Exploring the Sardinian paradise of Costa Smerelda, Europe’s top playground for the fantastically wealthy January 6, 2017 Some places are just so beautiful, so unbelievably picture-perfect, so utterly, gob-smackingly Instagrammable, that you think, ‘if this didn’t exist, someone would have had to invent it.’ So I’m taken aback on finding out, on my first afternoon on the Costa Smeralda – one of Europe’s top playgrounds for the super-wealthy – that actually someone [...]
One of AstraZeneca’s big pipeline drugs just failed a late-stage trial August 9, 2016 Cambridge-based pharma firm AstraZeneca has suffered a set back after a new cancer drug failed at the trial stage. Experimental drug selumetinib failed to meet its goals – helping patients live longer or prevent the disease from worsening when combined with chemotherapy – in a late-stage trial for lung cancer. Shares in the company closed down by 0.3 per [...]
After Taylor Swift’s stand, now bands spearheaded by The Pocket Gods cut off noses to spite Spotify royalties with protest album 100X30 November 19, 2015 A troop of musicians are following pop-icon Taylor Swift’s lead in rallying against Spotify’s “paltry” royalty offerings. When an artist signs up with the music-sharing platform, they are given precisely £0.007 for every time their track is played, provided it lasts longer than 30 seconds. In a move that can only be described as “cutting off [...]
Optimism is a precious commodity October 31, 2016 It’s been a tough few years for the mining industry but the future is promising, says Jeffrey Couch. London is currently hosting much of the world’s metals community at LME Week, the industry’s most important gathering. This year’s event comes against a backdrop of significant change, whether at a global economic and geopolitical level or [...]
Pharma giant Shire reports 36 per cent jump in sales during first half of 2016 August 8, 2016 Pharmaceutical group Shire has reported a jump in sales in the six months to 30 June and predicts strong full-year result. The figures Product sales were up 46 per cent to $3.95bn (£3.02bn) from $2.9bn in the first half of 2015. Royalties and other revenues went up 29 per cent to $189m, from $147m, meaning total [...]
Laurence King, founder of the eponymous publisher, talks adult colouring books, soviets, Ezra Pound and anti-digital January 9, 2017 "We caused a shortage of felt pens in Brazil,” says Laurence King, founder of Laurence King Publishing, the creator of the original adult colouring book that sparked the recent craze. In 2013, the firm published the Secret Garden, illustrated by Johanna Basford. In the first two years, it sold 250,000 copies. “It was then we became [...]
US 2016 Presidential Election: The Clintons’ tax return shows the pair made more than $10m last year August 13, 2016 Hillary and Bill Clinton raked in a total of $10.6m (£8.2m) in 2015, tax records released by the official Hillary for President campaign yesterday showed. The former president earned $6m from speaking fees and engagements, while Hillary Clinton, who is running to succeed Barack Obama in the White House took in more than $4m in fees and [...]
ARM Holdings share price surges as it shakes off smartphone struggles with profit rise April 20, 2016 UK chip maker ARM has shaken off that smartphone slowdown with expectation-busting first quarter results. The figures Pre-tax profit surged 14 per cent to £137.5m in the three months to the end of March on revenues of £276.4m, a rise of 22 per cent and slightly ahead of expectation. It shipped 4.1bn chips, up 10 [...]
Arm Holdings boosts profit and revenue in second quarter as it gears up for takeover by Japan’s Softbank July 27, 2016 Microchip maker Arm Holdings has bumped up its interim dividend after reporting increased revenue and profit in the second quarter of 2016. The figures Revenue in dollars was up nine per cent to $387.6m (£295m), from $357.1m in the second quarter of 2015. Revenue in sterling rose 17 per cent year-on-year, to hit £267.6m. The [...]
Focus On Regent’s Park: Celebrity-packed Nash terraces and luscious parklands make NW1 “super-prime” London September 23, 2016 If you want to go celebrity spotting in London, you could do a lot worse than Regent’s Park. High profile residents of this historic area surrounding the royal park of the same name include Damien Hirst, Christian Candy, Gwen Stefani, Jamie Oliver and Kate Moss, not to mention all the Middle Eastern royalty and Russian [...]