Lift off: Flying taxi startup hopes to revolutionise city travel by 2025 May 16, 2019 Ever been stuck in a traffic jam, wishing you could take to the skies and leapfrog the gridlocked cars below? German startup Lilium hopes that by 2025, it will let you do just that, after staging a successful maiden flight of a prototype five-seater flying taxi, capable of whisking passengers from place to place above [...]
Serious Fraud Office arrests four in probe into UK fuel distribution giant Greenergy May 16, 2019 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said today it had launched an investigation into UK petrol giant Greenergy, arresting four individuals. The SFO said it had opened a joint investigation with Dutch authorities concerning aspects of biodiesel trading at Greenergy and various third parties. Read more: Serious Fraud Office drops probes into Rolls-Royce and GSK Greenergy [...]
Hopping to the front: Jeff Koons breaks sale record for living artist with $91m Rabbit sculpture May 16, 2019 It has bunny ears, chubby legs and a carrot in its hand. This is the stainless steel rabbit which has just smashed records for the most expensive artwork to be sold by a living artist. Read more: Sotheby's annual wine sales hit $100m The 1986 “Rabbit” sculpture was sold by US pop artist Jeff Koons [...]
Euronext shareholders unanimously approve Oslo Bors takeover May 16, 2019 The shareholders of pan-European exchange Euronext unanimously voted in favour of its acquisition of Norway’s Oslo Bors exchange at the group’s annual general meeting in Amsterdam today. Read more: Norway all but hands victory to Euronext in Oslo Bors battle Euronext said in a statement: “Shareholders’ approval was the last major condition to complete the [...]
Investec overcomes weak South African economy and Brexit to post profit rise May 16, 2019 Banking giant Investec battled weak economic growth in its two core markets South Africa and the UK to post a 9.4 per cent full-year profit rise. The South African financial services group said it delivered a “sound” performance against a challenging operating environment, in its results for the year ending 31 March. Read more: Investec [...]
Thomas Cook share price crashes as it suffers ‘grim’ £1.45bn loss and issues fresh profit warning May 16, 2019 Thomas Cook shares plunged today as it issued a fresh profit warning and revealed a stunning £1.45bn loss in the six months to the end of March, after booking a £1.1bn goodwill impairment relating to a merger from over a decade ago. Read more: Thomas Cook shares leap following Lufthansa bid for airline business The [...]
Burberry shares fall as transformation plan takes toll on growth May 16, 2019 Shares in Burberry fell 4.5 per cent this morning after the firm posted broadly flat revenue and profit in the first year of its major transformation plan. Read more: Burberry keeps momentum from China despite trade war fears The figures Revenue remained broadly flat at £2.72bn for the year to the end of March. Pre-tax profit [...]
KPMG UK introduces new audit structure but falls short of full separation May 16, 2019 Big Four firm KPMG said today it was introducing a new structure to move its audit arm away from the rest of its UK business, but falling short of a full separation. The move follows a report from the Competition and Markets Authority which called for a separation of audit from consulting services after a [...]
Logistics firm Wincanton raises profits despite fall in revenue May 16, 2019 Small cap logistics firm Wincanton boosted profits in its latest financial year despite slipping revenues, sending shares up 1.6 per cent to 260p in early trading. Read more: Wincanton cashes in on Brexit uncertainty The figures Profit before tax increased 6.3 per cent year on year to £49.3m in the 12 months to the end [...]
Just Group shares slide after it reveals sales plunge May 16, 2019 Just Group shares fell more than seven per cent this morning after it revealed a plunge in sales. The retirement group said retirement income sales for the three months to 31 March were 59 per cent lower than for the previous quarter, which it said was a result of a lower level of completed defined [...]