Turbulent year hits African budget airline Fastjet June 2, 2016 London-listed African budget airline Fastjet said a poor financial performance in 2015 had overshadowed its progress with plans to dominate the region's low cost air travel market. The figures Revenue grew 21 per cent to $65.1m (£45.1m) from $53.8m in 2014. The company narrowed its post-tax loss for the year to $16.9m from $58.5m. Fastjet also [...]
Turkish lira resumes its sell-off after brief rally on tightened liquidity from central bank January 13, 2017 The Turkish lira has suffered a fresh sell-off after briefly rallying against the dollar from record lows when the country’s central bank moved to tighten liquidity. The US dollar rose against the lira on Friday by over 1.5 per cent to over 3.8272 Turkish lira. The dollar had strengthened to record highs of 3.9415 Turkish [...]
More than half a dozen fintech firms hit by outage March 5, 2017 More than half a dozen fintech startups were knocked offline on Sunday by issues with the card processing firm they use, leaving customers unable to make card payments. Digital challenger bank Monzo and Revolut, which offers real-time interbank rate exchange when travelling abroad as well as a full bank account, alerted customers early on Sunday [...]
Why the FTSE 100 rises when sterling falls – explained in two charts March 15, 2017 The FTSE 100's strong recovery after the Brexit verdict in last June's referendum caught some investors off guard. After an initial wobble, the index surged. Three months later, it was 10.4% higher. But why? There may have been some other factors at play in those months, but one of the strongest drivers in the [...]
Why the FTSE 100 rises when sterling falls – explained in two charts March 15, 2017 The FTSE 100's strong recovery after the Brexit verdict in last June's referendum caught some investors off guard. After an initial wobble, the index surged. Three months later, it was 10.4% higher. But why? There may have been some other factors at play in those months, but one of the strongest drivers in the fortunes [...]
Canon profit drops by 7.7 per cent as sales tumble April 26, 2016 Japanese camera manufacturer Canon has reported a slowdown in sales during the three months to 31 March, as demand declined across its product ranges. Net sales dropped by seven per cent to ¥767bn (£4.9bn) in the first quarter, down from ¥858bn during the same period of last year. Operating profit plummeted by 39.4 per cent, to ¥45.7bn [...]
Mongolia agrees terms for $5.5bn IMF-backed loan February 19, 2017 The IMF and its partners have come to an agreement to provide Mongolia with an economic stabilisation package worth $5.5bn (£4.43bn). Rapid growth in Mongolia’s commodities sector had resulted in a fast pace of economic growth, reaching double digit figures between 2011-2013. A sharp decline in commodity prices, plus a fall in foreign direct investment, [...]
What will happen to sterling against the US dollar when Prime Minister Theresa May triggers Article 50? We asked the experts March 13, 2017 Now the Budget is out of the way with barely a mention of Brexit, currency traders’ attentions can turn to the next big set-piece event in the political calendar: the moment Prime Minister Theresa May triggers Article 50. May could notify the EU as soon as tomorrow if MPs in the House of Commons vote [...]
US regulators have been much harsher than their UK counterparts while European authorities have been even kinder… December 5, 2016 US regulators have slapped fines on banks at four times the level imposed by their UK counterparts in connection with interest rate and foreign exchange manipulation. A total of 12 banks have been fined $9.8bn (£7.7bn) by US authorities over the last four and a half years. This compares with £2bn imposed on 11 lenders by UK authorities. [...]
Turkey stuffing: The lira continues to plummet against the dollar on disappointing trade data January 11, 2017 Turkey’s lira has fallen to fresh record lows as the currency continues its precipitous decline over the course of the last year. The lira hit lows of 3.8951 lira to the dollar on Tuesday amid more signs of weakness in the Turkish economy. The dollar had strengthened 1.71 per cent against the lira at the [...]