Talktalk narrows losses as customers embrace fibre optic broadband May 23, 2019 Broadband provider Talktalk has cashed in on lower costs and customers switching to faster fibre products, narrowing its losses for the year. The London-listed company said it had restructured its customer base in recent years, which led to a slight drop in revenue, as consumers switch to fibre broadband. The figures Talktalk made a small [...]
Serco shares rise as outsourcer seals £178m US Navy contractor buyout May 23, 2019 Serco shares rose eight per cent this morning as the government outsourcer announced it had struck a $225m (£178m) deal to buy a contractor to the US Navy. Read more: Serco seeks to capitalise on Brexit chaos as financial revival continues The FTSE 250 company, which already employs thousands of people in the US working [...]
B&M to open 50 UK stores this year despite retail doom and gloom May 23, 2019 Discount retailer B&M said today it plans to open 50 shops this year, despite the wider gloom in the UK retail sector. B&M grew revenue 17 per cent to £3.4bn and profit before tax 8.7 per cent to £249.4m in the 52 weeks to 30 March. The company said it opened 44 new stores in the financial [...]
Boeing crisis: Aviation regulators to meet today to discuss when to let 737 Max fly again May 23, 2019 More than 30 aviation regulators from around the world will gather today to discuss when to let Boeing’s 737 Max jet take to the skies again. Read more: Boeing completes 737 Max software update The meeting will be led by the US regulator the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has been at the centre of [...]
Get ready for an epic battle over the EU’s heart and soul May 23, 2019 So caught up is the UK within its own seemingly never-ending Brexit melodrama that we might be forgiven for forgetting that today’s European elections are only the start of a pan-European voting process that comprises the largest transnational electoral experience in the world. For a period of four days, over 400m voters will have the [...]
Competition watchdog accuses drugs companies of illegal market sharing May 23, 2019 The competition watchdog today said it was launching a probe into four pharmaceutical companies which it said colluded to raise the price the NHS paid for a nausea treatment medicine. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had provisionally found that Alliance, Focus, Lexon and Medreich had agreed not to compete for the supply [...]
Drink to that: Young’s pub chain hails profit growth and hikes dividend May 23, 2019 Pub group Young’s hailed robust profit and revenue growth in its latest financial year today, but warned investors of a “tough start” to 2019 after the World Cup fuelled a strong summer in 2018. Read more: City Pub Group cheers investors with sales rise as expansion continues The figures Profit before tax climbed 5.1 per [...]
Major multi-national fraud probe into Airbus could settle this year May 23, 2019 Airbus could reach a settlement with British, French and US authorities in a long-running fraud investigation as soon as this year, sources with knowledge of the case told City A.M. The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opened an investigation into Airbus’ use of third party consultants to win international aircraft orders in August 2016. French [...]
One-Day Cup final: Somerset’s young gun Tom Banton won’t be fazed by Lord’s occasion, says Marcus Trescothick May 22, 2019 Marcus Trescothick has seen enough batsmen in his 26 years of first-class cricket to know a good one when he sees him. Tom Banton may be just 20 and only have a similar number of matches behind him, but he’s already done enough to excite Somerset’s senior player. The Somerset academy graduate has taken the [...]
Chris Tremlett: Well-rounded England justify their position as World Cup favourites May 22, 2019 Three weeks ago England’s World Cup campaign could have been derailed. Alex Hales was withdrawn from the squad after failing a drugs test and the storm that followed could have thrown their preparations off. But to their credit England dealt with the incident quickly and bypassed any distractions. Now, with the tournament just a week [...]