Spotify, one of Europe’s top tech startups, could become profitable as early as next year December 1, 2016 Spotify, one of Europe's most valuable tech startups, could start being profitable as early as next year, a board member who was one of the music streaming service's first investors told Reuters. Despite being the global leader of the music streaming industry, Spotify has reported steep losses since its creation in 2008 by Swedish founders Daniel Ek and Martin [...]
Uber is expanding its electric car plans in London to tackle air pollution, with more Nissan Leafs and a network of chargers March 28, 2017 Uber is expanding its fleet of electric vehicles in London in a bid to tackle air pollution in the capital. Another 100 Nissan Leafs will join the 50 already on the road since last summer, while the transport startup will create a network of charging points across the city. Initial analysis of the electric car [...]
Waitrose is “well set up” to face arrival of Amazon, says outgoing boss Mark Price March 10, 2016 Waitrose's outgoing boss Lord Price played down the threat of Amazon's entry in the UK, insisting it was strong enough to fend off competition and would continue to be “one of the few” retailers to increase profitability this year. Price, who was made a peer last week ahead of his new role as trade minister [...]
Tandem Bank’s chief executive Ricky Knox talks sarongs, dumb pipes, ornithology and why Facebook is scared of banking February 27, 2017 "Would you have called Amazon? I didn’t! We all thought that was just a fad – it was a bookseller. An online bookseller with that valuation? But the internet creates these giants – and it’s not just one or two of them. "Look at music – EMI is basically dead. Google – a little bulls*** [...]
What the Morrisons-Amazon tie up is doing to Tesco, Ocado and Sainsbury’s share prices February 29, 2016 Morrisons might be having a whale of a day after revealing its tie-up with Amazon this morning – but virtually the rest of the retail sector has spent the day so far in the red. Morrisons' share price soared on the news that it would be offering hundreds of products to Amazon's UK customers via [...]
British Gas owner Centrica’s share price lights up after raising full-year earnings forecast December 15, 2016 Centrica's share price lit up this morning after better-than-expected costing savings and a strong savings performance lifted its full-year earnings. The British Gas owner's stock rose more than five per cent in morning trading to 230p, after announcing its full-year adjusted earnings per share will come in at around 16.5p. The FTSE 100 utility's cash flow [...]
Bitcoin: mouth-watering investment prospect or eye-watering valuation? June 21, 2017 For a system of currency to be worth anything, people need to believe in it – and at present there is no shortage of belief in so-called ‘cryptocurrencies’. Bitcoin may be the one most people will have heard of but there are now around 100 cryptocurrencies in existence and, earlier this month, their combined worth [...]
Investors eye strong earnings at Morrisons September 11, 2016 Supermarket chain Morrisons is expected to deliver its best half yearly performance in four years this week. The chain, which is in the middle of a back-to-basics turnaround, has been slashing prices and doing deals with competitors to try and tempt customers through its doors. Analysts are expecting like-for-like sales growth of 0.7 per cent [...]
Halfords and N Brown share price drops after UBS downgrade, blaming Brexit, Amazon and currency woes March 21, 2016 Shares in Halfords and N Brown have dropped sharply today after analysts at UBS slashed their ratings for both retailers in a bearish note on the sector. The Swiss bank's research arm, UBS Evidence Lab, has warned of on a whole shopping basket of challenges facing retailers this year, including short-term uncertainty over Brexit, wage inflation, currency and the increasing dominance of Amazon. [...]
Banks could pull in more customers if they offered insurance, survey suggests January 12, 2017 A survey released today contains a potential solution for banking bosses worried about falling customer numbers: start offering insurance products. The figures from marketing specialist Collinson Group found consumers typically hold four different insurance products from three different providers . Almost two thirds (63 per cent) are sick of the split and would much prefer a [...]