BDO revenues surge after its tie-up with PKF November 28, 2013 ACCOUNTANCY group BDO posted a 10 per cent rise in revenues today as last year’s merger with PKF has helped to swell the company’s client list. The firm, which works with mid-market corporate clients, said turnover in the year to July was £312m, while underlying profits rose six per cent to £55m. Average profit per [...]
Rolls-Royce and airline share price falls put FTSE in a spin June 11, 2014 Trouble in the skies and a reduction in the World Bank’s global forecast and a couple of companies going ex-dividend yesterday brought the FTSE down. The FTSE 100 closed down 34.68 points at 6,838.87, a fall of 0.50 per cent. The cancellation of Emirates Airlines’ major order for 70 new Airbus A350s hit shares of [...]
Accountants relieved as audit shake-up plan watered down October 15, 2013 THE COMPETITION Commission yesterday watered down its audit reforms, pleasing big accountants and their clients but putting itself at odds with tougher reforms looming from the European Union. The Competition Commission now wants FTSE 350 companies to put their book-keeping out to tender at least once a decade, to shake up a market dominated by [...]
UK dividends to soar to £100bn October 20, 2013 A BUMPER payout from Vodafone will boost UK dividends to a record £101.8bn in 2014 from FTSE350 firms, according to estimates out today from Capita Asset Services. The figure is an enormous 28.7 per cent rise on the year, far outstripping the previous record level of £80.6bn set in 2012. Much of the boost comes [...]
London Report: FTSE hit by fears fall in euro will hurt UK exports November 7, 2013 THE benchmark equity index fell for the third straight session yesterday, which traders attributed to a rise in sterling against the euro that could hit UK exporters. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down by 0.7 per cent, or 44.47 points, to 6,697.22 points – underperforming other major European stock markets such as Germany’s DAX, [...]
BP to close Australia refinery and cut jobs April 2, 2014 BP YESTERDAY said it plans to halt operations at a small-scale refinery in Australia, slashing more than 350 jobs. The FTSE 100 oil major will shut down the 102,000 barrels per day Brisbane refinery by mid-2015, due to commercial pressure from larger plants in the Asia-Pacific region. “The best option for strengthening BP’s long-term supply [...]
Dividends under threat as firms struggle with slump in earnings October 2, 2013 NEW RESEARCH by the Share Centre has found that dividend cover, which measures earnings against dividends paid to shareholders, has fallen to a three-year low. A lower dividend cover ratio suggests that profits have fallen, making a cut in dividends more likely. A higher ratio indicates a healthier profit level. Though FTSE 350 firms have [...]
Barclays wins Amec as latest broking client September 25, 2013 BARCLAYS continued the growth of its corporate broking business by winning the mandate to act as joint broker to Amec, the FTSE 100 listed engineering group, alongside Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML). The appointment comes just days after Amec abandoned plans to make a £700m bid for Kentz, the oil services group. Amec was [...]
EU bank shares dive on tough stress test plan October 23, 2013 BANKS across Europe took a beating from investors yesterday as the authorities announced a higher than expected capital target for lenders. Even British banking stocks tumbled, despite this round of tests not being applied to UK institutions. The European Central Bank (ECB) is testing the biggest 130 banks in the Eurozone to study the quality of [...]
Profits plummet one third for top UK businesses August 18, 2013 DESPITE a rise in revenues, some of the UK’s top companies saw profits plunge in the year to March, slumping by a total of 33.8 per cent in comparison to 2012. In the 12 months up to the end of the first quarter, 62 of the country’s biggest firms earned £16.6bn in profit after tax, [...]