Financial news

• City news: Ocado, Sports Direct, Avon, French Connection

  15-03-2016 23:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  OCADO said it is on track to renew its 2013 deal with Morrisons and sign up international partners as it delivered a 15.3 per cent rise in group quarterly sales to £312.4million.
  
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• Sainsbury's vow to take on rivals as they record their first sales growth for two years

  15-03-2016 23:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  SAINSBURY’S has vowed to go “toe to toe” with rivals in the battle of the supermarkets as it returned to sales growth for the first time in more than two years.
  
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• Budget forecast: what the chancellor might be planning – checklist

  15-03-2016 23:00
  
  From the economy and pensions to fuel duty and a sugar tax, what financial changes is Osborne ready to unleash?This is George Osborne’s eighth budget, and the second with a Conservative majority in the Commons. The chancellor has warned of a “cocktail of threats” to the UK economy in preparation for a likely downgrade in economic growth this year and next, and a tougher spending package to meet his demand for a budget surplus in 2020. Continue reading...
  
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• Adelaide to become Australia's first smart city but could lose out on privacy

  15-03-2016 22:23
  
  The South Australian capital will become a laboratory for internet of things, with elevators that talk to each other, video recognition of masked criminals and more Stepping into the elevator at the school for computer sciences hub at Adelaide University, Prof Ali Babar shakes his head in exasperation.As the doors close the head of the Australian centre for smart cities mentions the woman recently found dead in China 30 days after technicians attempting to fix a glitch cut power to the lift she
  
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• Millions of Brits at risk of underinsuring valuables

  15-03-2016 21:28 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  MILLIONS of Britons with “hidden treasures” such as jewellery and antiques are not protecting them properly.
  
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• LV= and the £40m bonuses that don't add up

  15-03-2016 21:00
  
  Insurer reckons general insurance has improved in value, but payout due top brass needs elucidating given falling profitsA group of car insurance executives enjoying a £40m jackpot, earned over only three years, ceased to be exceptional years ago. Peter Wood set a higher benchmark a couple of decades ago when he founded Direct Line and then flogged it to RBSfor a princely sum. Ever since, the car insurance industry has operated on the assumption that its executives require the lure of an e
  
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• Is the Blairs’ £27m property empire relevant to public anger about the housing crisis? | Head to head

  15-03-2016 20:51
  
  Larry Elliott and Aditya Chakrabortty debate whether the ex-PM is responsible for or just the beneficiary of a British housing policy that’s gone badly wrong Continue reading...
  
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• Sony buys out Michael Jackson’s ATV Music Publishing for $750m

  15-03-2016 20:47
  
  Company will now control all of Sony/ATV, the largest music publishing company in the world, having bought the dead singer’s 50% shareSony is to buy Michael Jackson’s 50% share in Sony/ATV Music Publishing from the dead singer’s estate for $750m (£530m).The company is the largest music publishing company in the world and owns the rights to millions of songs including some of the Beatles’ work, as well as music by Taylor Swift, Bryan Adams, Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Man
  
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• WPP hands CEO Sorrell one of biggest pay cheques in UK corporate history

  15-03-2016 20:32
  
  Founder and chief executive of advertising group receives £63m share award plus salary, bonus and other benefits Sir Martin Sorrell has collected one of the biggest pay cheques in British corporate history after WPP, the advertising group, paid out almost £63m to its founder and chief executive.Sorrell has collected a share award of £62.78m, cashing in £30.2m immediately to meet the “consequential tax liabilities”. Continue reading...
  
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• George Osborne keeps austerity in mind for his eighth budget

  15-03-2016 20:31
  
  The easiest route for the chancellor will be to ladle out a few modest tax cuts paid for by stealth taxesBudgets have their own rhythm. Chancellors like to marry economics and politics and that means getting all the bad news out of the way early in a parliament so that there are goodies to be handed out when an election is looming.
  Governments that break this rule tend to run into trouble so, in normal circumstances, George Osborne’s red box would be a full-blooded package of tax increases
  
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• Live blog: Women's Empowerment Principles annual conference 2016

  15-03-2016 20:18
  
  From freedom from violence to workplace childcare, women won’t achieve economic equality until business starts to listen to them. Join us for live updates as the business community discusses the advancement of gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community 7.18pm GMTIf you’re following along on social media the hashtag for the event is #WEPs. We’ll be picking up questions from this hashtag so do add them in. You can see the full programme here.7.16pm GMTPhumzile Ml
  
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• Network Rail privatisation expected to be ruled out by report

  15-03-2016 20:07
  
  Treasury-commissioned review likely to call for devolution of regional routes and some private investment but not sell-off of network after fares warningA government-commissioned report into financing Britain’s railways is expected to rule out privatisation of the network following warnings that a sell-off would lead to higher fares.The review of Network Rail by Nicola Shaw, the chief executive of the High Speed 1 line, is to be published alongside the budget on Wednesday and will encourag
  
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• EU steel action plan expected to include punitive tariff proposal

  15-03-2016 20:07
  
  UK opposes scrapping rule that restricts harsh levies on dumped goods as Europe grabbles with industy crisis blamed on subsidised Chinese steelAn EU action plan to help Europe’s struggling steel industry to be announced on Wednesday is expected to include a proposal to levy punitive tariffs on subsidised Chinese imports, a move the UK government will oppose.Axel Eggert, director general of the European Steel Association (Eurofer), said the situation for Europe’s steel industry was no
  
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• Environmental and economic impact of British energy policy

  15-03-2016 20:01
  
  In December, David Cameron joined 195 other leaders to promise ambitious action on climate change. Achieving the Paris goals requires leaving most of the world’s fossil fuel reserves in the ground. A first step must be to stop subsidising fossil fuel production. Wednesday’s budget is an acid test of the government’s Paris commitment. In last year’s budget, the chancellor gave £1.3bn in new tax breaks and direct funding to the oil industry. The UK Treasury receives a
  
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• Britain's fraud office drops forex market investigation

  15-03-2016 19:30
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's fraud watchdog has ended an investigation into possible foreign exchange market rigging, saying it did not have enough evidence to secure convictions, in a further setback to its efforts to prosecute wrongdoers in financial markets.
  
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• CORRECTED: VW Financial Services takes writedown for emissions scandal - Yahoo Finance UK

  15-03-2016 19:28
  CORRECTED: VW Financial Services takes writedown for emissions scandal
  Yahoo Finance UK
  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen's Financial Services AG said on Tuesday it took an extraordinary writedown of 353 million euros ($391 million) to cover a potential decline in the residual value of cars in the wake of the diesel emissions cheating scandal.en meer »
  

• Jailed trader claimed legal-fees loan was for gardening, court is told

  15-03-2016 19:15
  
  Libor fraudster Tom Hayes and his wife are accused of making false statement in Serious Fraud Office case at Old BaileyTom Hayes, the convicted former City trader, and his wife mortgaged their seven-bedroom country house for £350,000 to pay legal fees but told the bank the money was for garden improvements, a prosecutor has told the Old Bailey.Michael Parroy QC, representing the Serious Fraud Office, also told the court on Tuesday that Hayes and his lawyer wife, Sarah Tighe, went through &
  
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• Markets hit by growth worries; China plans yuan 'Tobin tax' - as it happened

  15-03-2016 19:14
  
  All the day’s economic and financial news, including rumours that Beijing is pondering tighter currency controlsLatest: US and European markets downBangladesh central bank governor quits after cyber heist
  China considering Yuan Tobin Tax 6.14pm GMTA continuing fall in the oil price as well as gloomy comments from the Bank of Japan about the economic outlook combined to help sent markets lower. With worries about growth after weak Chinese data over the weekend, mining shares were among the
  
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• Small business owners: meet our EU referendum expert panel

  15-03-2016 19:00
  
  In the run up to the vote on June 23 we’ll be putting a selection of your questions to our panel, which includes business groups, academics, trade experts and journalists Submit your questionsMike Cherry is the FSB policy director and an FSB member. He is an entrepreneur with a passion for small business issues and getting the voice of small businesses heard. For more than 40 years Mike has worked in the timber and manufacturing industry and continues to do so today. He has been a member o
  
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• Got a question about Brexit? Ask our expert panel

  15-03-2016 18:41
  
  The EU referendum is a huge issue for small businesses, but many say they need more information. Share your questions for our expert panel Read about our panelOn 23 June, UK, Irish and Commonwealth voters will decide whether the country will leave the European Union. From exports to employees, the landmark decision will have huge implications for SMEs in the UK. Yet more than half of small business owners in the UK feel uninformed on the issue, according to polling by the Federation for Small Bu
  
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• RBS to cut almost 450 investment banking jobs in UK

  15-03-2016 18:32
  
  Bank announces layoffs, adding that two-thirds of lost roles will move offshore to its operation in IndiaRoyal Bank of Scotland is cutting 448 investment banking jobs in the UK, moving two-thirds of them to India.The bank, 73% of which is owned by the taxpayer, said it would cut back- and middle-office roles in its investment bank, including a small number of technology jobs. Under its chief executive, Ross McEwan, RBS has been shrinking the division to focus on its personal and small business o
  
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• The end of £1 petrol? Drivers woe as prices at the pump rise ahead of the Budget

  15-03-2016 17:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  SUPERMARKETS have started to pull sub-£1 a litre fuel offers amid fears the Chancellor will heap further costs on motorists in tomorrow's Budget.
  
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• Sharp Rise in UK Mortgage Deal Freebies :: The Market Oracle ... - The Market Oracle

  15-03-2016 17:20
  Sharp Rise in UK Mortgage Deal Freebies :: The Market Oracle ...
  The Market Oracle
  In recent years the mortgage market has become an arena for fierce competition, with providers vying to have the lowest deals on the market to attract new ...en meer »
  

• London hits record low for new affordable housing, figures show

  15-03-2016 17:09
  
  Just 6,856 affordable homes were built in 2014-15, with Richmond building just five, says GLA months before mayoral electionA record low number of affordable homes are being built in the London area, according to figures published by the Greater London Authority.In some London boroughs the number of affordable homes has shrivelled to just a handful. Richmond upon Thames, with a population of 194,000, built just five affordable homes in 2014-15 and the City of London managed zero, while Bromley l
  
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• SFO ends foreign exchange fraud inquiry with no charges brought

  15-03-2016 17:05
  
  Serious Fraud Office closes investigation into rigging of forex market despite ‘reasonable grounds’ to suspect fraudA long-running investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into rigging of the £3.5tn-a-day foreign exchange markets has ended without any charges being issued against banks or individuals.The SFO said that after reviewing more than a half a million documents it had concluded there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction. Continue reading...
  
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• Sports Direct's Mike Ashley to be ordered to appear before MPs

  15-03-2016 16:59
  
  Founder to be issued formal summons by business committee after resisting calls to give evidence on treatment of workersThe Sports Direct founder, Mike Ashley, is to be formally summonsed to appear before MPs to explain his company’s treatment of its workers.Ashley will be issued with a demand to appear before the business select committee on 7 June after refusing to agree to a number of dates suggested by MPs. Continue reading...
  
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• Women hit by pension age changes should access payouts earlier, say MPs

  15-03-2016 16:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  WOMEN caught out by a hike to the state pension age should be able to access benefits earlier but at a lower rate, according to MPs.
  
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• Canadians worry a Trump presidency will jeopardize US trade relations

  15-03-2016 16:42
  
  The Republican candidates have regularly railed against Nafta, the bedrock of US-Canada trade relations. Would they alienate a ‘steadfast ally’ with an unfair deal?For many on the Canadian side of the border, it’s starting to feel like the downstairs neighbors are throwing a big party and things have gotten out of hand. The event is starting to get violent; longstanding house rules are suddenly being challenged; and there’s a growing fear that the neighbors are going to c
  
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• Robo advice can never exterminate the UK's financial frailty - Financial Times

  15-03-2016 16:34
  Yahoo Finance UK
  Robo advice can never exterminate the UK's financial frailty
  Financial Times
  Robots. They're driving our cars, starring in Hollywood blockbusters, and now they appear to be the future of financial advice. Just before the Budget, a half-inch thick report into the UK's so-called advice gap offered hope that robots — or more ...
  UPDATE: Financial "Advice Gap" In UK To Be Tackled By RegulatorLondon South East (registration) (blog)
  UK Financial Advice Market Review recommendat
  

• Noble Co. Ordinary Shares (UK) (NE) Rating Reiterated by RBC Capital - Financial Market News

  15-03-2016 16:25
  Noble Co. Ordinary Shares (UK) (NE) Rating Reiterated by RBC Capital
  Financial Market News
  Enter your email address below to get the latest news and analysts' ratings for Noble Co. Ordinary Shares (UK) with our FREE daily email newsletter: Follow Us on Social Media. Follow Financial Market News on Facebook · Follow Financial Market News on ...en meer »
  

• Barclays boss Jes Staley handed £1.8m in shares despite halved dividend

  15-03-2016 16:09
  
  American, who took helm in December, and his management team shared almost £9m in share bonuses, filing showsBarclays has handed its chief executive, Jes Staley, £1.8m in shares just weeks after his announcement that the dividend to shareholders is to be cut by more than half.The payout to the American, who took the helm in December, was disclosed in a stock exchange filing that showed he and his management team have been handed almost £9m in share bonuses. Continue reading...
  
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• UK's Financial Conduct Authority: Former Equities Trader Pleads ... - Exchange News Direct

  15-03-2016 16:07
  UK's Financial Conduct Authority: Former Equities Trader Pleads ...
  Exchange News Direct
  Damian Clarke, a former equities trader at Schroders Investment Management Limited, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to nine counts of insider trading ...en meer »
  

• The products so obsolete they’ve been cut from the inflation index

  15-03-2016 15:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE official cost of living in Britain no longer features the cost of entry to nightclubs or CD-Roms, the Office for National Statistics said today.
  
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• Battery-hungry world turns to South America's 'lithium triangle'

  15-03-2016 14:54
  
  SANTIAGO/TORONTO (Reuters) - Far from the soy and cattle that dominate its vast fertile pampas, Argentina harbors another valuable commodity that is rocketing in price and demand and luring newly welcomed foreign investors.
  
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• Auto, power firms save millions swapping copper for aluminium

  15-03-2016 14:52
  
  LONDON/TOKYO/JUBAIL (Reuters) - Manufacturers are abandoning copper for its lighter and cheaper rival aluminium after a decade of technological innovation that is saving some companies hundreds of millions of dollars.
  
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• Good news: overtime pay may finally be coming to a paycheck near you

  15-03-2016 14:37
  
  The Department of Labor has submitted a new overtime rule that could expand pay for those who work extra hours to another five million US workersIt’s a busy week for the US labor secretary, Thomas Perez. On Tuesday, hours before the first of his three testimonies to the US Congress, the Labor Department finally submitted the long-awaited overtime rule to the White House for final approval.Overtime pay is the unicorn of US workers’ benefits, with just 11% of salaried workers and 18% o
  
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• Ocado reveals jump in sales – but still no news on overseas partnership

  15-03-2016 14:35
  
  City analysts remain concerned that online grocer has yet to find a partner which wants to use its technology outside UKOnline grocer Ocado has insisted it is growing in confidence, as it revealed a double-digit increase in sales but yet again failed to provide news on a much-awaited overseas partnership.Its shares rose 3% after it reported that group sales had increased 15.3% to £312.4m in the 12 weeks to 21 February and that the average number of orders a week had risen to 214,000. Howev
  
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• VW Financial Services takes writedown for emissions scandal - Yahoo Finance UK

  15-03-2016 13:38
  VW Financial Services takes writedown for emissions scandal
  Yahoo Finance UK
  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen's Financial Services AG said on Tuesday it took an extraordinary writedown of 353 million euros (£276 million) to cover a potential decline in the residual value of cars in the wake of the diesel emissions cheating scandal.
  

• George Osborne's budgets taking heavy toll on millennials

  15-03-2016 13:31
  
  From soaring student debt to housing woes, the chancellor has dealt series of blows to Generation Y in recent yearsMore than five years of George Osborne’s budgets have left young Britons with mounting student debt, depleted housing benefits, and cuts to youth employment and wage support, as millennials continue to weather the fallout from the financial crisis.The chancellor has delivered a series of blows to higher education support for young adults since 2010, saddling students with reco
  
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• The 2016 inflation basket: what's in, what's out

  15-03-2016 12:42
  
  Additions and removals to the consumer prices index, according to the ONS Continue reading...
  
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• Balfour Beatty losses increase but turnaround plan on track

  15-03-2016 12:19
  
  Construction group falls £123m into the red but hopes to restore dividend in AugustBalfour Beatty has seen its underlying full year losses increase but it says its turnaround plan is showing signs of progress.The construction group fell £123m into the red in 2015, worse than the £80m loss seen in the previous year, due to problematic contracts in Britain, the middle east and Asia. But it hoped to be rid of the bulk of its UK contracts by the end of this year, and its decision t
  
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• Foodie fads courgetti and boodles help first Sainsbury's sales rise in two years

  15-03-2016 12:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  SUPERMARKET giant Sainsbury's has posted its first annual sales growth in more than two years after offering more innovative health foods.
  
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• LGT takes majority in Vestra Wealth to expand in Britain

  15-03-2016 11:30
  
  ZURICH (Reuters) - LGT, the private banking and asset management group owned by Liechtenstein's princely family, has agreed to buy a majority stake in Britain's Vestra Wealth, which has 5.6 billion pounds ($8 billion) in managed assets, LGT said on Monday.
  
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• Legal & General's capital update outweighs profit rise

  15-03-2016 11:29
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Legal & General reported a capital position short of some forecasts on Tuesday, triggering a share price fall.
  
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• Hedge funds step up bets on commodity market revival

  15-03-2016 11:29
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - After deserting commodities markets during last year's slide, some hedge funds are starting to move back in, betting a recent pick-up in energy prices could signal a turning point.
  
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• China 'planning Tobin tax' on currency trading - business live

  15-03-2016 11:25
  
  All the day’s economic and financial news, including rumours that Beijing is pondering tighter currency controlsLatest: Bangladesh central bank governor quits after cyber heistChina considering new curbs on currency trading
  Analyst: What’s Beijing up to now?Introduction: Japan leaves rates unchanged.10.25am GMTA new opinion poll showing that Britain is more likely to vote to leave the European Union has hit the pound.
  Sterling has shed around 1% this morning, to $1.416 against the US
  
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• Nightclubs out and coffee pods in as inflation basket updated

  15-03-2016 11:11
  
  Additions to the basket also include computer software and cream liqueurThe decline of Britain’s nightclub scene has forced the government’s independent data gatherers to exclude admission prices to late night dance venues from the official inflation figures.The Office for National Statistics aid the closure of scores of nightclubs in recent years and the shift to free or low cost entry for many of those that remain meant the prices were harder to gather and no longer a usual guide t
  
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• Osborne's budget to set in motion high-speed rail and road tunnel schemes

  15-03-2016 11:01
  
  Manchester to Leeds railway line, Peak District underground tunnel and Crossrail 2 to receive funding from chancellor in budgetGeorge Osborne will use Wednesday’s budget to set in motion plans for a high-speed railway line from Manchester to Leeds and an 18-mile underground road tunnel beneath the Peak District.The chancellor will also promise to “prioritise” a north-south link through central London as he accepts the final recommendations of the National Infrastructure Commiss
  
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• This Tory budget for savers has an all-too familiar ring | Tom Clark

  15-03-2016 11:00
  
  One of David Cameron’s first acts in government was to abolish a Labour ‘rainy day fund’ for low earners. Now it’s being resurrected under a new name and trumpeted as the prime minister’s own legacyAn inability to keep a closed mouth about a locked box has brought chancellors down in the past. Hugh Dalton, the man who raised the revenues for Attlee’s welfare state, had to go after tipping off a journalist just before his budget. Whether George Osborne has brea
  
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• Bangladesh central bank governor resigns over $81m cyber heist

  15-03-2016 10:55
  
  Atiur Rahman learned of loss of funds only after the news appeared in the mediaBangladesh’s central bank governor, Atiur Rahman, said on Tuesday he had resigned after $81m (£75m) was stolen from the bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in one of the largest cyber-heists in history.Rahman told Reuters that the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, had accepted his resignation.Continue reading...
  
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