The UK stock market is an “over-leveraged disaster” according to Societe Generale May 16, 2016 The UK equity market has been a "disaster for the best part of a decade" and is dangerously "over-leveraged" according to analysts at Societe Generale. The investment bank issued a hard-hitting note this afternoon warning that firms may be paying out dividends at an unsustainably high rate, and said this was coming at the expense of [...]
The government is today unveiling a review on women in senior leadership as new leader of the Women’s Business Council is revealed July 7, 2016 A new, government-backed review of women in business has been announced today, as the 2016 Female FTSE Board Report reveals that the overall percentage of women on FTSE boards has increased since March 2015. Sir Philip Hampton, chair of GlaxoSmithKline, and Dame Helen Alexander, chair of UBM, will head up a team of industry chiefs [...]
UK pension deficits near £300bn May 3, 2016 UK private sector pension deficits are close to breaking the £300bn barrier. JLT Employee Benefits’s monthly index valued total UK deficits at minus £294bn. For FTSE 100 companies, the figure was minus £84bn, based on liabilities of £638bn. The total deficit for FTSE 350 companies was minus £108bn. Charles Cowling, director at JLT Employee Benefits, blamed [...]
Supermarkets under attack from the short-sellers July 4, 2016 Traders believe the worst is far from over for the UK's embattled supermarkets, as short-sellers have piled in to bet against the sector in the next few months. More than three times as many shares are held by people hoping to profit from a near-term fall in the share price of the UK's leading supermarkets as [...]
Defined benefit pension scheme deficits break £300bn mark, as uncertainty surrounding a potential Brexit grows June 1, 2016 The level of funding across defined benefit (DB) schemes has worsened over the last year, figures out today show. According to the analysis by JLT Employee Benefits, the total deficit across all private sector DB schemes has increased to £310bn at end of last month, up from £255bn the same time the year before. "Pension [...]
Profits at UK firms are at their lowest level since before the financial crisis May 16, 2016 Profits at the UK’s largest companies slumped to their lowest level in a decade in 2015, with turmoil in the banking and commodities industries weighing heavily on corporate performance. New analysis from the Share Centre, released today, shows that the FTSE 350 – the UK’s largest 350 listed companies – posted combined pre-tax profits of £84bn last [...]
EU referendum: What will individual company share prices do after the vote? June 23, 2016 The stock market may have started today on a high, but nobody expects tomorrow's open to be quite so smooth. Whatever the vote, analysts are expecting movement. UBS warned 20 per cent could be wiped off the FTSE 100 in the event of a vote to leave – a move which would take the index down [...]
Finance chiefs go on the defensive following Brexit vote July 17, 2016 Finance heads across the UK's biggest businesses are preparing themselves for a post-EU vote storm, research out today has found. The study by Deloitte, which surveyed 132 finance chiefs of FTSE 350 and other large private companies between 28 June and 11 July, discovered appetite for risk had dropped sharply following the vote to Leave, while feelings of uncertainty [...]
At the close: Just as things settle down Carney makes sure everyone’s still on their toes June 30, 2016 Just as the political situation had stolen the limelight from the markets in the aftermath of the UK's vote for Brexit, Mark Carney grabs it back. Carney, the governor of the Bank of England (BoE), told markets earlier this afternoon to expect a cut in interest rates as he warned the economy was in for a period of [...]
IEA: Global oil oversupply to shrink “dramatically” this year May 12, 2016 The International Energy Agency expects the global oversupply of oil to shrink "dramatically" this year. In its monthly report released today, the IEA said: "We note that OECD stocks grew in first quarter of 2016 at the slowest pace since last quarter orf 2014 and in February they declined for the first time in a year." [...]