Women still failing to feature in the executive teams of many FTSE 100 firms, with only Severn Trent and Kingfisher managing a balanced split February 8, 2016 Some of the UK's most well-known household names are failing to appoint women to executive positions, with more than one in ten blue chip companies having no women in their executive teams at all. According to a report released today by female professional development organisation The Pipeline, women account for only 18 per cent of FTSE 100 senior executives. [...]
Antofagasta, Anglo American, Glencore share price: UK FTSE miners’ rally comes to abrupt end February 9, 2016 While mining stocks have sizzled recently, their rally came to an abrupt end today, in the wake of disappointing corporate news regarding two of the biggest firms. Antofagasta tumbled to the bottom of the FTSE 100, shedding as much as 10.2 per cent to 407.2p per share, after Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the stock to "sell". Meanwhile, [...]
The financial sector contains all the elements to make it the perfect target for cyber crime May 15, 2016 Telecomms giant Talk Talk and affairs facilitator Ashley Madison may have made headlines when they suffered data breaches last year, but a report due out on Tuesday will warn that the financial sector is the real top target for cyber attacks. The study by Marsh and TheCityUK will explore the extent of the risk that cyber crime poses to the City [...]
Almost half of firms failing to meet corporate governance standards, and not enough attention being paid to culture and values December 7, 2015 Almost half of FTSE 350 companies failed to measure up to all the standards in the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) UK Corporate Governance Code. In a report out today by professional services firm Grant Thornton, only 57 per cent of the 312 FTSE 350 companies with years ending between June 2014 and June 2015 studied [...]
UK Pensions: FTSE 100 companies slice over £20bn off defined benefit (DB) pensions deficit but overall funding level in private sector remains bleak February 1, 2016 The total deficit for defined benefit (DB) pensions schemes for FTSE 100 companies has been slashed by £21bn over the course of a year. According to figures released today by JLT Employee Benefits, the total deficit across FTSE 100 companies stood at £77bn at 31 January 2016, down from £98bn at the same time the year [...]
Kier Group offloads Mouchel Consulting to WSP Global in £75m deal October 12, 2016 London-listed construction firm Kier Group has sold Mouchel Consulting to Canada-based WSP Global for £75m. FTSE 250-listed Kier acquired the engineering, environment and asset management consulting branch as part of its £265m takeover of infrastructure company Mouchel last year. The tie-up put Kier in control of around a third of the UK's road network and boosted its [...]
Glencore, Anglo American, BHP Billiton share price: FTSE miners tumble as commodities rout deepens November 12, 2015 The FTSE 350 mining index fell 4.61 per cent to 8,234.14 points this afternoon as copper prices tumbled. Glencore shares shed 9.52 per cent to 94.77p per share, Anglo American fell 8.55 per cent to 450.60p per share and BHP Billiton was 4.27 per cent lower at 884.50p per share. Earlier, copper prices slid to a two-and-a-half month low after the dollar [...]
Is the UK heading for a recession? It’s too early to call – but this is how investors can potentially avoid missteps February 18, 2016 The troubled performance of credit and equity markets in the last six months suggests the chance of an imminent UK recession has risen. We’re not calling it yet but it pays to know what happened in the last financial crisis to avoid missteps. We studied the FTSE 350 earnings-per-share and stock price trends seen during [...]
Bond yield fall drives FTSE 350 pension deficit February 3, 2015 THE PROSPECT of quantitative easing (QE) in Europe is already leading to negative side effects as the combined pensions deficit of the FTSE 350 reached a record high at the end of January, according to Mercer. The deficit was driven by a sharp decline in corporate bond yields last month, rising by £26bn compared to a [...]
The FTSE crash is not Armageddon – but investors should still be light on their feet January 23, 2016 We all know that "hindsight" is the most successful trader in the world. Its performance has always been exemplary since time immemorial. However, alarm bells should have started ringing after the Shanghai Composite had added 150 per cent in value between June 2014 and June 2015, just when it was becoming decidedly obvious that China’s economy [...]