Financial news

• UK defends Donald Trump state visit offer despite protest - Financial Express

  20-02-2017 22:58
  
  Financial Express
  UK defends Donald Trump state visit offer despite protest
  Financial Express
  The British government on Monday defended its decision to offer U.S. President Donald Trump a lavish state visit and an audience with the queen this year, defying protests outside parliament and dissent from lawmakers. By: Reuters | London | Published: ...en meer »
  
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• Greece standoff over €86bn bailout eases after Brussels deal

  20-02-2017 20:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Government agrees to talks on reforms with European creditors in return for progress on releasing next tranche of fundsGreece’s bailout inspectors are returning to Athens to seek changes to the country’s tax, pensions and labour market laws in a sign that the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, will give way to European pressure for deeper reforms.
  His government agreed at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday to talks on big economic reforms in exchange for progress on
  
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• Theresa May must take £115bn hint from Kraft Heinz's failed Unilever bid

  20-02-2017 20:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Warren Buffett and 3G were apparently surprised at hostility from Unilever’s board – but PM must use this bid as cue to form proper policy on takeoversWarren Buffett and his Brazilian private equity chums at 3G, the main players at Kraft Heinz, must process their cheese and beans on another planet. The US firm abandoned its £115bn bid for Unilever, we’re told, because it wasn’t expecting its proposal to receive such hostility from Unilever’s board and a few Br
  
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• How Unilever foiled Kraft Heinz's £115bn takeover bid

  20-02-2017 20:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Fierce resistance and ‘no appetite for any offer’ warning forced key investors Warren Buffett and Jorge Lemann into retreat, insiders sayUnilever forced Kraft Heinz to abandon its £115bn bid for the company after the Anglo-Dutch maker of Marmite and Flora said it would use every tool at its disposal to fend off a deal. The US consumer goods firm behind Philadelphia and WeightWatchers withdrew its offer “amicably” on Sunday evening, just 48 hours after admitting inte
  
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• World's largest sailing yacht impounded in Gibraltar

  20-02-2017 18:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Taller than Big Ben and longer than 13 London buses, billionaire Russian’s €400m luxury vessel kept in dock over unpaid bills to shipbuilderThe world’s largest sailing yacht has been impounded in Gibraltar over claims that its billionaire Russian owner owes the shipbuilder €15.3m (£13.3m).The Gibraltar Port Authority impounded the €400m “Sailing Yacht A” as it was on its way to be delivered to industrialist Andrey Melnichenko, following a legal filing
  
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• Pension changes could cost 11m Britons thousands of pounds

  20-02-2017 14:42
  
  Government green paper discusses giving annual rises based on CPI, not RPI, which could cost average of £20,000 over lifetimeCompanies could slash pension promises to 11 million employees, potentially knocking thousands of pounds off the incomes of people in retirement, if proposals in a government consultation paper are approved.Unions are likely to react furiously to the proposals, which would allow companies to save £90bn by providing annual increases in their retired employees&rs
  
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• Donald Trump, the master of unreality, must be resisted at every turn | Joseph Stiglitz

  20-02-2017 13:05 via theguardian.com
  
  What the US president says and what he tweets can only be countered effectively if we take it seriously and resist itIn barely a month, the new US president has managed to spread chaos and uncertainty – and a degree of fear that would make any terrorist proud – at a dizzying pace. Not surprisingly, citizens and leaders in business, civil society, and government are struggling to respond appropriately and effectively.Any view regarding the way forward is necessarily provisional, as Do
  
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• Bovis to pay £7m to compensate customers for poorly built homes

  20-02-2017 11:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Housebuilder apologises for poor quality of some properties as dissatisfied owners organise protests Are you a Bovis homeowner awaiting compensation? Bovis Homes is to pay £7m to repair poorly built new homes sold to customers, raising fresh questions about the standards of new-build properties across the country and the regulation of the market.The company – one of the biggest housebuilders builders in Britain – will pay compensation after angry customers formed a Facebook gro
  
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• Rags to riches? The privileged are more likely to become entrepreneurs

  20-02-2017 08:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Aspiring business owners often turn to family to fund their ideas. But those without that safety net need resilience, creativity and grants to surviveWhen 28-year old Cam Worth had the idea for his agency SharpEnd three years ago, he knew he would struggle to get it off the ground. Investors weren’t interested in a company specialising in advising businesses about the internet of things in 2014 and, although he was working full time, he had no money, assets or savings to back it himself.&l
  
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• UK house price growth at slowest rate in four years

  20-02-2017 08:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Annual price rise falls to 2.3% in February as buyers become wary of paying over the odds, report by Rightmove saysAsking prices in Britain’s housing market rose at the slowest annual rate in almost four years in February as buyers become wary about paying too much, according to the latest survey from Rightmove.Annual price growth fell from 3.2% in January to 2.3%, the weakest since April 2013. On a monthly basis, average asking prices rose 2% t0 £306,213, the slowest rate of growth
  
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• Savers need a balancing act to beat inflation

  20-02-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Savings rates have never been so low, but with a spread of sensible investments your portfolio can still deliver good returnsAs if savers needed to be told, it is a miserable time for anyone hoping to make money from their nest egg. With rates in the doldrums, the news last week that inflation has reached its highest point in the past two-and-a-half years means many cash savers are now losing money in real terms.Added to that, having a punt on premium bonds, the UK’s favourite flutter, is
  
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• I'm being allowed to work part-time but am unhappy about my salary

  20-02-2017 08:00
  
  I will be the most-qualified and lowest-paid team member – should I make a fuss?
  Twice a week we publish problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Saturday Guardian so that readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy’s own insights.I have worked in my current job as an ecologist within a planning consultancy for three years. At my recent annual review, I requested permission to work pa
  
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• Domestic & General caught me in a spin cycle over warranty

  20-02-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  It took five visits for it to agree to send out a new washing machine – if I paid a delivery chargeI am at the end of my tether. I have a washing machine warranty with Domestic & General. My machine broke down, but only after five engineer visits did it decide to replace it. I am a single dad with two young daughters who has had to take off four half-days to accommodate the engineer visits – and countless hours on hold to D&G. The final straw came when it slapped me with a ch
  
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• The supermarket food gamble may be up | Felicity Lawrence

  20-02-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Brexit, migration and climate pressures mean our ‘too big to fail’ global food chain could unravelThe UK’s clock has been set to Permanent Global Summer Time once more after a temporary blip. Courgettes, spinach and iceberg lettuce are back on the shelves, and the panic over the lack of imported fruit and vegetables has been contained. “As you were, everyone,” appears to be the message.But why would supermarkets – which are said to have lost sales worth as muc
  
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