Amazon share price dives as losses increase July 24, 2014 More of the same from Amazon, as it continues its tradition of favouring growth over profits. The e-commerce giant has just announced a loss of $126m, or $0.27 per share for the three months to the end of June, coming in significantly below Wall Street estimates of a $0.15 per share loss. The second quarter [...]
Royal Mail profit hit amid fierce UK competition May 21, 2015 ONGOING brutal competition and declining letter volumes led to plunging profits at Royal Mail as Britain’s oldest delivery service continued to seek further savings. Admitting the trading environment “remains challenging”, Royal Mail reported stagnant revenue growth for the year ending 29 March, at £9.3bn. The top-line figures come as the company recorded a four per [...]
Busy week of earnings ahead – New York Report April 19, 2015 INVESTORS attempting to determine whether US equities will rebound from Friday’s selloff or continue to sink will look to a deluge of earnings this week for a clearer picture of the economy. Equities lost ground after industrials Honeywell International and General Electric took hits from the strong dollar, while concerns over new trading regulations in [...]
Catastrophic EU VAT rules are destroying the digital sector September 8, 2015 In January, new EU VAT legislation was imposed on the broadcasting, telecoms and digital sectors, causing a crisis for SMEs. Thousands of businesses have closed, geo-blocking (the refusal of non-EU businesses to sell into the EU) is rampant, and the legislation threatens to wreck the Digital Single Market. In simple terms, the new [...]
Amazon slashes the price of its Fire smartphone to 99 cents – weeks before its UK launch September 9, 2014 Amazon has slashed the price of its less-than-popular smartphone to 99 cents just a month and a bit after it launched in the US, and weeks before its UK launch. Alas, the deal (99 cents with a two-year contract from AT&T) is only available in the US, but still – it suggests quite how disappointing [...]
Marks & Spencer leading the FTSE losers: Why clothing boss John Dixon’s departure gives M&S two major headaches July 17, 2015 Marks & Spencer is leading the FTSE 100 losers this morning, after it confirmed its executive director of general merchandise John Dixon had quit. M&S' share price opened down, and has continued to tumble throughout early trading. At pixel time, itwas down 1.3 per cent. When Dixon took up the role in [...]
Lessons learned as final parcel of Royal Mail goes on sale June 9, 2015 Last week chancellor George Osborne announced that the government will sell off its remaining 30 per cent stake in Royal Mail, meaning the company will become completely private. There is no immediate timeline for the sale. Currently the market value of the shares is around £1.5bn. Osborne was forthright in saying the transaction would [...]
City Moves for 10 June 2015 | Who’s switching jobs June 9, 2015 Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking Adrian White has been appointed chief operating officer, commercial banking at the bank. He was previously managing director and head of SME banking. White has over 30 years’ experience in the banking industry. Rothschild Peter Hindle has been appointed director in Rothschild’s wealth management business. He joins from Credit Suisse, where [...]
EU mulls McDonald’s tax probe: Margrethe Vestager considers investigation into sweetheart deals May 5, 2015 The EU’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is considering adding McDonald’s to the list of companies being investigated over sweetheart tax deals. The Danish commissioner is weighing up an inquiry following claims by campaigners and unions of an alleged deal with Luxembourg that allowed the fast-food chain to massively reduce its tax bill on European sales. A [...]
Amazon’s Fire smartphone looks set to light up mobile market June 18, 2014 Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos last night put Apple, Samsung and legions of online retailers on red alert with the launch of its new Fire smartphone, with the promise that the online giant would once again revolutionise shopping. Bezos, in a rare media appearance, demonstrated Firefly, a service that lets the $199 (£117) phone identify [...]