Financial news

• Four Seasons Health Care rescue talks suffer setback

  11-01-2018 21:13 via theguardian.com
  Minority bondholders react angrily to deal conditions tabled by troubled firm’s biggest lender, H/2 Capital PartnersTalks over the future of loss-making Four Seasons Health Care, which looks after 17,000 elderly and vulnerable people, hit a fresh snag after minority bondholders claimed the company’s biggest lender is trying to push through measures that are not in the firm’s best interest.US investment firm H/2 Capital Partners, which owns the majority of Four Seasons’ bo
  
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• Why M&S's website isn't delivering on sales | Nils Pratley

  11-01-2018 20:39 via theguardian.com
  Massive investment hasn’t brought Marks & Spencer’s online operation up to speed with rivals – or with what customers expectNobody expected Christmas trading miracles from Marks & Spencer, but surely chief executive Steve Rowe would be able to unveil some juicy figures for the online operation.Didn’t M&S, under predecessor Marc Bolland, go through agonies to build its expensive distribution centre at Castle Donington – the one with nine miles of hanging
  
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• BHS ex-owner Dominic Chappell guilty of not disclosing information

  11-01-2018 20:30 via theguardian.com
  Pensions regulator had pressed charges after Chappell failed to hand over documents relating to company purchase The former owner of BHS, Dominic Chappell, has been found guilty of three charges of failing to provide vital documents to the pensions watchdog.Chappell, 51, was charged with neglecting or refusing to respond to three section 72 notices demanding he hand over vital documents and information relating to the purchase of the company. Continue reading...
  
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• Does London mayor Sadiq Khan's Brexit report stack up?

  11-01-2018 19:56 via theguardian.com
  No-deal forecast of losses of 500,000 jobs and nearly £50bn in investment is circumspect, but still makes a lot of assumptions Continue reading...
  
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• Morality’s Richard Branson v the Daily Mail – unfortunately, we’ve got to pick a side

  11-01-2018 19:28 via theguardian.com
  The paper’s stance on immigration and unemployment is not compatible with his rail brand’s beliefs, says the goateed billionaire. God forbid the Virgin Trains experience should become a miserable oneRICHARD BRANSON’S VIRGIN TRAINS REFUSE TO SELL DAILY MAIL. I’ll level with you – that wasn’t the news report about Branson I’ve been expecting. And I’m not talking about the biannual story about his Caribbean house being destroyed.Still, we are where we
  
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• FTSE 100 closes at new peak but Tesco and M&S slump after Christmas updates - as it happened

  11-01-2018 19:06 via theguardian.com
  All the day’s economic and financial news, as UK retail heavyweights report their Christmas trading figuresTesco and M&S shares dropTesco: A record Christmas, but below City forecasts
  M&S: Food and clothing sales fallJohn Lewis: Sales up, but inflation hits profitsIntro: Separating the Christmas crackers from the turkeysFull details: The UK Christmas retail winners and losers 6.06pm GMT The FTSE 100 may have hit a new peak, Wall Street may have recovered from Wednesday’s loss
  
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• PutinCoin SURGES leaving TrumpCoin in its wake in president's cryptocurrency war

  11-01-2018 17:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  BAD news for President Trump as the altcoin named after him, TrumpCoin, is worth far less than Vladimir Putin-inspired PutinCoin.
  
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• Queen's bra fitter Rigby & Peller loses royal warrant after tell-all book

  11-01-2018 16:41 via theguardian.com
  Decision to cancel relationship with luxury lingerie retailer follows publication of director’s book Storm in a D Cup last yearA lingerie retailer that supplied underwear to the Queen has been stripped of its royal warrant reportedly because the firm’s director wrote a book revealing details of her work with the royal family.Rigby & Peller had held the title since 1960 but confirmed it was “deeply saddened” by the royal household warrants committee’s decision to
  
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• Ocado to wheel out C3PO-style robot to lend a hand at warehouses

  11-01-2018 16:22 via theguardian.com
  Humanoid robot known as SecondHands to pass spanners and move ladders for technicians at online grocery specialistOcado is to test a humanoid maintenance assistant in its warehouses, in the online grocery specialist’s latest move to reduce reliance on human workers.Artificial Intelligence has various definitions, but in general it means a program that uses data to build a model of some aspect of the world. This model is then used to make informed decisions and predictions about future even
  
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• Bitcoin price THREAT: Cryptocurrency set for untimely demise BUT there is a BRIGHT SIDE

  11-01-2018 16:07 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN will not last a top economist has warned, but there is hope for blockchain technology.
  
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• Bitcoin price BOOST: CEO reveals why bitcoin is BETTER than gold and poised to 'TAKE OVER'

  11-01-2018 15:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN will take over gold as store of value as the cryptocurrency has “better properties” than the commodity, said CEO of CoinList Andy Bromberg.
  
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• Bitcoin competitor Ethereum built on SAND: 'I don't see a business plan!' Expert's WARNING

  11-01-2018 15:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN’S biggest competitor ethereum has failed to reveal it has a viable business model, according to Aswath Damodaran of New York University.
  
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• Pound euro exchange rate: Sterling will SOAR as Brexit PESSIMISM in UK set to disappear

  11-01-2018 15:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE POUND could soar this year as people realise they are too pessimistic about the UK with the uncertainty around Brexit, a currency strategist has said.
  
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• Housebuyers benefit from profits squeeze on mortgage lenders

  11-01-2018 14:40 via theguardian.com
  Intense competition among lenders means customers have hardly noticed the 0.25% base rate rise, say brokersMortgage borrowers are benefiting from intense competition on the high street following the biggest squeeze on profit margins for two years.The Bank of England reported that in the final three months of 2017, the difference between the central bank’s base interest rate and the average mortgage rates charged to borrowers “narrowed significantly”. Continue reading...
  
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• New York City just declared war on the oil industry | Bill McKibben

  11-01-2018 13:24 via theguardian.com
  The home of Wall Street announced on Wednesday that it will be divesting its massive pension fund from fossil fuels. That hits fossil fuel giants where it hurtsOver the years, the capital of the fight against climate change has been Kyoto, or Paris – that’s where the symbolic political agreements to try and curb the earth’s greenhouse gas emissions have been negotiated and signed. But now, New York City vaulted to leadership in the battle.On Wednesday, its leaders, at a press c
  
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• US bonds tumble as Beijing shows Donald Trump CHINA is world economy's super power

  11-01-2018 13:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE US got a sharp reminder its spell as the world’s only economic superpower is over after China sparked a rabid sell-off in the American bond market.
  
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• Marks and Spencer shares dive as Christmas sales drop while John Lewis and Tesco rise

  11-01-2018 13:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  MARKS and Spencer’s share price plummeted this morning after Christmas sales reports revealed revenue dropped while John Lewis and Tesco enjoyed positive results.
  
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• Marks & Spencer hire Dixons Carphone’s Humphrey Singer as new chief finance officer

  11-01-2018 12:58 via feedproxy.google.com
  MARKS & SPENCER has hired Dixons Carphone’s Humphrey Singer as its new chief finance officer.
  
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• Sainsbury’s sees record festive trading but warns of tough trading in general merchandise

  11-01-2018 12:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  SAINSBURY’S cheered investors with record festive trading and more savings from its acquisition of Argos but warns of tough trading in general merchandise and clothing markets.
  
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• The UK Christmas retail winners and losers

  11-01-2018 09:43 via theguardian.com
  John Lewis and Tesco enjoy healthy festive takings, there’s mixed results at M&S while Debenhams and Mothercare issue profit warningsThe crucial Christmas trading season can be make or break for retailers. As the festive season got under way, companies faced intense competition to win sales as cash-strapped consumers constrained by falling real pay sought out the best deals. It was tough for the whole retail market but, with most of the major retailers having now reported, more winners
  
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• Tough Christmas for retailers as shoppers feel the squeeze

  11-01-2018 09:07 via theguardian.com
  M&S and Tesco deliver disappointing results, while John Lewis rings up bumper sales but warns profits will be dented by Black Friday price cutsThree of the UK’s biggest retailers have delivered disappointing Christmas figures as weak consumer confidence and ferocious online competition take their toll on the high street. Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and Tesco reported their Christmas sales on what had been billed as Super Thursday in the City, but it proved to be a flop with investo
  
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• Homes for sale for £250,000 – in pictures

  11-01-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The price tag might be within reach, but there’s no shortage of appeal at these properties from the UK, France and Canada Continue reading...
  
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• We're going to need a bigger boat: UK yacht makers buoyant as buyers cash in on Brexit

  11-01-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Luxury boat builders enjoy boom after post-referendum weaker pound as well as rising demand, explains Fairline Yachts boss at London trade show
  Whether it’s over pints of warm ale in a mocked-up canal-side pub or flutes of champagne on the bow of brand new 76ft (23-metre) luxury yachts, the London Boat Show’s organisers were raising a glass to Brexit on Wednesday. The collapse in the value of the pound since the referendum vote in June 2016 has fuelled a boom in British boat building
  
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• Superdry targets new music talent to play in stores and in marketing campaigns

  11-01-2018 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  SUPERDRY is sounding out emerging music acts to play in its stores and to appear in its marketing campaigns.
  
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• Carphone Warehouse fined £400k over cyber attack that left millions of customers exposed

  11-01-2018 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  CARPHONE WAREHOUSE has been fined £400,000 after more than three million customers’ records were exposed.
  
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• Pound V euro: GBP exchange rate slumps as ECB meeting minutes send EUR soaring

  11-01-2018 01:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  AN UPBEAT set of minutes from the European Central Bank's December monetary policy meeting has pushed the euro higher today, to the detriment of the pound.
  
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