Financial news

• RBS warn of more job cuts and branch closures after plunging £7bn into the red

  24-02-2017 23:42 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  ROYAL Bank of Scotland has warned of more job cuts and branch closures after plunging £7billion into the red last year.
  
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• The Crusader: How to keep travel insurance fit for your purpose

  24-02-2017 20:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  ONE call at the right time to an insurer might have made all the difference to the success of a pensioner’s travel claim.
  
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• Losses of £58bn since the 2008 bailout — how did RBS get here?

  24-02-2017 19:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Flawed takeover bids, bad lending, and a tower of legal bills have left the Royal Bank of Scotland deep in the redSir Howard Davies, chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, described the £7bn loss the bank rang up last year as “stark”. But it is just a fraction of the bank’s towering total losses of £58bn over the 9 years since it was bailed out by the taxpayer. And the bank will rack up even more losses this year.Related: RBS braced for multi-billion-pound settlement f
  
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• William Hill's potential next CEO backs curbs on TV gambling adverts

  24-02-2017 18:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Finance director Philip Bowcock breaks ranks with rest of betting industry to express sympathy with limiting adsThe man tipped to lead the UK’s second-biggest bookmaker has broken ranks with the industry by offering support for a curb on TV gambling adverts.Betting companies have largely rejected suggestions that their ads are seen by too many vulnerable people and children, but William Hill’s finance director said he understood people’s concerns. Continue reading...
  
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• EU states back call for UK to agree €60bn exit bill before trade talks

  24-02-2017 18:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Czech, German and Italian politicians support European commission line that Britain must agree to pay up before talksEU member states are backing a European commission demand that trade talks can only start once Britain has agreed to pay a hefty Brexit bill, despite fears of a backlash from Theresa May. The Czech Republic has joined Germany, Italy and France in insisting the UK must come to an arrangement on the divorce settlement, expected to come to about €60bn (£50bn), before any s
  
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• Marmalade in decline as Paddington struggles to lift sales

  24-02-2017 17:37 via theguardian.com
  
  2014 film brought only a slight boost to the bear’s favourite spread, which is now mainly the preserve of older peopleEven Paddington Bear, it seems, is having a hard time saving his beloved marmalade from an inexorable decline. As the spread’s greatest international ambassador, Paddington has long been an important part of marmalade’s branding process. But a survey has revealed that the once popular spread is now mainly the preserve of older generations, with about 60% of sale
  
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• Setting sums: Paul Weller looks to crowdfund his clothing collection

  24-02-2017 17:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Ex-Jam frontman bids to drum up £400,000 in pretty green to expand his Real Stars Are Rare label kitting out old mods and new facesThis is the modern world. It’s 40 years since Paul Weller spat out the chorus of the Jam’s third single, helping spark the first revival of the 60s youth cult.Yet here we are in 2017 and everything’s coming up mod again. Weller, the movement’s perennial high priest, is launching a £400,000 crowdfunded share offer on Friday to expan
  
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• Let’s move to the Torridge valley, Devon: ‘It’s lush’

  24-02-2017 17:30 via theguardian.com
  
  These rolling hills, thatched pubs and gay towns are a long way from the nearest turmeric latteWhat’s going for it? We’re not in Kansas any more, Toto. This is north Devon, deeeeeep Devon. Far, far, far from the nearest motorway. Far, far, far from the nearest turmeric latte. You need resilience out here. Survival skills. Your role model? Tarka the Otter. His creator, author Henry Williamson, moved here from London to track the tough lives of local otters. Poor old Tarka suffers endl
  
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• Greece's prime minister defends deal with bailout creditors - as it happened

  24-02-2017 16:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Alexis Tsipras tells the Greek parliament the latest deal with the country’s European creditors was an an ‘honourable compromise’China hits back at Trump over currency jibeUK mortgage approvals hit 12-month highRBS shares fall after bank posts £7bn lossPeugeot: we’re not here to close Vauxhall’s UK plantsFrench consumers shrug off political uncertainty 3.14pm GMTNew US home sales rose less than expected, up 3.7% to a seasonally adjusted 555,000 units.Economist
  
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• China overtakes US and France to become Germany's most important trading partner

  24-02-2017 16:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  CHINA for the first time became Germany's most important trading partner in 2016, overtaking the US and France.
  
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• World gets thirst for British gin as exports hit record of nearly £500m

  24-02-2017 15:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Foreign sales of spirit outperform those of British beef, with the US the biggest overseas marketExports of British gin surged to record levels last year, reaching nearly £500m.Figures from HMRC show exports of the juniper-based spirit rose by 12% to £474m, outperforming exports of British beef and soft drinks. Continue reading...
  
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• Blair is right on Brexit: parliament must have a democratic debate | Anatole Kaletsky

  24-02-2017 13:54 via theguardian.com
  
  We must restore the principle of parliamentary sovereignty – Theresa May does not have an open-ended mandateFormer UK prime minister Tony Blair’s recent call for voters to think again about leaving the EU, echoed in parliamentary debates ahead of the government’s official launch of the process in March, is an emperor’s new clothes moment. Although Blair is now an unpopular figure, his voice, like that of the child in Hans Christian Andersen’s story, is loud enough t
  
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• ‘Hands off our stock market’: UK eurosceptics issue warning to Germany over LSE takeover

  24-02-2017 13:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney is being asked to immediately step in to stop the takeover of the London Stock Exchange to "protect the national interests".
  
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• Vauxhall production guaranteed until at least end of decade, PSA tells union

  24-02-2017 13:32 via theguardian.com
  
  Unite leader says boss of Peugeot and Citroën owner told him he was ‘not here to shut plants’The boss of PSA Group, which is in talks to buy General Motors’ loss-making Opel business in Europe, including Vauxhall, has given assurances to the UK government and Britain’s biggest union that production will be guaranteed until at least 2021.Carlos Tavares has been on a charm offensive with politicians and unions in the UK and Germany, trying to soothe fears over factory
  
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• 'Failure makes you more humble' – Confessions of a Small Business

  24-02-2017 13:27 via theguardian.com
  
  In our second Confessions of a Small Business podcast, John Stapleton, founder of New Covent Garden Soup and Little Dish, talks about going out on a limb, coping with a fire that gutted his factory, and failing to crack the USSubscribe and review on iTunes, Soundcloud & Mixcloud and join the discussion on Facebook and Twitter. John Stapleton, founder of New Covent Garden Soup Co, Little Dish and Glencoe Foods, was the keynote speaker at the Guardian Small Business Network’s Confessions
  
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• I am transgender and being myself is not a disorder

  24-02-2017 12:37 via theguardian.com
  
  A review of World Health Organisation classifications is a chance to put an end to trans people being pathologisedIt was in November 28 years ago when I saw a psychiatrist for the first time. I was 17. The school year was just finishing and I lived in Córdoba, Argentina, with my father and siblings. I had the same friends from kindergarten to high school. I knew their families, they knew mine; all of them had come to visit when my mother died, all of them were there when I held a party an
  
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• Government intervention has led to higher energy bills, claims Lords report

  24-02-2017 12:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Committee urges new energy commission that would prioritise low energy bills and security rather than low carbon emissionsMinisters should establish a new energy commission to spur on construction of power stations because successive governments have failed to encourage enough fresh power capacity in the UK, according to a House of Lords report.Subsidy-backed growth in renewable energy projects, such as windfarms, has deterred the construction of new conventional power plants, the economic affai
  
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• Business rates: pressure grows for total rethink on controversial tax

  24-02-2017 12:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Trade bodies including CBI say tax is unfair, with some claiming it is bigger deterrent to international retailers than Brexit voteThe government is under growing pressure to overhaul the business rates system rather than just offer help for small firms affected by the revaluation of properties.Theresa May, the prime minister, and Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, told parliament on Wednesday that small businesses facing a sharp increase in their business rates bill from April could receiv
  
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• Fashion brand Laura Ashley to branch out in India following licensing deal

  24-02-2017 11:59 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  UK home furnishing and fashion giant Laura Ashley is set to expand the company by branching out in India following a licensing deal with Future Retail.
  
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• Government pension scheme begins ditching oil and gas investments

  24-02-2017 11:21 via theguardian.com
  
  National Employment Savings Trust to move investments into new climate change fund and scale back shares in firms such as Shell and ExxonMobil
  A giant pension scheme with more than 4 million members is shifting almost 10% of its investments into a new climate change fund designed to move people’s money out of fossil fuels and into renewable energy.
  Nest (National Employment Savings Trust), a publicly owned scheme set up by the government, said it was moving £130m into the fund becaus
  
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• How can health services keep pace with the rapid growth of cities? | Richard Vize

  24-02-2017 09:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Urbanisation is linked to a range of health issues; improving the health of people in cities is a central concern of government and international institutionsThe relentless growth of urban populations is driving city and national governments to increase access to healthcare while tackling the root causes of poor health.According to Oxford Economics [pdf], the world’s largest 750 cities will be home to 2.8 billion people by 2030 – more than a third of the global population. They will
  
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• Education publisher Pearson reports biggest loss in its history

  24-02-2017 09:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Pre-tax losses soar to £2.6bn as group – planning to sell its Penguin Random House stake – is hit by slump in US textbook salesPearson has reported a pre-tax loss of £2.6bn for 2016, the biggest in its history, after a slump at its US education operation.The world’s largest education publisher, which in January saw almost £2bn wiped from its stock market value after issuing its fifth profit warning in two years, reported the record loss after taking a £2
  
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• RBS reports £7bn loss and says it will not make profit until 2018

  24-02-2017 08:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Taxpayer-owned bank has now suffered nine consecutive years in the redRoyal Bank of Scotland has reported losses of £7bn for 2016, taking its losses since its 2008 government bailout to more than £58bn.The taxpayer-backed bank has also admitted it will not return to profit until 2018, indicating that it will report 10 years of losses before it returns to the black.Continue reading...
  
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• Lonely Planet co-founder: 'The first book was an accident'

  24-02-2017 08:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Launched in the 1970s, the travel empire preempted the gap year trend. Today Tony Wheeler is working on five books and is still an avid travellerTony and Maureen Wheeler co-founded Lonely Planet in 1973 after the couple travelled overland from London to Australia. The travel publisher, which has since printed more than 120 million books in 11 languages, sold a 75% stake in the business to BBC Worldwide in 2007. The Wheelers sold their remaining 25% stake in the company four years later. Continue
  
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• Barclays: triple the profits, but still a work in progress | Nils Pratley

  24-02-2017 08:09 via theguardian.com
  
  The note of triumphalism that accompanied the bank’s results jarred – it still faces issues in the US and elsewhereBarclays has cut its dividend in half. Bonuses are running at three times the level of distributions to shareholders. And the investment bank, even after a round of pruning, still isn’t earning returns greater than its cost of capital. A couple of years ago, under hapless former chief executive Antony Jenkins, Barclays would have been hammered for turning in such s
  
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• I quit my job when I had a baby – how can I restart my career?

  24-02-2017 08:00
  
  I’m interested in HR and have been applying for entry-level roles, but am getting nowhere
  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.When my son was born in 2012 I decided to take an extended break from paid work to look after him. I had been working in environmental education an
  
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• How ignoring a ‘scam’ penalty notice cost us £300 in fees

  24-02-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Lambeth council pursued us for a parking fine even though we have never driven our car in LondonWe have had to pay a bailiffs’ fee of nearly £300 because Lambeth council has pursued us for a parking fine, even though we have never driven our car in London. We thought the penalty notice and ensuing letters were a scam, so we ignored them. Then a bailiffs’ letter set alarm bells ringing. The bailiffs said the car in question was a Vauxhall. We own a Nissan Nivara.Continue reading
  
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• A beachfront home in former train carriages – in pictures

  24-02-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Railway buffs can hop on board at Bognor Regis to find a berth in a unique bungalow with sea viewsContinue reading...
  
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• City news: 32Red, National Express, BAE Systems and RSA Insurance

  24-02-2017 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  ONLINE gaming group 32Red will be taken over by the company behind Unibet and Stan James in a £175.6million deal.
  
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• Barclays bank triples profits

  24-02-2017 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  BARCLAYS boss Jes Staley is “more optimistic than ever for our prospects in 2017, and beyond” as the bank nearly tripled annual profit to £3.2billion and accelerated its disposal of unwanted assets.
  
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• RBS faces NINTH year in the red as annual losses extend to £7BILLION

  24-02-2017 01:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  ROYAL Bank of Scotland has reported a £7 billion annual loss, its ninth consecutive year in the red.
  
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