European Commission could force sell-offs in the £10bn Three merger with O2 January 17, 2016 The European Commission (EC) may be about to throw a spanner in the works of Three’s planned £10.25bn takeover of O2. Having decided not to refer the decision to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK, the commission, the executive body of the EU, has until 22 April to make a decision on the [...]
BT’s EE takeover set to get a green light from Competition and Markets Authority January 14, 2016 BT’s £12.5bn takeover of rival EE is expected to get a thumbs up by the UK’s competition watchdog as the two prepare to merge in March. Anything other than a green light would be highly unexpected as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) prepares to announce its final decision on the deal at 7am tomorrow, [...]
Ladbrokes share price jumps as it beats expectations – but new gambling and point-of-consumption taxes take their toll February 23, 2016 Not a great day for Ladbrokes, after it reported a 50 per cent fall in profits for 2015 as increased taxes began to have an impact. The figures Ladbrokes said trading profits fell 50.3 per cent, from £112.2m last year to £55.8m in 2015. That's above analyst expectations – last week Deutsche Bank said it expected profits to fall to £44m. [...]
Virgin Money’s share price soars as challenger bank confirms dividend after profits jump 53 pc March 2, 2016 Virgin Money's share price leaped eight per cent this morning after posting strong figures for its first full year as a public company, with profits soaring as customer numbers climb. The figures The challenger bank said underlying profit before tax was up 53 per cent to £160.3m for the calendar year, while net margins rose to 165 [...]
Competition and Markets Authority flags concerns in North Sea oil and gas December 7, 2015 The UK's competition watchdog has written to the government flagging competition concerns in the UK's north sea oil and gas industry. The Competition Markets Authority said government plans to establish the Oil and Gas Authority as an independent regulator for the North Sea oil and gas market could facilitate information exchanges which would ultimately harm competition with the [...]
Setting bank data free with open APIs is just the start for consumer choice February 9, 2016 Today’s report from the UK Open Banking Working Group has recommended the creation of an Open Banking Standard that will make it possible for banking data to be shared and used securely. But what does this actually mean? In layman’s terms, it means data that banks hold on their customer base – balances, transaction history [...]
Best of the Brokers for 21 October 2015 October 21, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com POUNDLAND Investec has initiated coverage of Poundland with a “hold” rating and a target price of 300p. The broker said near-term profit benefits from the integration of 99p Stores are expected to return Poundland to 20 per cent growth or more in 2017 [...]
Energy firms welcome CMA regulation as Ovo praises “punchy statement” February 18, 2015 Regulatory changes in the energy sector as suggested by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) yesterday have been welcomed by both the Big Six companies and newer entrants. The CMA announced last July that it would be examining the energy market after a referral by Ofgem. The group said in an update to the market [...]
The Competition and Markets Authority wants to review O2 merger with three October 2, 2015 The UK's competition regulator has asked the European Commission for a review an upcoming deal to create one of the UK's biggest mobile operator to be referred to it. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that the proposed deal between Hutchinson's Three and Telefonica's O2 threatens to significantly affect competition in the UK mobile markets. This is because a successful [...]
Poundland’s share price climbs as it gets final clearance from competition watchdog for 99p Stores bid September 18, 2015 Poundland's share price rose this morning after saying it will complete its acquisition of rival 99p Stores by the end of this month, after receiving final clearance from Britain's competition watchdog today. The Competition Markets Authority (CMA) concluded that a merger between the two budget retailers wouldn't result in a substantial lessening of competition. It [...]