Mayoral election and local council results, Leicester City, Brexit and Donald Trump: Here’s what got us talking this week May 6, 2016 A man got so bored at work he decided to sue the company over it. Beyonce ditched Lemonade for watermelon water. And there was a Boatface volte-face. Here's what got us talking this week 1) The country went to the polls Whether you were north of the border or south of it, yesterday was a miserable day for [...]
Sigma Capital profits rise ten-fold as push into private rental sector pays off April 19, 2016 Kuwaiti-backed property developer Sigma Capital has posted a jump in full-year profits after its push into the growing private rental sector (PRS) paid off. The Aim-listed company, which has offices in London, Manchester and Edinburgh, said revenues increased by 74 per cent to £6.72m last year while profit from operations rose 877 per cent from £1.63m to £1.82m. Profit before [...]
In quotes: Theresa May’s Conservative Party Conference speech October 5, 2016 Theresa May has promised to reset the Conservative Party's relationship with capitalism, crack down on immigration and intervene in a host of "dysfunctional markets". In her speech to the Conservative Party Conference the new Prime Minister addressed everything from Brexit to grammar schools to corporate governance and focused on the theme of "change". Here are the key [...]
Construction industry grows at its slowest pace in three years May 4, 2016 The makers and manufacturers are marching a little slower than they once were – and a great deal slower than chancellor George Osborne would like. Fresh purchasing managers' index (PMI) figures for the construction sector out this morning showed that the building industry expanded at its slowest pace since June 2013 last month. That comes off [...]
Chinese Uber rival Didi Chuxing raises another $600m – one month after it got $1bn from Apple June 13, 2016 Chinese Uber rival Didi Chuxing has just unveiled another $600m (£423m) round of funding – exactly one month after Apple ploughed $1bn into it. China Life made an equity investment of $300m and a long-term debt investment of two billion yuan, about $305m. Didi Chuxing said the two companies had committed to a partnership on internet-powered financial innovation and other initiatives – [...]
After a difficult first quarter for UK-based banks, is the outlook finally beginning to brighten? May 4, 2016 Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says Yes. There is no doubt things are tough in the banking industry. But while performance in the first quarter was poor, it was generally ahead of expectations, which serves to underline the level of pessimism surrounding the sector. Progress has been slow since the financial crisis, and there [...]
Thinking of starting your own business? These are the industries you should avoid May 24, 2016 The City is full of ex-bankers and brokers leaving their corporate careers to strike it out on their own. Sometimes it's a roaring success, but sometimes things don't go quite so smoothly. For many aspiring entrepreneurs, it doesn't matter how well you run your business. New research from Vonage has revealed the industry you choose can [...]
Rolls-Royce shortlisted to build fleet of baby nuclear reactors June 5, 2016 FTSE 100-listed engineering company Rolls-Royce has been shortlisted to build a fleet of mini nuclear reactors, City A.M. understands. It's part of the government's £250m nuclear research programme unveiled in last year's Autumn Statement, which includes a competition to identify the best value small modular reactor (SMR) design for the UK. Read more: There's no way Hinkley Point project will be finished [...]
Samarco dam disaster pushes BHP Billiton to $6.4bn loss August 16, 2016 And lo, it came to pass (almost): miner BHP Billiton unveiled a multi-billion dollar loss for the year, after a series of unfortunate events. The figures BHP said it had made an attributable loss of $6.4bn (£5bn) in the year to the end up June, down from a profit of $1.9bn last year. That was driven by $7.7bn of exceptional items, including [...]
Reducing taxes, ending trade deals, squaring up to China and blocking mega-deals: Do Donald Trump’s policies add up? November 9, 2016 Casual observers of the US presidential election campaign may be surprised to learn that Donald Trump’s policy plans extend beyond building a wall across the Mexican border and banning Muslim people from entering the US. In fact, the Republican has set out plans for change across 15 policy areas, including foreign policy, national defence, infrastructure, cybersecurity and regulations. [...]