSE 250 firm compiled a report in association with specialist consultancy Helios. It concluded $1.1bn had been saved through a single air traffic control system and a further $1.9bn was spared by improving the communications with airline control [...]