General Electric ‘is insolvent’ amid $38bn accounting fraud, claims whistleblower August 15, 2019 General Electric (GE) has been hit by claims of an accounting fraud “far more serious” than historic US cases at both Enron and Worldcom. The US industrial conglomerate’s shares fell sharply on Wall Street after a whistleblower said the company’s financial filings were hiding $38.1bn potential losses (£31.5bn), and claimed its cash situation was far [...]
Marshalls paves the way for fresh buyouts as sales surge August 15, 2019 Marshalls, the paving company which supplied flooring for landmarks including Trafalgar Square and Bond Street, enjoyed a jump in sales of more than one-sixth in the first half of the year, despite Brexit uncertainty hampering the construction industry. Shares rose 0.8 per cent today as the firm said it had outperformed the rest of the [...]
Home Office stabbing: Man’s injuries ‘not life-threatening’ as police cordon off area August 15, 2019 A man in his sixties has been taken to hospital with injuries that are ‘neither life-threatening nor life-changing’ after being stabbed outside the Home Office this afternoon, police have confirmed. The Metropolitan Police (Met) said another man, aged 29, has been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and suspicion of CS spray following the [...]
Automotive supplier SGL shares drop a third as chief quits on profit warning August 15, 2019 SGL Carbon, a major supplier to Germany’s car industry, has suffered a double blow as its chief executive threw in the towel over flawed business planning on the same day as a profit warning. Chief executive Juergen Koehler will step down at the end of August, he announced, as the company said it expected adjusted [...]
Lion Air ‘urgently’ needs more Boeing 737 Max jets to support growth August 14, 2019 Indonesian airline Lion Air “urgently requires” more Boeing 737 Max jets, after two crashes involving the model – one of which was a Lion Air jet – left the entire global fleet grounded in March. The airline’s co-founder, Rusdi Kirana, told Reuters that once regulators allowed the plane back in the skies, it needed more [...]
Hong Kong protests: US wades in by telling China to allow city to ‘exercise autonomy’ August 14, 2019 The US has urged China to allow Hong Kong to “exercise a high degree of autonomy,” as police and demonstrators clashed again today in the wake of Chinese authorities describing the 10-week anti-government protests as “near terrorism”. In a statement, the US State Department said: “We condemn violence and urge all sides to exercise restraint, [...]
Lookers profits splutter as dealership tries to contain sales practice issues August 14, 2019 Problems continue to mount for British car dealership Lookers, as the London-listed firm today said it expects costs to rise as it tries to address problems found with its sales practices. The small cap firm this morning posted a sharp drop in profit for the first half of the year, after car sales were affected [...]
Rolls-Royce: Engine issues still in focus after ‘storm of steel and iron’ falls from plane August 14, 2019 On a sunny, 30C-degree afternoon in Fiumicino, near Rome, residents of the airport town thought they were experiencing a sudden hail storm. But when witness Paola Di Lazzaro looked outside, she saw “a storm of steel and iron,” she told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero. Hundreds of shards of incandescent metal were falling down to earth [...]
Aston Martin in hedge funds’ cross hairs as short sellers target its debt August 13, 2019 Hedge funds have taken record short positions in Aston Martin’s debt and equity, betting that the firm’s recent stock market struggles are far from over. The car maker has suffered a 73 per cent decline in shares since its October float. The decline has slashed more than £3bn from its market value. As a result, [...]
Norwegian Air cuts routes to US from Ireland as Boeing 737 Max grounding bites August 13, 2019 Budget airline Norwegian Air will stop flights between Ireland and the US in September, after its finances were hit by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max. It said: “We have concluded these routes are no longer commercially viable.” Norwegian has struggled to make a profit in recent months, and said in July the grounding [...]